JGR's No. 20 car paces first day of N'wide test at LMS

CONCORD, N.C. -- The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota continued to dominate the Nationwide Series on Monday at Lowe's Motor Speedway as Denny Hamlin set the pace during testing for the May 24 Carquest Auto Parts 300.

The No. 20 car has won four consecutive races with three different drivers and Hamlin topped the speed chart in both sessions on the first of two days of testing. His evening lap of 29.635 seconds (182.217 mph) was clearly superior among the more than 40 cars that took to the 1.5-mile track.

Fast facts

What	Carquest Auto Parts 300
When	Green, 7:46 p.m. ET May 24
TV	ESPN2, 7 p.m. ET
Radio	PRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 7:30 ET

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Defending series champion Carl Edwards was second-fastest on the electronic timers at 182.014 mph in the No. 60 Roush Fenway Ford.

Kasey Kahne, winner of last year's Carquest Auto Parts 300, was third-fastest in the No. 9 Gillett Evernham Dodge at 181.947 mph while Greg Biffle was fourth at 181.708 in the No. 16 Roush Fenway Ford. Rookie Chase Miller rounded out the top five at 181.549 mph in the No. 19 Gillett Evernham Dodge.

David Stremme, driver of Rusty Wallace's No. 64 Dodge, said the horsepower difference between the Nationwide cars and the Sprint Cup cars has a tremendous impact on how a driver approaches the 1.5-mile superspeedway.

"We got to run the Penske car here last week both days and, obviously, it was a little warmer, but a Cup car is not as fast through the corners as what a Nationwide car is," Stremme explained. "So, at this time on the first day last week, we were already in the second or third lane, running against the wall and a lot of that is because the Cup cars have so much more horsepower.

"You're going into the corner faster, so you have to slow down a little bit more in the center and then you can power off. In the Nationwide car, you're almost wide open for a lap or two and then the tires fall off a little bit. You carry so much more speed through the corners you have to run the bottom of the racetrack. If I was a betting man, I'd almost bet that the Cup cars are going to race around the top, and whoever's car can run the middle to the bottom is going to be out front.

"The Nationwide race is going to be on the bottom and whoever's car is turning the best will win. There's no power in these cars. They don't run down the straightaway, so you've got to get all your speed through the corners."

Lowe's Motor Speedway was repaved in April 2006 and Stremme said the surface is aging gracefully.

"The racetrack has seasoned well. I was fortunate enough to run on the old racetrack before it got ground, and then when it got ground and then with the new asphalt," he said. "I'm really happy at how it's still Charlotte. You've got to be careful in Turns 3 and 4 during the hot weather.

"Then you can look around on the racetrack and still run up by the wall or on the bottom. It makes for a lot of fun."

Jeff Burton, driver of the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, praised Goodyear for the tire engineers selected for the May races at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"I had a scheduling conflict so we kind of got a late start, but everything is going well, Burton said during the dinner break. "I really like these tires on this surface. I think it's the best Goodyear has done so far at this racetrack, and the few laps I've run have been good."

The most serious incident of the day took place during the afternoon session when David Green slammed the outside SAFER barrier in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 83 Chevrolet. Green said he was making just his third lap when the right-front tire went down and the car shot to the outside. Green was evaluated and released from the Carolinas HealthCare System Infield Medical Center.

Robert Richardson Jr. spun during the afternoon session, but did not make wall contact.

Testing continues from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET Tuesday and the frontstretch grandstand will be open free of charge.

Tickets for all May events at Lowe's Motor Speedway, including Saturday's NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the May 25 Coca-Cola 600, can be purchased by calling the track ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS or online at lowesmotorspeedway.com.