Daytona Testing Draft Speeds

So Preseason Thunder for the Sprint Cup boys is finally over and some surprises presented themselves. First, Dario Franchitti really surprised. Not only was he 8th fastest overall in single car tests but he was 4th fastest during drafting testing. The Toyota's also appear to have gotten their act together as they were fast in both single car runs and the drafting sessions. Needless to say the Daytona 500 is gonna be one wild race and hard as anything to predict. One thing I do feel comfortable saying is that MANY Toyota's will likely be qualifying near the front. I don't know how they will race, but I'll bet a Toyota is on the front row of the 500 this year.

Kasey Kahne lead all drivers during the drafting sessions with a best speed of 189.111 (47.591) followed by Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin in Toyota's, Franchitti's Dodge and Regan Smith's Chevrolet.

Cars that will are guaranteed to start the Daytona 500 are listed in bold. Drivers with past champion provisionals available to them will be in italics. Remember, Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. switched owner points, so Kurt will have to qualify on speed in the first five races of the season or use his champions provisional. He will not miss the first five races however since he is the most recent past champion not already in the top 35 in owner points. His name will appear in bold and italics.

Also note that many of the drivers tested multiple cars, hence why some car numbers have a letter beside them. The speeds listed below are the drafting runs for each driver from all the drafting test sessions at Daytona this week and last.

Car. No, Name, Make, Best Time, Best Speed, Test Session
1. 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 47.591 189.111 Jan. 16
2. 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 47.662 188.830 Jan. 9 PM
3. 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 47.665 188.818 Jan. 16
4. 40 Dario Franchitti Dodge 47.689 188.723 Jan. 16
5. 01 Regan Smith Chevrolet 47.703 188.667 Jan. 16
6. 12 Ryan Newman Dodge 47.724 188.584 Jan. 16
7. 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 47.747 188.494 Jan. 9 PM
8. 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 47.836 188.143 Jan. 16
9. 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge 47.845 188.107 Jan. 16
10. 20 Tony Stewart Toyota 47.857 188.060 Jan. 16
11. 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 47.877 187.982 Jan. 16
12. 6 David Ragan Ford 47.888 187.939 Jan. 16
13. 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge 47.894 187.915 Jan. 9 PM
14. 22 Dave Blaney Toyota 47.909 187.856 Jan. 16
15. 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 47.910 187.852 Jan. 16
16. 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet 47.912 187.844 Jan. 16
17. 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 47.914 187.837 Jan. 9 PM
18. 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota 47.922 187.805 Jan. 9 PM
19. 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 47.922 187.805 Jan. 9 PM
20. 34 Derrike Cope Dodge 47.925 187.793 Jan. 16
21. 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota 47.958 187.664 Jan. 16
22. 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 47.992 187.531 Jan. 15 PM
23. 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet 48.007 187.473 Jan. 16
24. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 48.014 187.445 Jan. 16
25. 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 48.019 187.426 Jan. 16
26. 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota 48.036 187.359 Jan. 8 PM
27. 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet 48.040 187.344 Jan. 9 PM
28. 21 Bill Elliott Ford 48.042 187.336 Jan. 16
29. 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 48.047 187.317 Jan. 8 PM
30. 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet 48.049 187.309 Jan. 9 PM
31. 10 Patrick Carpentier Dodge 48.052 187.297 Jan. 16
32. 38 David Gilliland Ford 48.065 187.246 Jan. 16
33. 16 Greg Biffle Ford 48.075 187.207 Jan. 9 AM
34. 99 Carl Edwards Ford 48.089 187.153 Jan. 9 PM
35. 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 48.090 187.149 Jan. 9 AM
36. 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 48.093 187.137 Jan. 9 PM
37. 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 48.099 187.114 Jan. 15 PM
38. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge 48.107 187.083 Jan. 9 PM
39. 00 David Reutimann Toyota 48.111 187.067 Jan. 9 PM
40. 28 Travis Kvapil Ford 48.118 187.040 Jan. 15 PM
41. 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 48.157 186.889 Jan. 9 PM
42. 7 Robby Gordon Ford 48.181 186.796 Jan. 8 PM
43. 27 Jacques Villeneuve Toyota 48.295 186.355 Jan. 9 AM
44. 70 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet 48.299 186.339 Jan. 9 AM
45. 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 48.332 186.212 Jan. 8 PM
46. 09 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 48.345 186.162 Jan. 15 PM
47. 50 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 48.429 185.839 Jan. 16
48. 34 Eric McClure Dodge 48.434 185.820 Jan. 15 PM
49. 49 Ken Schrader Dodge 48.456 185.736 Jan. 16
50. 45 Kyle Petty Dodge 48.516 185.506 Jan. 9 PM
51. 08 Carl Long Dodge 48.611 185.143 Jan. 16
52. 87 Jeff Fuller Chevrolet 48.969 183.790 Jan. 15 PM
53. 60 Boris Said Ford 49.225 182.834 Jan. 16
54. 98 Jason Keller Dodge 49.241 182.775 Jan. 9 PM
55. 33 Kirk Shelmerdine Chevrolet 49.304 182.541 Jan. 9 PM
56. 57 Norm Benning Chevrolet 50.171 179.386 Jan. 16