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Fittipaldi fastest in Daytona testing

 

 

January 14, 2003

 

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Christian Fittipaldi returned to Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday for the second of NASCAR's testing sessions, and posted the fastest lap of the day.

 

Fittipaldi, making the switch this season from CART to NASCAR season, plans to driver a car owned by Andy Petree Racing in the season-opening Daytona 500. The Brazilian tested the No. 33 Chevrolet on Tuesday and ran the fastest lap at 183.561 mph in the afternoon session. That topped the 181.243 he ran last week in Petree's No. 55 Chevy.

 

``Although people say it is pretty easy to run around this place, especially when you are on the track by yourself, you have to remember I have zero experience running at this place,'' Fittipaldi, scheduled to run a mix of Winston Cup, Busch Series and ARCA events for Petty Enterprises this season. ``The more I run, the more I'm learning. I'm learning about the bumps, about how close you can run against the wall and how to quickly bring the car up to speed.''

 

NASCAR rules allow a driver to test with more than one team and even though the No. 33 didn't run many races last season, Petree had owner points for both cars.

 

Fittipaldi said testing both teams was a plan Petree brought up early last week.

 

Ryan Newman, the top rookie last year, was second-fastest Tuesday in a Dodge at 183.408. Dale Jarrett, driving a Ford, was third-fastest, 183.083 in the morning session.<

 

GORDON-SNL

 

Four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon loved hosting ``Saturday Night Live'' last week, even though some of it was embarrassing.

 

``I did things I wouldn't do before in front of a mirror let alone on TV,'' said Gordon, who became the first race car driver to host the variety show when he headlined ``SNL'' on Saturday night.

 

Gordon opened the show by poking fun in his monologue at two cast members posing as stereotypical NASCAR fans, posed as a waiter fed up with an abusive customer and closed the show as ``Ricky Funk'' the cool cousin of a guy who hosts a television program from the basement of his parents' home.

 

Gordon's favorite moment of the show?

 

``When it was over,'' he said. ``There were so many things that happened over the weekend.

 

``There was a skit I read for the first time and laughed. I said, 'No way am I doing that.' They were all awesome experiences.''

 

BURTON'S BACK

 

Ward Burton returned to the site of his biggest victory, when he tested the No. 22 Dodge at Daytona.

 

Burton, who won the season-opening Daytona 500 last season, has a lot of work to do to get back to that level. He was 20th-fastest in the first day of the three-day test, turning a fast lap of 181.587 mph.

 

Burton is sure he and new crew chief Frankie Stoddard will get the car figured out before they leave the test on Thursday. If not, he knows finishing the 500 has as much to do with luck as it does with equipment.

 

``Coming into this race, everybody puts so much preparation into it,'' he said. ``Months, even in some development, a year or more going into this one event.

 

``With all that being said and with all that preparation being done, it's still a race that 35 cars out there are going to be able to win. You're going to have to have some luck and not have any bad luck and be at the right place at the right time to go to racing those last 50 laps.''

 

BUSCH TO IROC:@ Kurt Busch, the hottest driver at the end of last season, has accepted an invitation to run in the IROC series this year.

 

Busch joins Winston Cup star Jimmie Johnson and World of Outlaws drivers Danny Lasoski and Steve Kinser in accepting invitations to join the 12-car field, which pits drivers from various divisions of motorsports against each other in identically prepared Pontiacs in four 100-mile races.

 

``To be selected among the others in this series is no doubt a great honor,'' Busch said. ``I'm looking forward to testing my skills against the best drivers in all of the most popular forms of motorsports.''

 

Busch closed the 2002 season by winning three of the final five races, setting himself up as an early contender for the Winston Cup title and earning the IROC invitation.

 

Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart has already declined to compete in the series this year, which will run its four events at Daytona, Talladega, Chicago and Indianapolis.<

 

FOYT'S SHUFFLE

 

A.J. Foyt Racing has ended its engine program and will utilize power plants from Evernham Motorsports this season.

 

Car owner A.J. Foyt said Tuesday using Evernham engines is part of a reorganization that also includes switching from Pontiac to Dodge and using his son, Larry, as the driver of the No. 14 Intrepid.

 

``I needed to make some changes within my team because I wasn't satisfied with the overall performance,'' A.J. Foyt said. ``We had some good races, but we never found the consistency we needed to stay in the top positions.''

 

Larry Foyt spent the past two seasons in the Busch Series, posting just two top-10 finishes in that time.

 

``At times I had some doubts about keeping my head above water,'' Larry Foyt said. ``But I got through it and I'm stronger and smarter for it, as a driver and a businessman.''