CUP: Speeds Reach Almost 196 In Afternoon Session At DIS

Sprint Cup

CUP: Speeds Reach Almost 196 In Afternoon Session At DIS

Toyotas drafted to post the fastest speeds of day one testing at Daytona…

Mike Hembree | Posted January 20, 2011 Daytona Beach, FL

The Toyotas of Martin Truex Jr. (56) and David Reutimann (00) draft together in Thursday's afternoon test session at Daytona. (Photo: Getty Images)

An afternoon drafting session featuring Toyotas produced the fastest speeds of Daytona International Speedway testing Thursday as David Reutimann turned a lap at 195.780 miles per hour.

The other top speeds registered in the afternoon session also were by Toyota drivers – Martin Truex Jr., 195.776; Brian Vickers, 194.334; and Kasey Kahne, 194.334.

Clearly illustrating the power of the Daytona draft was the fact that the afternoon’s fifth-fastest driver, Tony Stewart, reached only 186.858 in a single-car run.

Following in the top 10 were Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. Thirty-four drivers posted speeds.

Bowyer led Thursday morning’s session at 184.219.

More drafting – including multi-car packs – is expected in Friday’s morning and afternoon sessions and again Saturday as teams prepare for next month’s Speedweeks.

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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