Like clockwork, NASCAR teams have traditionally kicked off the season with three days of preseason Sprint Cup testing at the famed Daytona International Speedway on the first Monday after the first of January.
This year, today [Tuesday] would have been the second day of single-car runs in qualifying setup mode for the first group of teams -- half of 'em show up the first week, the rest in the next -- but thanks to NASCAR's testing moratorium on any and all sanctioned tracks for 2009, the tradition has halted.
Indeed, NASCAR fans won't get a glimpse of new drivers with new teams or a chance to read about how this driver paced one session and that driver paced another. It's a loss for NASCAR media types because of how dead -- save for team mergers and Elliott Sadler's surprising, litigious release -- the offseason really can be.
But, for the first time since teams felt it was important to focus ridiculous amounts of effort, money and time on a two-lap qualifying run for the season's first race that won't matter for hardly any driver, fans aren't subjected to mindless chatter about who's fast and who's not.
And drivers like Tony Stewart, who understands being at Daytona for three days to take part in mostly single-car runs is so pointless and so boring that he has paid out of his own pocket for a driver to test for him, won't have to deal with NASCAR's most pedestrian event of the year.
Though Joey Lagano has enjoyed some big-time props from NASCAR veteran Mark Martin, he might not be able to find his way into the Sprint Cup Series for a while.
The 17-year-old driver from Connecticut has turned heads for awhile after Martin referred to Lagano as the "real deal" when he was just 15. In 2008, Lagono -- with a contract as a developmental driver for Joe Gibbs Racing -- is scheduled to compete in some Nationwide series events after his 18th birthday in May.
"There are concerns that young drivers are being moved up through the ranks too soon, and that more time in the second-tier series would give them time to develop their skills on the track and to mature off of it.
Such a change could, theoretically, also bolster interest in the Nationwide and Truck series, since it would ensure that promising young drivers could build fan followings and attract sponsorships while competing at those lower levels."
I couldn't agree more. In the past few years, numerous young drivers have been elevated to the Sprint Cup series with limited success. Allowing them to develop more skill and more of a following could only be a good thing.
New Daytona Gear Rule Might Raise Speeds
Following this week's testing at Daytona, NASCAR was a little uneasy with the RPM's that cars were turning.
Kasey Kahne finished as the fastest driver through the past two weeks of testing at Daytona International Speedway, but the Toyota camp left with the biggest smile.
On a day that saw the entire day's testing session squeezed into a seven-hour multi-car parade at 180mph, Kahne dropped a lap of 189.111 mph to put his No. 9 Dodge Charger at the top speed chart. Forecasted rain -- it never materialized -- forced NASCAR to skip a lunch break and run one entire session until 4pm.
The Toyotas, though, left on a much higher note than they left the Daytona 500 last year -- with slow cars and a dense cloud hanging over the operation from Michael Waltrip's fuel additive scandal. Instead, Camrys ran consistently at the top of the charts in single-lap speed sessions and had good-handling cars in the draft.
The Toyotas didn't completely dominant the drafting side of things, though, with Kahne's Dodge pacing the way, the Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin second and third, Dario Franchitti's Dodge fourth, and Regan Smith's Chevy in fifth. The fastest Ford was Matt Kenseth in seventh.
The next round of preseason NASCAR testing heads out west to California and Las Vegas. Vegas will see the Sprint Cup stars January 28-29 and California will get the drivers Jan. 31-Feb. 1.Sorry, No Photos
Dale Earnhardt Jr. jumped to the top of the speed chart Tuesday morning at Daytona International Speedway, in a possible effort to gain some credence to his crew chief's predictions for 2008.
Monday afternoon, Tony Eury Jr. predicted his driver would pilot the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 to four race victories in the coming season.
Earnhardt Jr.'s lap of 185.820mph landed him the fastest single-lap speed of any driver through both this and last week's test session at the legendary 2.5-mile track. That figure will stand as the top overall single-lap time as the Sprint Cup Series drivers will now switch to multi-car drafting mode for the afternoon session on Tuesday.
