NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Rain Soaks Charlotte Testing
Weather cancels Thursday test; better conditions expected Friday…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted January 17, 2013   Concord, NC
Rain rendered Thursday’s scheduled Gen-Six car test at Charlotte Motor Speedway a wash. (Photo: Getty Images)
The rain wins.

Soaking rain forced cancellation of Thursday’s scheduled Gen-Six car test at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Rain poured on the speedway for most of the morning, and NASCAR officials decided to end the waiting at noon.

Friday’s scheduled testing at CMS is still on tap. The track will be open for test runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET, and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday’s weather forecast is dramatically improved.

Almost 40 Cup teams tested the new cars for portions of three days last week at Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR and many of the participating drivers expressed satisfaction with the performance of the new cars on the 2.5-mile surface, where drafting speeds approached 200 miles per hour.

Trevor Bayne had the top drafting speed of 199.650 miles per hour. Greg Biffle had the fastest single-car run at 194.936.

The Charlotte test will be dramatically different as teams attempt to fine-tune the new cars on a surface similar to many that will be on the seasonal schedule. CMS also hosted testing in December.

More than 30 cars were on site Thursday at CMS. Among the teams on hand were Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Penske Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 31 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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