ROCKINGHAM NC (3-22-08) – The ARCA RE/MAX Series concluded a two-day test at Rockingham Speedway over the weekend (March 21 & 22) where 39 drivers participated in preparation for the inaugural May 4th Carolina 500.
Scott Speed, in the Eddie Sharp Racing Red Bull Toyota, turned in the quickest speed of the weekend Saturday morning, circling the historic, high-banked oval in 24.942 seconds, an average speed of 144.335 mph.
“It’s definitely a cool track,” said Speed. “And I think they’ll be two good grooves come raceday. The tires go away in a hurry; they lose grip right away, so the drivers that manage their tires the most effectively will be the guys you’ll see up front.
“We actually tested here in November, and the track has lost some grip since then. We were not good yesterday, and we threw everything at it except the clipboard, but fortunately we were able to learn a lot over the course of two days. We made qualifying runs all day today, so now I think I know what the car should feel like for qualifying. But after all the changes, we still ended up close to our baseline.
“Again, the key during the race will be tire management. You’ve got to slow yourself down as the tires lose grip. Otherwise you just slide around out there and hurt your tires even more.”
Daytona winner Michael Annett, in the Bill Davis Racing Pilot Travel Centers Toyota, was second quickest overall with a speed of 144.208 mph.
“We were really tight early yesterday, so we made some spring changes,” said Annett. “Now we can roll around right on the bottom. We made a lot of gains on our race set up yesterday, so today, we’ve been working on race set ups.
“The biggest key to Rockingham will be the tires. Anyone can go out and bust off one great lap on sticker tires, but it’s the driver who still has a car you can drive fast with at the end of 40 laps who will win the race. You have to learn how to be good over the long haul.”
Justin Marks, in the Germain Racing Voodoo Ride Toyota, was third on the speed charts at 143.472 mph.
“This race will we be won or lost at the end of a tire run,” said Marks. “We have a very good car for here, and I think we accomplished all of our goals. The biggest thing is making the car as consistent as possible from new to old tires. You’ve got to minimize the fall-off. It’s definitely a tough track, so you’ve got to get yourself as comfortable as possible. You have to stay in the wheel all the way around; it’s super challenging. To me, it feels like a big Salem Speedway.”
Despite making contact with the wall off turn two just before lunch on Saturday, Justin Allgaier posted the fourth quickest speed overall at 142.993 mph.
“I’m really not sure what happened,” said Allgaier. “We were making a tire run, trying some things when the car took off toward the wall. It’s unfortunate; we worked really hard for two days to make that car right. Fortunately, the car isn’t hurt bad. We’ll get it fixed up and bring it back for the race.
“We also tested our Salem car here, but the other one felt better. This is definitely a tough track. It’s our longest race of the year. So, anything you can do to make yourself more comfortable in the car will only benefit you during the race.”
Joey Logano, a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, was fifth quickest overall in the Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet.
“We still need to make the car better,” said Logano. “It’s good, but it can be better, and the guys are working real hard to get there. But what a blast this place is to drive. This place is challenging; it’s a driver’s track and you have to stay up on the wheel all the way around. Really looking forward to racing here.”
Newcomer Kyle Strickler also wrecked late in the day after he slid sideways off turn four. Strickler landed against sand barrels at the entrance of pit road. Although the car appeared badly damaged, Strickler was not injured.
Other drivers who participated in the open test included Dexter Bean, Matt Carter, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ken Butler, III, Chad McCumbee and Bobby Gerhart to name a few.
The inaugural Carolina 500 will be LIVE on SPEED at 12 noon Eastern Sunday, May 4th. The event is spread out over three days with practice on Friday and Saturday. SIM Factory Pole Award Qualifying rolls off at 10:00 am Saturday with second round qualifying to follow at 2:30 pm.
The next event for the ARCA RE/MAX Series will be the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts at Salem Speedway, Sunday, April 13th.
