Carl Edwards and several other Sprint Cup stars gave the new, faster Gen-6 race car a thumbs-up after a Goodyear tire test Tuesday at Darlington Raceway. Edwards said the digital speedometer on his Ford Fusion hit 193 mph right before entering turn three, a typically unheard of speed at the ultra-tricky track.
“Each time down, you want to watch and see what you’re doing,” he said. “But the fastest point is the point where the track needs your attention and your eyes are not supposed to be on that monitor. I saw 193 or something, but I can’t look at it any longer before I have to look into the corner.” #11-Denny Hamlin, #56-Martin Truex Jr., #27-Paul Menard and #42-Juan Pablo Montoya were also at Darlington for the daylong session.
NASCAR teams have previously tested the car at Daytona International Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. Edwards found the new machine to be faster and racers should expect better handling and tighter racing when the circuit returns to NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway for the Southern 500 on May 11.
A few laps around the track “Too Tough To Tame” in the new car and Truex was confident someone would shatter Darlington’s record qualifying speed of 181.254 mph set by Kasey Kahne at the 2011 race. (Associated Press)
