Daytona Preseason Thunder Testing – Day Two

RaceWeekendLogoSCS333x250See both the morning and afternoon test session results from Day Two Preseason Thunder testing of NASCAR‘s Gen-Six cars at Daytona International Speedway

2013 Daytona Preseason Thunder Day Two Morning Test Session Summary

Richard Childress Racing teams look promising at Daytona testing with their top speeds dominating the top-five in Sprint Cup’s day two testing of the Gen-6 car.  Jeff Burton‘s lap speed of 194.805-mph was at the top of the speed chart during Friday morning’s test session.

Behind Burton was his RCR teammate Kevin Harvick running second fastest at 193.557-mph and following them were Matt Kenseth 193.121-mph third, another RCR teammate, Paul Menard 192.963 fourth, and Greg Biffle 192.719 in fifth.

Completing the top-ten fastest drivers were Kyle Busch 192.691-mph who was sixth fastest, Kurt Busch 192.575 seventh, Marcos Ambrose 192.542 eighth, Danica Patrick 192.505 ninth and yet another RCR driver, Austin Dillon 192.423 posting the tenth fastest lap speed.

The session saw two yellow flags waving, once for debris and once when Dave Blaney slammed the turn 2 wall on his exit, causing enough damage to the right side of his car, to end Tommy Baldwin Racing’s test session at Daytona. Team owner, Tommy Baldwin says they will return in February to qualify for the season opening Daytona 500.

Single car runs continued throughout the morning session with teams hesitant to take many chances drafting. But fans can expect to see at least some pack testing in this afternoon’s session so drivers can explore the aero possibilities and limitations of drafting.

Drivers and their teams will return to the track this afternoon from 1 to 5pm with television coverage by SPEED.

See full results of the morning session below the afternoon session summary

Preseason Thunder Day Two Afternoon Test Session Summary

Drivers found out in the afternoon session what happens when bump drafting with NASCAR’s Gen-6 car. Fans watched several teams drive around Daytona in pack formation, but with a gap between cars. That is until it happened coming off turn two – the big one – involving 12 cars scattered across the back stretch.

What happened? Dale Earnhardt Jr closed the gap with his No. 88 car making contact with Marcos Ambrose’s No. 9 car as they exited turn two, causing Ambrose to lose control of his car, hit the wall and slide back into traffic.

In addition to Earnhardt Jr and Ambrose, other drivers involved include, Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Regan Smith, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr and Aric Almirola.

Normally, a push off turn two is welcomed by drivers because, it gives them more speed under race conditions. But with the bumpers having different front fenders, with the new Gen-6 cars, bump drafting may be a waning observation at Daytona.  More time, testing and perhaps more changes in the package will determine if this is the case.

For the remainder of the session, cars mainly tested single car runs.

Several of the teams involved in the 12-car wreck went home because the Gen-6 cars are few and far between with more currently in production. Carl Edwards was the only driver with a backup car available for testing.

At the end of the afternoon session, it was Trevor Bayne with the fastest drafting lap speed of 199.650-mph.

Second fastest was Joey Logano with a drafting lap speed of 199.309-mph followed by Martin Truex Jr 199.212 third, Mark Martin 199.186 fourth and Carl Edwards 199.168 fifth.

Completing the top-ten in the afternoon session with drafting lap speeds were Aric Almirola 199.084-mph sixth, Dale Earnhardt Jr 199.001 seventh, Greg Biffle 198.957 eighth, Kyle Busch 198.957 ninth and Casey Mears 198.943 tenth fastest.

Single-car speeds were in the 194-196-mph range.

Teams and drivers will return to the track Saturday for the final day of testing at Daytona before more testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway next week.

See full results of the Day Two Afternoon session below the Day Two Morning session results

