CONCORD, N.C. (May 6, 2008) - Nearly 50 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams left Lowe's Motor Speedway Tuesday with a better understanding of how to prepare their race cars for the May 17 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the May 25 Coca-Cola 600.
With several teams struggling to learn the handling nuances of the new race car, the two days of testing gave crew chiefs and engineers ample opportunity to gather computer data and obtain driver feedback.
Jamie McMurray topped the speed chart on Tuesday with a lap of 185.720 mph in the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford. However, his lap was slower than the 186.245 mph mark Elliott Sadler put atop the scoring pylon Monday evening.
Ryan Newman was second fastest Tuesday evening at 184.856 mph in the No. 12 Alltel Dodge.
"We spent our time trying a lot of different combinations on the Alltel Dodge to see what would work," said Newman. "This track changes so much throughout the course of the day and night that it can be a difficult track to keep up with. We are trying to use the fact that it changes so much to our advantage and learn as much as we can about adjusting the car.
"We've done really well in qualifying at Charlotte in the past, and we would like to continue that when we come back here," Newman added. "We focused on our qualifying trim some during the night session on Tuesday."
A.J. Allmendinger was third fastest in the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota at
184.571 with Scott Riggs fourth fastest at 184.168 mph in the No. 66b State Water Heaters Chevrolet. Rookie Patrick Carpentier rounded out the top-five at 183.955 in the No. 10 Valvoline Dodge.
"I applaud NASCAR for adding this test. These intermediate tracks make up a large portion of our schedule and unless you are a select number of teams, you could probably benefit from more track time," said 1995 Coca-Cola 600 winner Bobby Labonte. "There are so many things that we still need to learn about these cars. Sometimes NASCAR gets a bad rap about not listening to the teams and competitors. But this was a win for everyone.
"As far as how the car has been performing, I think it has done well," Labonte added about his No. 43 Cheerios Dodge. "Goodyear brought a good tire. It's a little on the hard side, but that's OK. The surface is really coming in since it was paved a few years ago and I think we will see three good races here this year."
"We have been very pleased with how our No. 19 Dodge has been from the minute we unloaded," said Elliott Sadler, who topped the speed chart Monday night. "This is a brand-new car that we built for the 1.5-mile tracks and I can't even begin to tell you how much better it feels than before. At one point Monday night, I went out and laid down that fast lap and Rodney (Childers, team director) asked how I liked the changes. I just chuckled, that's all I said. He came back saying, 'you liked it that much, huh?'
"The racing hasn't been too great on the 1.5-mile tracks and we really needed some work as a team, too. I have to applaud NASCAR and 'Humpy'
Wheeler for making this test possible. I just hope this all transfers into some great racing in the All-Star and Coca-Cola 600 races," Sadler added.
"We are learning some things that will help make us better when we get to this track," said 2000 Coca-Cola 600 winner Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DEWALT Ford. "We didn't have the finishes we would have liked on some of the other mile-and-half-tracks this season and we want to be as fast as Kyle (Bush) and those guys at the front."
"With LMS being in our backyard, this test was a no-brainer," said Kyle Petty, who will drive the No. 45 Coca-Cola Dodge in the Coca-Cola 600.
"For Petty Enterprises, in particular, this helps us continue to get our test team up and running. This test team is going to be crucial in Petty Enterprises moving forward and returning to victory lane. We hope that it will yield better results in the near future, but we're looking more toward the future with this. This test helps accelerate that process."
Reed Sorenson was also pleased with the performance of his No. 41 Target Dodge.
"We weren't very good at Texas and Atlanta," Sorenson noted. "We feel like we are a little better now, so we definitely found some stuff. We now have a much better car than we've had on the mile-and-a-half tracks earlier in the year."
There were six minor incidents during the 10 hours of testing. A.J.
Allmendinger, Robby Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch each brushed the yellow outside SAFER barriers. All five cars received only minor damage and each driver was able to drive back to the garage area. Regan Smith was a double-dipper, making contact with the outside wall twice. He was able to drive into the garage following each fender-bender.
Preparations for the track's upcoming schedule of NASCAR racing continues Monday and Tuesday as NASCAR Nationwide Series teams test for the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 on Saturday night, May 24. On-track activity runs from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. each day with a dinner break from 5 to 6 p.m. As for all NASCAR testing sessions at Lowe's Motor Speedway, the frontstretch grandstand will be open free of charge.
Tickets for all May events at Lowe's Motor Speedway, including the May 17 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the May 25 Coca-Cola 600, can be purchased by calling the track ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS or online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com.
The official speeds:

Morning Session
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 88b, 182.593; 2. Jeff Burton, 31, 182.439; 3.
Jeff Gordon, 24, 182.125; 4. Johnny Sauter, 70, 181.135; 5. Juan Pablo Montoya, 42, 180.499; 6. Jeff Burton, 31b, 180.427; 7. Stanton Barrett, 50, 179.015; 8. Brian Vickers, 83, 178.630; 9. Johnny Sauter, 70b, 178.619; 10.
Joe Nemechek, 78, 178.000; 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 88, 177.346; 12. Jeff Gordon, 24b, 176.910; 13. Jeff Green, 34, 174.177.

