Pre-season Thunder - day 1: Waltrip right at home.

Fast off the truck and fast on the track. It didn't take Michael Waltrip long to make a statement yesterday [Tuesday], the opening day of NASCAR Preseason Thunder, the annual preseason test sessions at Daytona International Speedway.
Fast off the truck and fast on the track. It didn't take Michael Waltrip long to make a statement yesterday [Tuesday], the opening day of NASCAR Preseason Thunder, the annual preseason test sessions at Daytona International Speedway.
Waltrip, the reigning and two-time Daytona 500 champion and driver of the #15 NAPA Chevrolet, was fastest during Tuesday's morning and afternoon sessions. He turned the top lap of 186.834 mph in the morning session and also claimed the third-fastest lap of 185.820 mph. In the afternoon, Waltrip's session-high lap was 185.755 mph.
Teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., (#8 Budweiser Chevrolet) turned the morning's fifth-fastest lap of 184.926 mph, giving Dale Earnhardt Incorporated three of the opening session's top five times. Earnhardt Jr. was also fifth-fasted in the afternoon session at 184.536 mph.
"It's the pinnacle of our sport," said Waltrip of the Daytona 500. "It's quite an honour. I don't take it lightly."
Even a morning setback couldn't stop the #15 team. An oil line broke during one of Waltrip's runs, causing him to graze a wall. With that car suddenly unavailable, he switched to his second car and turned the fastest lap during the afternoon session.
"It happened so fast I didn't really know what went on," said Waltrip, who explained the problem and added, "We had a pretty major oil event under the hood that really messed that car up."
The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams testing this week are the first to begin 2004 on-track preparations. They are teams which finished in odd-number positions in 2003 car owner points. Teams which finished in even-number positions in 2003 car owner points will test next week (January 13- 15).
Defending series champion Matt Kenseth (#17 DeWALT Ford) was eighth-fastest in the morning at 184.038 mph. Jeff Green, starting his first season in the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge, was second fastest at 185.835 mph and also seventh-fastest at 184.170 mph. In the afternoon, Green dropped to third-fastest (184.885 mph). Joe Nemechek (#01 U.S. Army Chevrolet) was second fastest at 185.494 mph.