Visit http://www.arcaracing.com for more information on the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
Overall Test Speeds, ARCA RE/MAX Series
Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham NC (3-21/22-08)
POS NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR TIME SPEED 1 2 Scott Speed/Manteca CA Red Bull Toyota 24.942 144.335 2 28 Michael Annett/Des Moines IA Pilot Travel Centers Toyota 24.964 144.208 3 65 Justin Marks/Rocklin CA Voodoo Ride Toyota 25.092 143.472 4 16 Justin Allgaier/Springfield IL AG Tech-Hoosier Tire Midwest Chevrolet 25.176 142.993 5 25 Joey Logano/Middletown CT Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet 25.195 142.885 6 37 Dexter Bean/Westby WI Glock Chevrolet 25.327 142.141 7 46 Matt Carter/Denver NC Stine Seed-Fort Dodge Animal Health Ford 25.338 142.079 8 1 Chad McCumbee/Supply NC Maaco Auto Painting Ford 25.343 142.051 9 99 Ricky Stenhouse Jr./Olive Branch MS K&N Ford 25.411 141.671 10 1 Tom Hessert, III/Cherry Hill NJ Maaco Auto Painting Ford 25.420 141.621 11 70 Nick Tucker/Bremerton WA Nick Tucker Dodge 25.439 141.515 12 20 Justin Lofton/Westmorland CA Lofton Cattle Dodge 25.499 141.182 13 30 Jesse Smith/Wildwood MO Jones Group Dodge 25.514 141.099 14 19 Jack Bailey/Stafford VA D’Hondt Motorsports Toyota 25.538 140.966 15 32 James Buescher/Plano TX Win-Tron Driver Development Dodge 25.554 140.878 16 60 Patrick Sheltra/Indiantown FL Ferguson Pipe-FloraGanics Chevrolet 25.574 140.768 17 22 Ken Butler III/Lilburn NC Aaron’s Toyota 25.663 140.280 18 43 Van Knill/Tucson AZ Specialty Racing Chevrolet 25.678 140.198 19 4 Tayler Malsam/Sammamish WA Dodge Motorsports-Cunningham Dodge 25.692 140.121 20 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario Jones Group Dodge 25.817 139.443 21 09 Clay Rogers/Mooresville NC Zaxby’s-SPS Ford 25.877 139.120 22 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Chevrolet 25.884 139.082 23 70 Kyle Strickler/Sinking Springs PA Nick Tucker Dodge 25.920 138.889 24 31 Austin Dillon/Lewisville NC RCR Chevrolet 25.964 138.654 25 11 Bryan Silas/Stuart FL Nortrax-ICI Homes Ford 26.053 138.180 26 12 Mario Gosselin/Lake Wales FL ElectrifyingCareers.com Chevrolet 26.092 137.973 27 90 Gabi DiCarlo/Phoenix AZ Great Clips-Lucas Oil Chevrolet 26.125 137.799 28 87 Chris Cockrum/Conyers GA Corning-Accutech-Berktek-Ortronics Chevrolet 26.185 137.483 29 93 Pierre Bourque/Ottawa ON Impre Media Dodge 26.223 137.284 30 3 Jeremy Clements/Spartanburg SC Boudreaux’s Butt Paste Chevrolet 26.267 137.054 31 45 Michael Phelps/Suwanee GA Cunningham Motorsports Dodge 26.287 136.950 32 76 Ryan Hackett/Laplata MD JandRSupply.com-State Farm Ford 26.318 136.789 33 30 Chad Blount/Walkerton IN Jones Group Dodge 26.432 136.199 34 25 Marc Davis/Silver Spring MD Howard University Radio-WHUR Chevrolet 26.446 136.126 35 35 Ricky Sanders/Stockbridge GA RaceFansSponsored Chevrolet 26.730 134.680 36 28 Jeff Buice/Charlotte NC Shaver Motorsports Chevrolet 26.736 134.650 37 09 John Wes Townley/Watkinsville GA Zaxby’s-SPS Ford 26.792 134.368 38 7 AJ Henriksen/Mooresville NC ECC Ford 27.139 132.650 39 71 Ted Olswfski/Pennington NJ T. Johnson Design Chevrolet 30.106
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