Ryan Newman once again recorded the fastest unofficial speed Tuesday afternoon at Lowe’s Motor Speedway as 29 NASCAR Busch Series teams tested for the inaugural nighttime running of the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 on Saturday, May 28. Scheduled for six hours, the final pre-race test session was cut in half as rain moved into the area just prior to the scheduled dinner break at 6 p.m. Newman, who plans to make his first NASCAR Busch Series start since 2001 in the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300, was clocked at 29.711 seconds, 181.750 mph, in the afternoon heat. His lap was considerably slower than the 184.281 mph speed he recorded in cooler conditions Monday evening aboard the #39 Penske Racing Dodge. Raybestos rookie-of-the-year contender Denny Hamlin was second fastest at 181.068 mph in the #20 Rockwell Automation Chevy. Team owner Robert Yates was in the garage area keeping a close eye on his Busch Series team and driver Elliott Sadler was third fastest on the unofficial stopwatches at 180.505 mph in the #90 CitiFinancial Ford. The session was marred by two single-car crashes. The first came early when Jimmie Johnson lost control of the #48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevy in turns three and four and backed into the outside wall. Johnson was able to drive back to the garage area, but the car suffered heavy rear-end damage. The second accident came less than an hour later when a flat left-rear tire sent Jamie McMurray’s #64 Dodge hard into the third-turn wall. McMurray was checked at the Carolinas HealthCare System Infield Care Center and released while members of the Rusty Wallace Inc. team loaded the badly damaged car. The testing session concluded on-track activity prior to the May races at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
The top-10 unofficial speeds:
Showing driver, car number and speed:
1. Ryan Newman, #39, 181.750;
2. Denny Hamlin, #20, 181.068;
3. Elliott Sadler, #90, 180.505;
4. Joe Nemechek, #87, 180.216;
5. Clint Bowyer, #2, 179.928;
6. Carl Edwards, #60, 179.868
7. J.J. Yeley, #18, 179.856;
8. Michel Jourdain Jr., #10, 179.790;
9. Johnny Sauter, #1, 179.658;
10. Jon Wood, #47, 179.545.(Lowe’s Motor Speedway)(5-11-2005)
