For the second day in a row Roush Fenway Racing's Erik Darnell led the way in single-truck runs during NASCAR Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona International Speedway.
Wheeling the No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford, Darnell picked up substantially over the previous day's top run with a lap of 178.547 mph on Saturday during NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series testing. On Friday he turned a lap of 177.210.
Just behind Darnell in the morning runs were the No. 29 Dodge of Scott Lynch and the No. 5 Toyota of Mike Skinner.
"We just need to get things going. We chose to bring a little different package down here to Daytona this year,'' said Skinner. "We have a little more down force, and our truck is not as slick as some of the other guys, but we're okay. We're just having fun."
Lynch's ride sustained minor damage due to a small scrap in Turn 3. The 28 Chevrolet of Wayne Edwards spun around in the final hour between Turns 1 and 2, but reported no significant damage.
At the end of the day, the No. 2 Chevrolet of Jack Sprague and No. 7 of Andy Lally ran into each other in the garage, causing both teams to do some minor repairs to those entries.
The No. 9 Germain Racing Toyota of Justin Marks was fourth-quickest, followed by the No. 4 Dodge of Stacy Compton, who shook down both of Bobby Hamilton Racing-Virginia's trucks in the morning before teammate Dennis Setzer arrived at noon.
Setzer had been in Hickory N.C., until midnight at the bedside of his 65-year old mother, Tommie Newton, who suffered a stroke Wednesday night during emergency kidney stone surgery.
"We've been at the hospital about 24 hours around the clock since then,'' said Newton. "She told me "you've got a job to do, you go do it.' Being here may make it easier on her because she's not there worrying about me having a job to do.''
Setzer did make his way into the No. 18 BHR-V truck in the afternoon drafting session, which was led by the No. 21 Ford of Jon Wood who turned a lap of 184.332 mph.
Right behind Wood in the afternoon session was the No. 30 Toyota of Bodine (183.763 mph), the No. 14 Ford of Rick Crawford (183.703 mph), Marks (183.610 mph) and defending NCTS champion Ron Hornaday (183.266 mph).
"I am really noticing that the track is slicker when it gets a few laps on it. We have tried two different trucks and it doesn't matter, it is still the same way," said Hornaday. "I think some of the accidents yesterday were caused because of the slickness of it, the tires and just some people being dumb."
Skinner, Compton, Johnny Benson, Shane Sieg and Hornaday rounded out the top-10 in the evening session.
One of the rides that made the biggest improvements from Day 1 to Day 2 was that of the No. 13 ThorSport Chevrolet of Shelby Howard.
Howard was ninth-quickest on Friday at 175.258 mph, but on Saturday he turned the sixth-quickest circuit with a lap of 176.039 mph in the morning session. Just behind Howard were Bodine, the No. 60 Toyota of Terry Cook, the No. 88 Chevrolet of Matt Crafton and the No. 8 Chevrolet of Chad McCumbee.
"I really didn't do a lot this winter -- just looking forward to getting back to racing,'' said Bodine. "As a racer you get to the end of the season and after a couple weeks off you say -- 'that's good now lets go smell some fumes and go back to racing.' We're ready to go."
Also present for a second day was Gillett Evernham Motorsports development driver Erin Crocker, who announced she would drive Morgan-Dollar Motorsports' No. 46 Chevrolet in the first two races of the season.
Crocker drove in the ARCA/RE/MAX Series last season after competing fulltime in the NCTS in 2006 when she placed 25th overall in the final points standings.
"To drive for (owner) David (Dollar) and his team is a tremendous opportunity for me," said Crocker. "Morgan-Dollar has proven consistently through the years they field exceptional trucks and are contenders for wins and championships every time they unload at a track."
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