What more drivers are saying at the spoiler test

Wednesday was day 2 of the spoiler test and here are the speeds and what drivers have been saying the past couple of days. After a day off on Thursday, the teams are in Martinsville for this weekend's race.

 

CARL EDWARDS

 

"Our test is going lousy, actually. We're very slow and it's frustrating. We worked very hard all day (Tuesday) and we've worked hard this morning. I would love to be able to say that we're really fast and it's going well, but we're learning all the things that aren't working.''

 

JIMMIE JOHNSON

 

"I haven't formed an opinin yet on the spoiler, largely because the time we spent on the track we've just been adjusting to a new tire and for us a new setup for this race track. I think the good thing is that there's nothing large or big jumping out at us saying the spoiler is a lot different. We've just been kind of working on our race car and working as if this was just a normal test and there was no change at the back of the car with a wing versus a spoiler.''

 

(FYI: A Goodyear official told me there's a slight construction change with the left-side tires, while the right-side tires are the same that were run at Charlotte last year).

 

"We might not be the first team to find the magic the spoiler wants, but we're usually pretty good at finding stuff in a hurry, and then the fact that it's a new element to the car brings a few months' worth of opportunity, I think.''

 

 

KASEY KAHNE

 

In regard to being 23rd in the points, he admits "we're behind right now'' but he's not too worried, adding: "The points don't show it, but we can easily get to where we need to be, it's just a matter of not having any more failures and not having myself make mistakes like I did at California.''

 

 

DAVID REUTIMANN

 

On the engine problems the team has had this year; "The first issue at Atlanta was a Michael Waltrip Racing issue, in-house. It ended up having a component on our end that failed and the motor blew all the water out of it and I blew it  up. Last week, we had a failure that was something terminal inside pretty bad. I'm not exactly sure what it was. When you're turning 96 or 9700 (RPM), when things start to break, it's hard to pinpoint what broke first because the things just self-destruct when things start going bad. We have taken a hit the last couple of weeks and had a really, really, really good car last week. That's the worst part about it.''

 

DENNY HAMLIN

 

On value of test: "I think it's important for everyone, not just us. It's important for everyone because right now it's a good time in the season to have this test because everyone has seen how strong the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) is. Us , along with everyone else, is seeing that what we had is not good enough, so throwing a lot of stuff at it, hoping to get that speed that he has.''

 

SCOTT SPEED

 

"I like the cars by themselves. I think the racing is going to be a little more difficult, honestly. But by themselves, they're nicer to drive, I think, The car is just snugger and has a little more grip. I think you're going to see a little bit bigger split when you have to race right behind people in a big pack. I think that's going to get a little more dicey than it was with the wing. They're snugger into the corner, so hopefully that is still the same case when you're in traffic and that will make things easier with this type of car.''

 

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SPEEDS

 

MORNING SESSION

 

1. Jeff Burton .... 189.215

2. Kevin Harvick ... 187.885

3. Juan Pablo Montoya ... 186.516

4. Brian Vickers ..... 185.829

5. AJ Allmendinger ... 185.522

6. Jamie McMurray .... 185.414

7. Jimmie Johnson .... 185.408

8. David Reutimann .... 185.401

9. Bill Elliott ............. 185.134

10. Paul Menard ......185.084

11. Martin Truex Jr. ... 185.014

12. Mark Martin ...........184.906

13. Jeff Gordon .......... 184.875

14. Joey Logano .........184.559

15. Brian Vickers ........ 184.433

16. Ryan Newman ..... 184.281

17. Marcos Ambrose ... 184.244

18. Scott Speed ..........184.068

19. Elliott Sadler ..........184.043

20. David Ragan ........183.567

21. Kurt Busch ..........183.567

22. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ... 183.318

23. Denny Hamlin ....... 183.125

24. Brad Keselowski .... 182.846

25. Justin Allgaier ..........182.815

 

AFTERNOON SESSION

 

1. AJ Allmendinger .......183.943

2. Jimmie Johnson (backup) ..... 181.775

3. Scott Speed ..............181.397

4. Martin Truex Jr. .........181.141

5. Reed Sorenson .......181.068

6. Brian Vickers ..........180.874

7. Jeff Burton ..............180.838

8. Denny Hamlin .........180.699

9. Paul Menard ...........180.687

10. Kasey Kahne ....... 180.626

11. Brian Vickers (backup) ... 180.307

12. Jimmie Johnson ... 180.294

13. Clint Bowyer ...........180.222

14. Joey Logano .........180.006

15. Jamie McMurray ....179.964

16. Mark Martin ...........179.886

17. Regan Smith .......179.862

18. Jeff Burton ............179.796

19. David Reutimann ..179.766

20. Carl Edwards ........ 179.760

21. Kyle Busch .............179.706

22. Ryan Newman ..... 179.641

23. Marcos Ambrose ... 179.629

24. Kurt Busch ............. 179.593

25. Jeff Gordon .............179.581

 

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#A Bristol Motor Speedway spokesperson announced that Charlie Glotzbach was released from Bristol Regional Medical Center on Wednseday after being injured (injuries not released) in Saturday's old-timers race at the track. Larry Pearson was released Tuesday and transported to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C.

 

# Bristol Motor Speedway is selling ticket packages for the August races there.

 

# Tickets remain for this weekend's racing at Martinsville. Go to the track's website (www.martinsvillespeedway.com) for more info.

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