Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch tested at LMS this week. Busch has security guards present on the direction of the speedway.

The two day test at Lowes Motor Speedway has just concluded with Elliot Sadler having the fastest speed overall. It appeared to me that most of the Dodge teams were happy with their cars. Some were so happy with them that they decided to share in the joy. I noticed that Kasey Kahne's number 9 Dodge leaving the garage and Kahne still standing next to Team Owner Ray Evernham. When the car came back off the track several minutes later I sawBobby Labonte, driver of the Petty Enterprises number 43, sitting inside. It appeared that most of the number 9 Budweiser crew was standing alongside and debriefing what the Championship driver had to say. He appeared to be happy to have had the opportunity to drive Kahne's car by the smile on his face. Is there a possibility that he may be looking to be in a Gillett Evernham Motorsports car next year? Could this have just been a coincidence like the one last year at Texas when Dale Earnhardt Jr. got in the Hendrick Motorsports number 5? Could it be that it was as simple as sharing information between two Dodge teams? I'm not going to start any rumors but I will try to be your eyes in the garage and report what I see.

 Exclusive Speedway Media Photo by Brad Keppel

Exclusive Speedway Media Photo by Brad Keppel  

One driver that I was really impressed with was Roush racing's David Ragan. He was sitting at the back of his hauler and when I walked by said, “hey” to me. I stopped and asked how his car was and he was happy with it. He said that the test would bring the competition closer together and that was good for the sport. He would have liked a softer tire to run, but understood that they needed a harder compound to make a full fuel run. He seemed like a great young man that was very laid back, he appeared very happy to just chat.
 

I also noticed the testing sessions brought out all the technology they use in the garage area during a test that they can’t on normal race weekends. There are several laptops in each of the team’s areas gathering information that only they can diagnose. I saw more graphs and numbers that you would see at a nerd convention. The cars have boxes, sensors and antennas all over them feeding the engineers data that they analyze to make adjustments on the cars. After seeing this I'm glad NASCAR doesn't use this technology on race weekends.  There wouldn't be enough room in the infield at Bristol to hold all the computers that were used over the last two days. I noticed a light under the back of the cars as one of the sensors. When I asked Two Time Champion, Jimmie Johnson, what this was for he said, "It measures the angle of slip on the car" when asked how his car was
he gave me a distressed look and shook his head and said not too good. Like usual though I expect him and his crew chief to ‘play possum’ until race time. I'm sure he will be fine when it comes time to race in “His House" later this month.