CUP: 200 MPH Barrier Broken

Sprint Cup

CUP: 200 MPH Barrier Broken

Kyle Busch had a fast lap of 202.402 miles per hour Thursday at Daytona...

Tom Jensen | Posted January 12, 2012 Daytona Beach, FL

Teammates Kyle Busch (Right) and Joey Logano (Left) are both in danger of missing the Chase. (Photo: Getty Images)

NASCAR may be trying to do away with the two-car tandem, but it was out in force Thursday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, where three sets of teammates broke the 200 miles per hour barrier in drafting practice.

Leading the way were the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, which ran 202.402 mph and 202.388 mph, respectively, during the four-hour afternoon session at the 2.5-mile speedway.

Behind them, Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski was third at 201.432 mph., followed by new teammate AJ Allmendinger, who ran 201.428 mph. Then came two more teammates, the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets of Dale Earnhardt Jr., 200.920 mph, and Jimmie Johnson at 200.915 mph.

As anticipated, the two-car tandems were considerably faster together than single cars were alone, with Jeff Gordon turning the best time of 192.773 mph in the morning session.

Tony Stewart, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, said he was glad to be back at the track as the teams get ready for next month’s Daytona 500.

“Our sport is unique obviously having our biggest race the first race of the year,” said Stewart, who was 15th in practice. “But it's very fitting at the same time because this race, we have more time during the offseason to prepare for this race than we do the others. You bring cars here that you have the extra time to just make them that little bit nicer than you normally have time to do.”

Stewart is still looking for his first Daytona 500 victory.

“It's exciting to be back, and looking forward to it,” Stewart said of his return to Daytona. “It's been fun to get back in the car today and get running around.

“Normally I'm hiding from the racetrack in testing, but it was fun to come back this morning and get back in the car and get rolling around again.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.

DAYTONA PRESEASON THUNDER TESTING: During the Jan. 12-14 test sessions at Daytona International Speedway, fans can submit questions and comments through Twitter @SPEED (http://www.twitter.com/speed) using the #daytonatesting hashtag.

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Tom Jensen

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