Daytona Testing Week Two: Day Two

Tuesday's blog Click Here
Monday's blog Click Here
Last Week:
Day Four blog Click Here
Day Three blog Click Here
Day two blog Click Here
Day one blog Click Here

By Greg Engle
Editor, Cup Scene Daily
January 17
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3:30PM-Weather forced NASCAR officials to change the hours for today’s session. The lunch break was cancelled and teams were told that it would end at 4PM due to incoming weather. A light but persistent rain began to fall just after noon and finally forced officials to cancel the rest of the session at 1:30. Teams were able however to get in a bit of drafting practice before the cancellation.

Paul Menard posted the fastest speed of the shortened afternoon drafting session. He put down a lap of 187.099, that was the fastest time overall for the entire January tests. He was followed by Kyle Busch, Kenny Schrader, Regan Smith with Mike Wallace rounding out the top five.

12:30PM-Because of the threat of rain, NASCAR has changed the time for the session. Lunch was cancelled, teams worked straight through and the session will conclude at 4PM

Top Five Speeds from Wednesday Morning:

1. Kurt Busch (COT) 191.188
2. Jeff Gordon 184.596
3. David Stremme 184.268
4. David Gilliliand 184.045
5. Juan PAblo Montoya 183.801

7:00AM- In route to the speedway, I expect to arrive and get set up around 10AM. Look for reports and photos soon after.... stay tuned!

Tuesday Morning speeds
Tuesday Afternoon speeds

AUDIO:Drivers react to the passing of Benny Parsons:

Mark Martin
Ricky Rudd
Ryan Newman
Michael Waltrip
Larry McReynolds

A New Beginning for Martin

By Amy Hair
Cup Scene Daily,January 17

(DAYTONA BEACH Fla.) - Mark Martin, the driver of the 01 Chevy with Ginn Racing, is using the days of testing at Daytona this week to learn differences between the Ford’s he drove for years and the Chevy he’ll spend a good bit of time in during the 2007 year.

“Yesterday was a day of finding out how to run the battery dead on these cars real easy…not being able to crank it…remembering where the switches are and where the gauges are and figuring out how to read the gauges…a lot different territory…but driving the car is not that much different” Martin said.

“Just because I stayed with Jack Roush for nineteen years doesn’t make it wrong for me to drive for someone else,” he added. “It just makes it strange”

Martin sees his future with Ginn as a long-term commitment, something that presents challenge and huge possibilities.

“We haven’t spent a lot of time educating our fans and the media about what a terrific opportunity this is to be on the ground floor and help be one of the architects for the future of Ginn racing…just like Roush racing…this is not short term endeavor for me…I don’t see it being short term, I see it being long term, as long as Roush racing was”

Burton and Cingular’s Days Numbered?

By Amy Hair
Cup Scene Daily,January 17

(DAYTONA BEACH Fla.) - Last year, Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing took the pole for the Daytona 500. His year continued to go well, with a contention for the Championship becoming a possibility, and a 7th point finish taking him home …all with Cingular riding along as the main sponsor.

Coming into the 2007 season, a situation has come up that could possibly put the 31 team in search of a new sponsor. AT&T is buying out Cingular a fact, not a possibility,

When Nextel came into the Cup series, the agreement was that any current tele-communication company in the series could stay, but no new ones could come in. AT&T is buying out Cingular… and this will bring a “new” company into the mix…is this going to trigger a search of a new sponsor?

“I can’t tell you a whole lot, to be honest”, Burton said. “I can tell you that Cingular is extremely excited about their involvement with AT&T. They’re excited about being involved in this sport and their sponsorship opportunity. They’re going to do everything in their power to continue it. It’s an interesting situation to be in and time will tell what happens.”

WEDNESDAY Photo Gallery:
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