Hornaday tests at Daytona for BAM Racing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Ron Hornaday passed up some prime lakefront time Tuesday to take laps at steamy Daytona International Speedway on behalf of BAM Racing and its driver, Shawna Robinson.

BAM was one of two Winston Cup teams and two Busch Series outfits that tested cars on the first day of a two-day session at the 2.5-mile speedway in preparation for the July 5-6 Busch/Winston Cup doubleheader.

Hornaday shook down two No. 49 Dodge Intrepids for the July 6 Pepsi 400 Winston Cup race, while Robinson took a previously scheduled vacation. In two previous superspeedway races this season the BAM team qualified for the Daytona 500, finishing a season best 24th. The team failed to make the Talladega 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

"Shawna couldn't be here -- she had a previously scheduled vacation -- and I have been helping this BAM team most of the year anyway, so I was glad to come down," Hornaday said. "We are just working on things that we can do to get the cars rolling straighter and more freely so they can come back and qualify for this race.

"Everything we're doing to this car we will be able to transfer over to my Dr Pepper Chevrolet in the Busch Series and I really appreciate Eddie (Jones, BAM team manager) and (Busch owner) Dave Carroll letting me do this."

Geoffrey Bodine also tested a Winston Cup car, the same No. 09 Miccosukee Ford he drove to third place in the Daytona 500 for team owner James Finch. Bodine hopes to make his fourth Winston Cup start of the season at Daytona, after finishing 12th at Talladega and 19th at Michigan.

Joe Ruttman had his choice of two No. 51 Yellow Freight Busch cars from Finch's Phoenix Racing shops. Ruttman, who made a Busch start for Finch at Talladega in April, practiced in a Chevrolet and a Pontiac.

Robert Yates Racing's Busch Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Kasey Kahne tested a pair of No. 98 Fords -- one a primered car and the other a U.S. Marines liveried car similar to those driven by Team Rensi Motorsports driver Bobby Hamilton Jr.

TRM has been fielding Yates' Busch Series Channellock Fords since late spring to allow the car owner to devote his team's resources to its two-car Winston Cup effort for drivers Ricky Rudd and Dale Jarrett.

On Tuesday, Bodine had the fastest randomly clocked hand-held time, 182.927 mph, which compared favorably -- considering it was run in the heat of the day -- to Sterling Marlin's 2001 Bud Pole time for the Pepsi 400 of 183.778 mph.

In other random clockings Ruttman ran 182.186 mph, Kahne 181.087 and Hornaday 180.

The test will continue Wednesday, one week before Busch cars sign-in to the Daytona garage.