CUP: Logano, Hamlin Cross 197 Barrier At Daytona

Sprint Cup

CUP: Logano, Hamlin Cross 197 Barrier At Daytona

Two-car drafting on Saturday morning produced the fastest speeds thus far of preseason testing at DIS…

Mike Hembree | Posted January 22, 2011 Daytona Beach, FL

Joey Logano is in a contract year with Joe Gibbs Racing. (Photo: Getty Images)

Preseason testing speeds reached their peak Saturday at Daytona International Speedway as Toyota teammates Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin crossed the 197-mph barrier in morning runs.

Logano was clocked at 197.516 and Hamlin at 197.511 as they rolled around the 2.5-mile track in a drafting pair.

Chevrolet teammates Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman also drafted together and were a blink or two behind the Toyotas. Stewart ran 197.446, Newman 197.442.

Most teams still concentrated on single-car runs Saturday morning, avoiding the temptation to get involved in risky drafting. There was no drafting in multi-car groups.

AJ Allmendinger, however, became the first Ford driver to work in a draft during the three days of testing and had the day’s fifth-fastest speed at 196.386.

Also in the top 10 were Steve Wallace, Jamie McMurray, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin.

Twenty-nine drivers participated in the morning session, which ended at noon. A second and final session is scheduled from 1 to 5 p.m., and the car count is likely to be smaller as several teams were planning to leave the track for the return trip to North Carolina prior to the session.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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Mike Hembree

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