2005 Daytona Test (High Sierra Photo)

While most private test sessions feature single-truck runs and a minimum of excitement for participant and spectator alike, look for the Preseason Thunder test sessions at Daytona International Speedway to be quite different. Now that nearly 30 teams are locked into the field based upon 2005 owner points, and combined with the impound procedure that doesn't allow teams to make adjustments to the trucks after qualifying, teams in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will spend much of their two-day test at the World Center of Speed looking for that perfect race setup.

In years past, not only would teams have the two-day pre-season test, but they would have much of the week leading up to the race to fine tune their qualifying and their race setups. However, in 2005, NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway officials consolidated the schedule leading up to the Friday night clash under the lights. Gone were the practice sessions on Monday and Tuesday, and also off the schedule were the two post-qualifying "happy hour" sessions on Thursday which gave teams and drivers a chance to find comfort in the draft.

Instead, the teams unloaded and had just two short hours of practice on Wednesday, followed by qualifying on Thursday, and then of course the race on Friday night.

With much of that track time now gone, it means the teams must get down to business as quickly as possible once the track opens, during both the January test and official practice during Speedweek itself.

It might not be a perfect analogy to review last January's test runs and compare that with what we can expect this year. While NASCAR had scheduled 16 hours of open track time spread across two days, rain wreaked havoc with the schedule, eliminating track time altogether on Saturday and allowing just a few short hours of track time late in the night on Sunday. Teams were allowed to stay over for several more hours on Monday, but many chose to leave after a demo derby erupted Sunday night.

As soon as the track opened to start the test, the drivers were immediately faced with conditions they might expect to see once the green flag dropped on the race. Packs quickly formed with upwards of a dozen drivers running inches off each other, and primer and paint was routinely swapped as each driver took turns bump drafting towards the front.

Several teams were even forced to reinforce their back bumpers as the contact on the track became more and more intense. There was even a very close call as Dennis Setzer ran out of fuel leading the pack, and Ron Hornaday and Tracy Hines came together trying to avoid him as he slowed directly in front of them. Now, in many instances, once the drivers all realize how close they have come to a big wreck, the action on the track will calm down. But with the competition at Daytona being so close and the drivers all running in packs trying to find that perfect setup in the draft, more action was yet to come.

Jack Sprague and Ron Hornaday Jr. at Daytona Test, 2005. (High Sierra Photo)

Contact in the tri-oval sent Hornaday sideways and he slowed as he tried to gather his machine up. As he did, the pack started ping-ponging behind him, and a crash erupted that sent Jack Sprague and Terry Cook hard into the tri-oval wall and left Hornaday and Ted Musgrave with damage to their machines. Tempers flared in the garage as members of Sprague's team and Musgrave's team shared angry words, but NASCAR officials kept everyone under control.

As the teams involved in the crash loaded their wrecked machines onto the transporters for the long ride home and the drivers went for a checkup in the infield care center, the rest of the drivers made their way back on to the speedway for more race condition testing. Just a few short moments back onto the track, Regan Smith lost control of his truck racing through turns one and two with Jimmy Spencer and pounded the wall head on. In a matter of moments, five trucks were destroyed and the teams involved faced hundreds of man hours to get new ones ready to race just four weeks later.

So is that type of action what to expect from this season's version of Preseason Thunder at Daytona?

It is a safe bet that most teams will again be looking to perfect their race setups, which means that drafting packs will form and the drivers will again be faced with the daunting task of running inches off of each other at 185 miles an hour. While no driver will enter the test sessions with the intention to drive as hard as he or she would in the race, once the pack forms and they are faced with conditions exactly as they find during the race, it is hard not to drive as hard as you do during the race itself.

And that means there is always the possibility of "The Big One", even if it is just a test session.

TruckSeries.com will have complete coverage of the Preseason Thunder test session from Daytona, starting with bonus coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fan Fest from Daytona International Speedway on Friday January 13. We will kick off the 2006 season with TrackSideLive coverage of the on-track action on Saturday January 14 starting at 9 am ET, and we'll conclude coverage as the teams wrap up the test with day three on Sunday January 15. We will bring you exclusive TrackSideLive audio interviews, timing and scoring updates, news and notes from the garage, as well as dozens of exclusive TruckShots images in the photo gallery.