Wednesday, testing will wrap up with two more drafting sessions in the schedule -- pending forecasted afternoon rain stays away. If Wednesday is enough of a washout, Thursday is scheduled as the additional rain-date but the forecast that day looks even worse.
The Toyotas remained a strong presence at the top of the leader board Tuesday morning with Michael Waltrip, Brian Vickers, Dale Jarrett and Tony Stewart rounding out the Top-5 of the final single-lap session.
There were no reported incidents in the morning session, but stay tuned to NASCAR Fanhouse for updates on the Tuesday afternoon session and activities on Wednesday.
It's been a long time in the NASCAR world since we've seen two Dales lead at the top of any list statistically.
The second round of preseason Sprint Cup testing at Daytona International Speedway changed that Monday morning as soon-to-be-retired Dale Jarrett topped all drivers on the speed chart. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s new Hendrick ride was second fastest.
Jarrett's lap time of 184.987mph not only paced the Monday morning single-lap session, but also bested Jimmie Johnson's best single-lap time from the first round of testing a week ago at DIS.
Running fast in qualifying trim for Jarrett is going to be especially crucial for Daytona and the four remaining races he plans to race into this season. The No. 44 Michael Waltrip Racing entry failed to make 12 races.
Jarrett, despite being a past champion, will not always be able to fall back on the guaranteed spot in a race for a past champ because of an owner points swap at Penske racing that allowed Kurt Busch's points from a year ago to be transferred to Sam Hornish Jr.'s new ride.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wrapped up their Daytona testing on a shortened note Sunday in Florida.
Rain early Sunday morning and then later in the afternoon left the teams with just over two hours of track time on the final day of the three-day preseason session.
A rookie, Justin Marks, paced the final session in a Germain Racing entry. Marks replaced long-time veteran Ted Musgrave in the Germain ride after the team didn't pick up his contract.
Last season, Marks ran four races and finished a best of 8th.
Also on top of the cumulative speed chart at Daytona for the NCTS were Ron Hornaday's (pictured) Kevin Harvick Inc. entry, Chad McCumbee, Terry Cook, and Marks' Germain teammate Todd Bodine.
Erik Darnell paced the non-drafting sessions in his No. 99 Roush-Fenway Ford with a lap of 178.547mph. In comparison, Jimmie Johnson paced single-lap speeds last week during Sprint Cup testing with a lap over 184 mph.
The NCTS starts it season on Feb. 15 at Daytona on the Friday night before the Daytona 500. This season, the NCTS is ending its title sponsorship with Craftsman over the 25-race schedule.
Kyle Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota stepped to the top of the speed chart during the final test session for the first group of NASCAR Sprint Cup Drivers Wednesday at Daytona.
Additionally, Busch's lap of 188.830mph topped all other driver's lap times during the three-day tune-up. Toyota, the also-ran story of the 2007 season, successfully led each of the drafting sessions with Busch and Hall of Fame Racing driver J.J. Yeley pacing the charts.
Below are the cumulative speeds for single-car runs and drafting runs.
Remember, though, that there still is another test session to run and only two drivers will be locked in to their spots because of individual qualifying (single-lap) runs. The rest will race in via the Gatorade Duels qualifying races.
Driver
Drafting Speeds
1. Ky. Busch
188.830 mph
2. M. Kenseth
188.494 mph
3. R. Sorenson
187.915 mph
4. J. Gordon
187.837 mph
5. M. Truex Jr.
187.805 mph
Driver
Single-Lap Speeds
1. J. Johnson
184.763 mph
2. J. Villeneuve
184.456 mph
3. T. Kvapil
184.143 mph
4. C. Mears
184.053 mph
5. A.J. Allmendinger
184.049 mph
The next round of testing starts next Monday. Sorry, No Photos
The other J.J. took command of Daytona preseason testing for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Tuesday afternoon.
