The garages at Atlanta Motor Speedway were crowded Tuesday as 14 NASCAR teams prepared for the new tires, new impound rules and new spoiler heights that will be in effect for the March 18-20 Golden Corral 500. NASCAR NEXTEL Cup drivers #99-Carl Edwards, #43-Jeff Green, #29-Kevin Harvick, #17-Matt Kenseth (testing a Busch car), #77-Travis Kvapil, #18-Bobby Labonte, #11-Jason Leffler, #19-Jeremy Mayfield, #12-Ryan Newman, #10-Scott Riggs and #22-Scott Wimmer; Busch drivers #21-Brandon Miller and #20-Denny Hamlin; and Craftsman Truck driver Jack Sprague all tested Tuesday at NASCAR’s fastest track. As expected, four-time Atlanta pole winner #12-Ryan Newman was fastest again on Tuesday, topping the unofficial speed chart with a lap of 29.57 seconds (187.487 mph). The 2003 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion, Matt Kenseth, was also on hand for Tuesday’s test, but he wasn’t driving his NEXTEL Cup car. He was actually preparing his #17 Waste Management Ford for the Aaron’s 312 on Saturday, March 19.
Testing will continue for the remainder of the week as teams prepare for the upcoming March 18-20 Golden Corral 500 weekend. Drivers expected for Wednesday’s test are NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver #4-Mike Wallace; Busch driver #32-Shane Hmiel; and Craftsman Truck drivers #23-Johnny Benson, #66-Todd Bodine, #30-Chad Chaffin, #9-Shige Hattori, #12-Robert Huffman, #22-Bill Lester, #5-Mike Skinner, #16/19-Jack Sprague, #38-Brandon Whitt. Tests are closed to the public. Tickets are still available starting at $30 and weekend packages are just $65. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-877-9-AMS-TIX or by visiting www.AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com..
Driver Series Speed #12 Ryan Newman NEXTEL Cup 29.57 sec/ 187.487 mph
#10 Scott Riggs NEXTEL Cup 29.79 sec/ 186.03 mph
#22 Scott Wimmer NEXTEL Cup 29.93 sec/ 185.232 mph
#99 Carl Edwards NEXTEL Cup 30.09 sec/ 184.246 mph
#77 Travis Kvapil NEXTEL Cup 30.12 sec/ 184.064 mph
#11 Jason Leffler NEXTEL Cup 30.29 sec/ 183.041 mph
#18 Bobby Labonte NEXTEL Cup 30.32 sec/ 182.850 mph
#17 Matt Kenseth Busch 30.32 sec/ 182.850 mph
#29 Kevin Harvick NEXTEL Cup 30.40 sec/ 182.368 mph
#43 Jeff Green NEXTEL Cup 30.51 sec/ 181.710 mph
#21 Brandon Miller Busch 30.62 sec/ 181.058 mph
#19 Jeremy Mayfield NEXTEL Cup 30.62 sec/ 181.058 mph
#20 Denny Hamlin Busch 31.52 sec/ 175.888 mph
#19 Jack Sprague Craftsman Truck 31.95 sec/ 173.521 mph.(Atlanta Motor Speedway PR)(3-8-2005)
