NASCAR Preseason Thunder Day 1: Kyle Busch leads Toyota 1-2

There was no shortage of conversation – or anything off-limits – during Day 1 of Media Availability during Preseason Thunder Testing Thursday in Daytona.

From spoilers to drafting to beards – all were topics du jour.

A full field of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers tackled Daytona International Speedway for the first of a three-day test as teams make their final preparations for the 54th running of the Daytona 500, February 26.

“It’s important for us to test down here, not only for the teams, but for us," said Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton. “We’ve had track tests at Daytona and Talladega and we’ve been in the wind tunnel several times. We think we’re making some great strides. The test is going pretty good for us. The teams are learning about their equipment and the limits they will be under with water temperatures and things like that. We’ve seen softer springs, a smaller spoiler and a reduction in downforce. We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made so far."

Jeff Gordon led 31 cars during the morning session of practice with a top speed of 192.773. Teams practiced single and two-car runs in the morning session, but for most, the excitement of returning to Daytona and the thrill of the “The Great American Race," only 45 days away, certainly added to the intensity of the day.

“A lot of effort goes into this race, “said Dale Earnhardt, Jr. “Winning the 500 is the biggest race of the year. It is the greatest feeling. The effort is quadruple when it comes to how much goes into the engines just for that race and the bodies of the cars. So it’s a pretty big deal when you win."

The winning car of this year’s Daytona 500 will be the first car in the history of the sport to score a victory with a fuel injected engine.

“I feel like there is a crack in the floodgates," said veteran driver Mark Martin. “I think there is a huge amount of electronics and adjustments and so much that can be done by those guys on the computer, instead of all those years I spent with Jack [Roush] with the carburetor apart up in the trailer."

The afternoon drafting session belonged to the Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, respectively, with Busch posting a top speed of 202.402.

What will tomorrow bring for these teams? More knowledge for them to get ready for one of the biggest races of the year.

“We’ll gather our information and we’ll talk with the teams," said Pemberton in regards to practicing different forms of drafting. “That’s why we have a three-day test."

Among the lighter moments of Day 1 was a wager involving Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth. Earnhardt threw a 1970s-themed party during the offseason, and Kenseth grew a mutton-chop beard for the occasion. Earnhardt bet Kenseth $2,500 that Kenseth wouldn’t keep the beard through this week’s testing sessions. The winner? Well, a clean-shaven Kenseth walked into the Daytona deadline room during Day 1 of testing.

QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

How did the two-car tandem draft feel with the new NASCAR rules?
"Today with the new rule package and everything for the cars it certainly changed it a little bit, not a whole lot. There's some different elements — the drivers really have to work hard trying to make sure that you stay connected and that you can get air into the intake for the radiator. Other than that, it's kind of good just to get back in a race car and get back to the feeling of everything."

What will it be like not to have communication with your teammates in the draft?
"It's going to be a lot more difficult. So far here at the test they've allowed us at least to talk to each other. Coming down to race time, we're not supposed to. It's definitely going to make it challenging. You're going to have to go through talking to your spotter, your spotter talking to his spotter, his spotter talking to him so there's too many different channels that you have to go through to get the communication going."

DAVE ROGERS, crew chief, No. 18 M&M's Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing How did the new NASCAR rules affect the draft?
"Today was a good example that you can't unlearn things that you learned in the past. Everyone in the garage area learned that the fastest way around here is to have two cars hooked up bumper-to-bumper and go. We're never going to forget that. I know NASCAR is working really hard at making some new rules to bunch us back up, but as racers we're going to take whatever route is the fastest — that's the name of the game. Right now it still looks like two cars tied up is faster than a pack is going to be. The rules are going to have impact. Cars can't hook up as long, they can't stay nose-to-tail as long as they used to and when they do stay nose-to-tail for a longer time then the guy in the back has to pull further to the outside of the guy leading. You will see a different style race in February based on the rule changes, but you're still going to see a bunch of racers try to hook up nose-to-tail."

How long could the cars stay hooked up in the draft?
"With the rule changes that NASCAR made, they really tied our hands. You can only stay hooked up bumper-to-bumper, center line to center line a half to three-quarters of a lap. So NASCAR accomplished their goal there. You can go longer when you pull out to the side. If you pull far enough out you can ride there all day. The more you pull out, the longer you can ride there, but the slower you are. If you need more speed you're going to pull in center line to center line, if you need to stay cooler longer then you're going to get that grill opening exposed to clean air. Drivers are going to have their hands full trying to figure out what they need to do and when they need to do it — and when do you lay all the cards on the table."

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot/Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing How did the two-car tandem work with you and Kyle Busch?
"Oh man, we we're pushing like crazy. It was alright. It was okay. We're just working with what we need to do to try to be able to do it again with the rules changes and stuff like that. It's made it super hard. It works good in practice right now, but when we get a bunch of cars around us in a racing situation, it's probably not going to work as good. We'll kind of see what happens. I wish we could get a lot of cars out there and I think that will be happening in the next couple of days, maybe tomorrow. I'm sure there will be a lot more cars out their drafting. Hopefully, something like that happens and it comes along good and we'll have a better read than where we are at. We're trying some things — trying to keep our car as cool as we can, some handling things, getting pushed and stuff like that."