Afternoon Session
1. Brian Vickers, 83, 181.830; 2. Kyle Busch, 18b, 180.349; 3. Mark Martin, 8, 180.276; 4. Carl Edwards, 99, 180.240; 5. Kyle Busch, 18, 180.162; 6. Elliott Sadler, 19b, 179.808; 7. Jamie McMurray, 26, 179.259; 8.
Travis Kvapil, 28, 179.116; 9. Jimmie Johnson, 48, 179.099; 10. Scott Riggs, 66b, 178.915; 11. Reed Sorenson, 41, 178.891; 12. A.J. Allmendinger, 84, 178.855; 13. Ryan Newman, 12b, 178.719; 14. Casey Mears, 5b, 178.678; 15.
Kurt Busch, 2b, 178.672; 16. David Gilliland, 38, 178.666; 17. Dave Blaney, 22, 178.642; 18. Robby Gordon, 7, 178.501; 19. Denny Hamlin, 11b, 178.448; 20. Reed Sorenson, 41b, 178.365; 21. David Reutimann, 44, 178.318; 22. Dave Blaney, 22b, 178.077; 23. Jeff Gordon, 24, 178.036; 24. David Stremme, 06, 177.924; 25. Kasey Kahne, 9, 177.901; 26. Paul Menard, 15, 177.866; 27. Tony Stewart, 20b, 177.778; 28. Kasey Kahne, 9b, 177.778; 29. Sam Hornish Jr., 77b, 177.766; 30. Greg Biffle, 16, 177.731; 31. Regan Smith, 01, 177.684; 32. Matt Kenseth, 17, 177.667; 33. Tony Stewart, 20, 177.451; 34. David Ragan, 6, 177.427; 35. Casey Mears, 5, 177.392; 36. Sam Hornish Jr., 77, 177.299; 37. Martin Truex Jr., 1, 177.288; 38. Joe Nemechek, 78, 177.23; 39.
Scott Wimmer, 33, 177.119; 40. Kyle Petty, 45, 177.113; 41. Bobby Labonte, 43, 177.014; 42. Michael McDowell, 00, 176.962; 43. Jon Wood, 21, 176.765; 44. Patrick Carpentier, 10, 176.759; 45. J.J. Yeley, 96, 176.465; 46. Ryan Newman, 12, 176.424; 47. Jeff Green, 34, 176.240; 48. Michael Waltrip 55, 176.125; 49. Joe Nemechek, 78b, 174.797; 50. Regan Smith, 01b, 173.438; 51.
Tony Raines, 08b, 173.049.

Evening Session
1. Jamie McMurray, 26, 185.720; 2. Ryan Newman, 12b, 184.856; 3.
A.J. Allmendinger, 84, 184.571; 4. Scott Riggs, 66b, 184.168; 5. Patrick Carpentier, 10, 183.955; 6. Robby Gordon, 7b, 183.824; 7. Travis Kvapil, 28, 183.517; 8. Carl Edwards, 99, 183.057; 9. Johnny Sauter, 70, 182.970; 10.
Scott Wimmer, 33, 182.840; 11. Jon Wood, 21, 182.322; 12. Paul Menard, 15, 182.315; 13. Denny Hamlin, 11b, 182.272; 14. Jeff Gordon, 24, 182.020; 15.
Kyle Busch, 18, 181.971; 16. David Gilliland, 38, 181.928; 17. Kevin Harvick, 29b, 181.904; 18. Kyle Busch, 18b, 181757; 19. Elliott Sadler, 19b, 181.671; 20. Bobby Labonte, 43, 181.421; 21. Greg Biffle, 16, 181.415; 22.
Kurt Busch, 2b, 181.330; 23. Kasey Kahne, 9, 181.245; 24. Jimmie Johnson, 48, 181.226; 25. David Ragan, 6, 181.159; 26. Dave Blaney, 22b, 180.923; 27.
Reed Sorenson, 41, 180.911; 28. Sam Hornish Jr., 77b, 180.820; 29. J.J.
Yeley, 96, 180.759; 30. David Stremme, 06, 180.590; 31. Dave Blaney, 22, 180.536; 32. Martin Truex Jr., 1, 180.475; 33. Kyle Petty, 45, 180.433; 34.
Matt Kenseth, 17, 180.343; 35. Michael Waltrip, 55, 180.270; 36. Kasey Kahne, 9b, 180.078; 37. Tony Stewart, 20, 179.880; 38. Regan Smith, 01, 179.796; 39. Reed Sorenson, 41b, 179.718; 40. Brian Vickers, 83, 179.706; 41. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 88, 179.647; 42. Casey Mears, 5, 179.629; 43.
Michael McDowell, 00, 179.563; 44. David Reutimann, 44, 179.503; 45. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 88b, 179.360; 46. Casey Mears, 5b, 179.289; 47. Stanton Barrett, 50, 178.980; 48. Mark Martin, 8, 178.548; 49. Jeff Green, 34, 178.347; 50. Kevin Harvick, 29, 178.283; 51. Tony Raines, 08b, 174.803.