Instead of reading Jimmie Johnson's name at the top of the speed chart for the fourth-straight session, J.J. Yeley bolted to the top in the first drafting session of Preseason Thunder. The drafting session in which Yeley's No. 96 Toyota was the fastest was the first time NASCAR allowed cars to get into race mode and actually see how their cars handled with other cars on track.
Wednesday morning, Kyle Busch in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took over the top spot in another drafting session at 187.786mph. Johnson fell to the 5th-place ranking on the grid.
Teams originally started out in packs of about three cars and eventually moved up to around 7 or 8 cars in a pack.
Tire issues also started to take some effect on Tuesday with Reed Sorenson spinning his No. 41 Ganassi Dodge after a tire let go. Casey Mears also scrubbed the wall with a similar issue.
NASCAR and Goodyear have taken the stance that the blistering of right-side tires is normal for testing, and that teams should figure out the issue on their own. Go figure.
"I think this is a normal issue in winter testing until we get some rubber down on the race track," he told reporters. "By the time we have the 24-hour race and stuff like that, there will be plenty of rubber down, we'll slide around a little bit more and tire problems will take care of themselves."
Sadler is correct with the amount of rubber that will be put on the race track. On tap before the Daytona 500 include the Rolex 24 Sports Car race, an ARCA race, the Budweiser Shootout, plenty of Cup, Nationwide, and Truck Series practice, the Nationwide Series race, the Craftsman Truck Series race, and the Gatorade Duels.
That should be plenty of track time to get the track worked in well.
The NASCAR world has seen a mildly busy morning in terms of news. Testing is continuing in Daytona, Joe Gibbs retired from his second stint at coaching the Washington Redskins, and Garth Brooks has been confirmed as a NASCAR spokesman for 2008.
Scroll down for more.
Johnson Continues Speed Domination at Daytona
Jimmie Johnson is doing his best rendition of Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" during the first two days of testing.
For the third-straight session, Johnson topped Tuesday morning's test charts in his No. 48 Chevrolet with a speed of 184.763mph. Former Formula 1 driver Jacques Villeneuve moved into second place on the day with Travis Kvapil third, Casey Mears fourth, and A.J. Allmendinger fifth.
After the first full day of testing for half of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams, it seems that not a whole lot has changed in the ranks of who's at the top of the NASCAR world.
Jimmie Johnson, the 2007 series champion, paced the second session of test runs at Monday Daytona International Speedway, picking up where he left off both last season and from the morning session.
Johnson's lap of 184.672mph was slightly slower than his lap from the morning session, but nonetheless, the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet still showed the way. Finding speed will be especially important at Daytona with the next-generation race car to be used full-time in 2008, according to Johnson.
"This track has so much character to it, so many bumps, where you are -- with track position, how your car handles is really, really big," said reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.
"It's starting to remind me of Atlanta in some ways where it's abrasive, it's rough and you really need to handle. That's our focus down here. If we get it right, whoever gets it right, is just gonna walk away with it."
Teammate Casey Mears held down again in the second session the second and third spots with his No. 5 Chevys. Teams are allowed to run more than one car during the test session if they feel its necessary.
Like clockwork, NASCAR teams have traditionally kicked off the season with three days of preseason Sprint Cup testing at the famed Daytona International Speedway on the first Monday after the first of January.
Though Joey Lagano has enjoyed some big-time props from NASCAR veteran 
Dale Earnhardt Jr. jumped to the top of the speed chart Tuesday morning at Daytona International Speedway, in a possible effort to gain some credence to his crew chief's predictions for 2008.
It's been a long time in the NASCAR world since we've seen two Dales lead at the top of any list statistically.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wrapped up their Daytona testing on a shortened note Sunday in Florida.
Kyle Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota stepped to the top of the speed chart during the final test session for the first group of NASCAR Sprint Cup Drivers Wednesday at Daytona.
The other J.J. took command of Daytona preseason testing for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Tuesday afternoon.
After the first full day of testing for half of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams, it seems that not a whole lot has changed in the ranks of who's at the top of the NASCAR world.