What do you anticipate in a big group?
"I wish we got more cars out there today to know for sure, but I really think that we're not going to be pushing as much. I think there will be a little bit of pushing and I think there will be a lot of old school draft, or whatever you want to call it. I think a lot of people are going to save it until the end and a lot of people won't be able to do it for a very long time. I think it's going to kind of look like the races when we first started to figure out how to do this two-car draft and only some people were doing it and some other people were just doing the regular draft. All that is probably going to look similar to that than what we had before."

What are your thoughts on eliminating the in-race communication between drivers?
"I'm hoping they change that back, because it ain't going to pretty if we can't talk to each other."

Combined Results

Rank	Car No.	Driver	Manu.	Time	Speed	Session
1	18	Kyle Busch	Tyt	44.466	202.402	D1PM
2	20	Joey Logano	Tyt	44.469	202.388	D1PM
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Dge	44.505	202.224	D1PM
4	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dge	44.506	202.220	D1PM
5	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chv	44.794	200.920	D1PM
6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chv	44.795	200.915	D1PM
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Tyt	44.965	200.156	D1PM
8	5	Kasey Kahne	Chv	45.047	199.791	D1PM
9	55	Mark Martin	Tyt	45.782	196.584	D1PM
10	15	Clint Bowyer	Tyt	45.782	196.584	D1PM
11	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Frd	46.164	194.957	D1PM
12	24	Jeff Gordon	Chv	46.482	193.623	D1PM
13	24	Jeff Gordon	Chv	46.687	192.773	D1AM
14	27	Paul Menard	Chv	46.726	192.612	D1PM
15	27	Paul Menard	Chv	46.785	192.369	D1AM
16	51	Kurt Busch	Chv	46.787	192.361	D1AM
17	51	Kurt Busch	Chv	46.835	192.164	D1PM
18	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Frd	46.885	191.959	D1AM
19	14	Tony Stewart	Chv	46.887	191.951	D1PM
20	10	Danica Patrick	Chv	46.893	191.926	D1PM
21	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chv	46.911	191.853	D1AM
22	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chv	46.933	191.763	D1AM
23	16	Greg Biffle	Frd	46.941	191.730	D1PM
24	31	Jeff Burton	Chv	46.945	191.714	D1PM
25	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chv	46.969	191.616	D1PM
26	16	Greg Biffle	Frd	46.987	191.542	D1AM
27	17	Matt Kenseth	Frd	46.997	191.502	D1PM
28	10	Danica Patrick	Chv	47.004	191.473	D1AM
29	9	Marcos Ambrose	Frd	47.007	191.461	D1PM
30	39	Ryan Newman	Chv	47.01	191.449	D1PM
31	31	Jeff Burton	Chv	47.019	191.412	D1AM
32	21	Trevor Bayne	Frd	47.022	191.400	D1AM
33	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chv	47.025	191.388	D1AM
34	14	Tony Stewart	Chv	47.032	191.359	D1AM
35	18	Kyle Busch	Tyt	47.037	191.339	D1AM
36	29	Kevin Harvick	Chv	47.052	191.278	D1PM
37	20	Joey Logano	Tyt	47.059	191.249	D1AM
38	21	Trevor Bayne	Frd	47.061	191.241	D1PM
39	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Tyt	47.095	191.103	D1PM
40	1	Jamie McMurray	Chv	47.102	191.075	D1PM
41	39	Ryan Newman	Chv	47.11	191.042	D1AM
42	11	Denny Hamlin	Tyt	47.122	190.994	D1AM
43	17	Matt Kenseth	Frd	47.134	190.945	D1AM
44	5	Kasey Kahne	Chv	47.16	190.840	D1AM
45	29	Kevin Harvick	Chv	47.176	190.775	D1AM
46	15	Clint Bowyer	Tyt	47.199	190.682	D1AM
47	55	Mark Martin	Tyt	47.225	190.577	D1AM
48	9	Marcos Ambrose	Frd	47.238	190.525	D1AM
49	43	Aric Almirola	Frd	47.255	190.456	D1AM
50	78	Regan Smith	Chv	47.266	190.412	D1PM
51	1	Jamie McMurray	Chv	47.269	190.400	D1AM
52	99	Carl Edwards	Frd	47.285	190.335	D1PM
53	43	Aric Almirola	Frd	47.296	190.291	D1PM
54	78	Regan Smith	Chv	47.374	189.978	D1AM
55	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dge	47.419	189.797	D1AM
56	99	Carl Edwards	Frd	47.435	189.733	D1AM
57	36	Dave Blaney	Chv	47.453	189.661	D1PM
58	2	Brad Keselowski	Dge	47.504	189.458	D1AM
59	13	Casey Mears	Frd	47.508	189.442	D1AM
60	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Tyt	47.633	188.945	D1AM
61	13	Casey Mears	Frd	47.671	188.794	D1PM
62	87	Joe Nemechek	Tyt	48.038	187.352	D1PM
63	87	Joe Nemechek	Tyt	48.304	186.320	D1AM