NASCAR Preseason Thunder — Day Two Morning Session results
Friday, Jan. 11
Pos
Car
Driver Team
Time
Speed
Lap#
#Laps
Fastest
Next
1
31
Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
46.200
194.805
8
10
—.—
—.—
2
29
Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
46.498
193.557
8
12
-0.298
-0.298
3
20
Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
46.603
193.121
12
12
-0.403
-0.105
4
27
Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
46.641
192.963
5
20
-0.441
-0.038
5
16
Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford
46.700
192.719
2
21
-0.500
-0.059
6
18
Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
46.707
192.691
11
11
-0.507
-0.007
7
78
Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
46.735
192.575
2
14
-0.535
-0.028
8
9
Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
46.743
192.542
15
15
-0.543
-0.008
9
10
Danica Patrick Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet
46.752
192.505
2
18
-0.552
-0.009
10
33
Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
46.772
192.423
5
5
-0.572
-0.020
11
43
Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
46.805
192.287
17
17
-0.605
-0.033
12
24
Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
46.842
192.135
12
12
-0.642
-0.037
13
42
Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
46.905
191.877
23
23
-0.705
-0.063
14
56
Martin Truex Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
46.919
191.820
2
23
-0.719
-0.014
15
39
Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet
46.926
191.791
7
28
-0.726
-0.007
16
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
46.930
191.775
21
22
-0.730
-0.004
17
21
Trevor Bayne Wood Bros Racing Ford
46.975
191.591
12
15
-0.775
-0.045
18
14
Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet
46.980
191.571
15
15
-0.780
-0.005
19
5
Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
46.994
191.514
2
15
-0.794
-0.014
20
55
Mark Martin Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
47.005
191.469
10
10
-0.805
-0.011
21
22
Joey Logano Penske Racing Ford
47.053
191.274
14
18
-0.853
-0.048
22
15
Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
47.058
191.253
14
19
-0.858
-0.005
23
51
Regan Smith Phoenix Racing Chevrolet
47.058
191.253
13
13
-0.858
-0.000
24
1
Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
47.073
191.192
19
19
-0.873
-0.015
25
13
Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford
47.086
191.140
15
18
-0.886
-0.013
26
99
Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford
47.098
191.091
12
12
-0.898
-0.012
27
48
Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
47.124
190.985
14
15
-0.924
-0.026
28
2
Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Ford
47.126
190.977
3
19
-0.926
-0.002
29
17
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
47.184
190.743
3
18
-0.984
-0.058
30
95
Scott Speed Leavine Family Racing Ford
47.478
189.561
10
10
-1.278
-0.294
31
38
Josh Wise Front Row Motorsports Ford
47.508
189.442
2
13
-1.308
-0.030
32
36
Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
47.713
188.628
6
9
-1.513
-0.205
33
47
Bobby Labonte JTG Racing Toyota
47.978
187.586
2
8
-1.778
-0.265
34
83
Kvapil/Reutimann BK Racing Toyota
48.905
184.030
5
5
-2.705
-0.927
NASCAR Preseason Thunder — Day Two Afternoon results
Friday, Jan. 11
Pos
Car
Driver Team
Time
Speed
Lap#
#Laps
Fastest
Next
1
21
Trevor Bayne Wood Bros Racing Ford
45.079
199.650
4
39
—.—
—.—
2
22
Joey Logano Penske Racing Ford
45.156
199.309
6
21
-0.077
-0.077
3
56
Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
45.178
199.212
6
26
-0.099
-0.022
4
55
Mark Martin Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
45.184
199.186
3
23
-0.105
-0.006
5
99
Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford
45.188
199.168
6
27
-0.109
-0.004
6
43
Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
45.207
199.084
6
23
-0.128
-0.019
7
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
45.226
199.001
6
55
-0.147
-0.019
8
16
Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford
45.236
198.957
6
44
-0.157
-0.010
9
18
Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
45.236
198.957
6
33
-0.157
-0.000
10
13
Casey Mears Germain Racing Ford
45.239
198.943
6
55
-0.160
-0.003
11
2
Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Ford
45.243
198.926
5
25
-0.164
-0.004
12
17
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
45.299
198.680
7
41
-0.220
-0.056
13
9
Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
45.306
198.649
9
25
-0.227
-0.007
14
15
Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
45.326
198.562
7
19
-0.247
-0.020
15
5
Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
45.336
198.518
4
22
-0.257
-0.010
16
78
Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
45.347
198.470
7
37
-0.268
-0.011
17
1
Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
45.358
198.421
7
19
-0.279
-0.011
18
27
Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
45.372
198.360
7
45
-0.293
-0.014
19
14
Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet
45.605
197.347
9
47
-0.526
-0.233
20
33
Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
45.606
197.342
3
33
-0.527
-0.001
21
51
Regan Smith Phoenix Racing Chevrolet
45.746
196.739
2
15
-0.667
-0.140
22
24
Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
45.804
196.489
4
15
-0.725
-0.058
23
29
Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
46.596
193.150
3
28
-1.517
-0.792
24
20
Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
46.606
193.108
14
23
-1.527
-0.010
25
31
Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
46.626
193.025
6
26
-1.547
-0.020
26
10
Danica Patrick Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet
46.650
192.926
17
26
-1.571
-0.024
27
39
Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet
46.772
192.423
20
20
-1.693
-0.122
28
42
Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
46.779
192.394
30
30
-1.700
-0.007
29
48
Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
46.910
191.857
29
67
-1.831
-0.131
30
38
Josh Wise Front Row Motorsports Ford
47.205
190.658
19
22
-2.126
-0.295
31
47
Bobby Labonte JTG Racing Toyota
47.862
188.041
17
32
-2.783
-0.657
32
83
T. Kvapil / D. BK Racing Toyota
48.754
184.600
26
26
-3.675
-0.892

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