DAYTONA, Fla. — NASCAR has feared speeds over 200 mph at Daytona and Talladega, this afternoon speeds reached 206 mph during drafting practice at day two of preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway.
Kurt Busch posted the fastest lap in a two-car tandem with Regan Smith at 206.05 mph. Teams also ran in the long, familiar, large packs with Kyle Busch turning the fastest lap at 205.81 mph. The drivers were happy with the 200 mph speeds and some even shocked that the 200 mph barrier had been breached, and accepted by NASCAR.
“It’s embedded in our minds we can’t go out there over 200 mph in race condition,” said
four-time Sprint Cup Champion, Jeff Gordon. “Somehow it’s become accepted and I think that’s a good thing. It’s very comfortable. It’s extremely comfortable.”
After all the data is in from this week’s testing there very well could be more rule changes before the 2012 Daytona 500. NASCAR will evaluate and make decisions on the final rule package in the next few weeks.
Teams have one more day of testing at Daytona and then make the trek back to the race shop to digest, analyze and put all the information they gathered this week to use for the biggest race of the NASCAR season, the Daytona 500.
The Daytona 500 can be seen right here on FOX 4 on February 26, 2012.
