Cup teams get a bonus day

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 07: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, drives during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 7, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 07: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, drives during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 7, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Alex Trautwig/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 07: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, drives during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 7, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS, Nev.—With rain washing out all Sprint Cup activity on Friday at Las Vegas—including time trials—drivers were doubly happy for the practice time they got at Las Vegas during an extra test day on Thursday.

“That was a good move by NASCAR to give us some extra time, on top of the fact that if we did have rain or some issues, we would all have on-track activity,” said five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who will start third in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 with the top 36 drivers in the field set according to 2012 owner points.

“Our car was fast. It took us a few runs to sort out things down in one and two over the bumps, but once we got that under control, then we had a lot of speed in our Chevy.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.