NEXTEL Cup Series point leader Tony Stewart and championship contender Greg Biffle each crashed for the second time in less than 30 hours Wednesday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway as five teams made final preparations for the Oct. 15 UAW-GM Quality 500. Neither Stewart nor Biffle were injured and both were able to drive their heavily damaged cars back to the garage area. Bouncing back from his hard crash Tuesday afternoon, Stewart was consistently quick throughout the testing session and recorded the fastest lap of the evening just moments before a cut right-front tire sent the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet into the Turn 3 SAFER Barrier. “I had just run a 28.88,” Stewart said. “I’m thinking ‘this is pretty good,’ and then I get to Turn 3 and I’m thinking ‘this isn’t good.'” Stewart’s lap of 28.887 seconds, 186.935 mph, was the fastest of the two-day session but Stewart was still befuddled by the track’s levigated surface.
“It’s better, but I only ran three laps yesterday so I’m not really able to make a comparison,” he said. “All the rubber that’s being put down is helping. But what scares me is that all the rubber is being put down in one groove, and I’m not sure we are going to be able to pass.”
Biffle’s day ended extremely early as he crashed hard in Turn 2 less than an hour after the green flag was unfurled. Out of race cars, the #16 Roush Racing team loaded up and headed home [10 minutes from the track]. Opting to only test on Wednesday, Kyle Busch said track conditions were improving as the session progressed. “It’s getting better the more people run on it. I started off today really, really tight which is probably a good thing,” Busch said about his #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy. “The set-up we have for this place is dynamite. I’d like to be a little bit better but everybody always says that. I would like to be beating everybody by about two-tenths and that’s what we’re working toward.” Busch was second fastest on the unofficial stopwatches at 185.452 mph while older brother Kurt was next at 184.237 mph in the #97 Roush Racing Ford. Scott Wimmer was clocked at 183.511 mph in the #22 Bill Davis Racing Dodge and Biffle posted a lap at 182.414 before his accident.
Tickets for all events during UAW-GM Quality 500 weekend, including round five of the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, can be purchased by calling 1-800-455-FANS or online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com.
The unofficial speeds:
1. #20-Tony Stewart, 186.935;
2. #5-Kyle Busch, 185.452;
3. #97-Kurt Busch, 184.237;
4. #22-Scott Wimmer, 183.511
5. #16-Greg Biffle, 182.414.(LMS PR/Site)(9-22-2005)
