Ruttman keeps rolling during Busch Series test
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
January 25, 2002
6:07 PM EST (2307 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Veteran Joe Ruttman continued to show his versatility and his speed Friday at Daytona International Speedway as he set the fastest non-drafting test time of the winter on the final day of NASCAR Busch Series pre-season testing.
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Joe Ruttman gives car chief Johnny Allen some handling notes.
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By the end of the day, which was cut 20 minutes short by rain, Ruttman had raised the bar to 48.402 seconds, an average speed of 185.943 mph, the fastest by a Busch Series, Winston Cup or Craftsman Truck Series machine.
Ruttman, 57, answered a late call last week from Craftsman Truck Series owner Rodney Smith and was among the fastest trucks in both single-truck and drafting sessions. He was at Daytona standing-in for Phoenix Racing owner James Finch’s regular driver, Jimmy Spencer, who had a commitment with his Winston Cup team, Ganassi Racing.
Ruttman, who was one of three drivers who topped 184 mph the day before, ran the best lap in the three-hour morning session. Then, after the Phoenix crew dismantled the No. 1 Yellow Freight Pontiac’s exhaust system, removed the driveshaft and changed the transmission, he gradually improved all afternoon.
“The car is fast,” Ruttman said. “I’ve tested for them the last couple years and they won two years ago with that one (with Randy LaJoie in 1999). I think this one is actually faster even than the one last year (which P.J. Jones qualified third).”
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The No. 1 Phoenix Racing Pontiac
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“With Joe you can get good feedback,” Phoenix crew chief Marc Reno, who has a long history with Ruttman, said of the arrangement Finch has had with Ruttman. “That’s why we did it last year. Joe did three or four speedway tests for us and Jimmy never drove the car until we got to the race track, and it ran fine.”
“Practice is nothing -- I’ve got to get out in the race,” Ruttman said, echoing a sentiment Reno had hinted might occur if the field of entries for the opener is shorter than the 43-car limit. “I’ve been doing their superspeedway stuff for probably the last five years and I’ve been begging him for a chance to race one.”
“This is a twin to the car we had here last year, a brand new car,” Reno said. “We tested it against the old car (at Talladega) and feel like it’s two or three tenths quicker.”
Pontiacs continued to dominate the second round of Busch Series tests, as they had three of the five best speeds. Thursday’s fast man Lyndon Amick tested a pair of No. 26 Carroll Racing Pontiacs just .001 seconds apart in the morning. He ended up as the second best with a lap in 48.615 / 185.128 mph.
Rounding out the top five Friday were Tony Raines in the No. 33 Bayer Chevrolet, 184.188 mph; Michael Waltrip in the No. 99 Aaron’s Chevrolet, 184.042; and Jeff Purvis in the No. 37 Timber Wolf Pontiac, 183.169.
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Bobby Hamilton Jr.
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Bobby Hamilton Jr. had the best Ford, with the No. 25 U.S. Marines Taurus in ninth at 49.329 / 182.448 mph; and Hank Parker Jr., who is testing the only Dodge, the No. 36 GNC Intrepid, was 14th quickest at 49.473 / 181.917.
For the four days of Busch testing, Ruttman, Amick, Jeff Fuller -- who tested only Thursday, Raines and Waltrip had the top five cumulative speeds. The best car from the first two-day session, Jan. 21-22, was Chad Little’s Pontiac in sixth at 183.914 mph.
The best Ford on the cumulative list was Hamilton in 18th. Parker placed his Dodge in 24th.
Finch, who is only concerned with fielding the best car possible, no matter the make, ran Chevrolets and Pontiacs last year, and is also preparing some Dodges, Reno said.
“We’ve got Pontiacs for both Daytona races and Talladega and Chevrolets for the early races,” Reno said. “We’ve got some cars we’re ready to put some Dodge bodies on but we’re just waiting to see how they perform.”
Finch was one of the first owners to build a Busch Series Dodge when DaimlerChrysler announced it was returning to major league stock car racing a couple years ago.
“They’ve got a couple Dodges here and they’re stroking a little bit,” the veteran mechanic said of Welliver-Jesel Motorsports. “I guess nobody will really know until we get here where you really lay out. If they out-run us here we’ll have a Dodge by Talladega.”
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