Morning's Mightiest: Montoya

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 Roush Fenway claims four of best nine times After yesterday's Chevrolet domination of the top spot on PIR’s scoring tower, Juan Montoya brought Dodge to the summit in Tuesday’s opening session of the "Cactus Trials" NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test. The session was the fourth of five overall. Montoya turned in a lap of 27.385 seconds - good for a speed of 131.459 mph – so far the best of the “Cactus Trials.” Coming in second in the morning session, Jamie McMurray’s best lap took just 27.488 seconds, moving him around the track at a clip of 130.966 mph. Teammate Greg Biffle was third with a best lap of 27.511 seconds, and Carl Edwards (seventh) and David Ragan (ninth) both finished the morning among the top ten, giving Roush Fenway four top spots. The “Cactus Trials” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test concludes this afternoon with the final session, which is closed to the public. Here are the top five speeds from the morning session, the fourth of five in the two-day testing period:

42A
Juan Montoya
Dodge
27.385 seconds
131.459 mph

26A
Jamie McMurray
Ford
27.488 seconds
130.966 mph

16A
Greg Biffle
Ford
27.511 seconds
130.857 mph

1A
Martin Truex Jr.
Chevrolet
27.555 seconds
130.648 mph

41B
Reed Sorenson
Dodge
27.581 seconds
130.525 mph

Kevin Harvick turned in the sixth-fastest best lap, followed by Edwards, Paul Menard, Ragan, and Kyle Busch. Kasey Kahne made his “Cactus Trials” debut after recovering from an illness that kept him out of (and Nationwide Series veteran Jason Keller in) the No. 9 Dodge yesterday. Though Mark Martin will run the No. 8 at PIR in April, teammate Aric Almirola tested the car at points throughout the morning session, as he will climb into the ride in the November event, just as he did in 2007. Click here for yesterday’s top evening session speeds. Click here for yesterday’s top afternoon session speeds. Click here for yesterday’s top morning session speeds.

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