DIEZ: Teleconference with NASCAR drivers

I sat in on a teleconference from Daytona earlier this week, where a number of drivers and NASCAR officials gave their impressions of the Preseason Thunder testing under way at the track.

On Thursday, there had only been single-car runs when the conference took place. Later that day, cars went out and drafted. The difference in speeds was fairly dramatic. Jeff Gordon was quickest in single-car runs, with a best lap of 192.773 miles per hour. The next four fastest were Paul Menard at 192.369, Kurt Busch at 192.361, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at 191.959 and Juan Pablo Montoya at 191.853. In drafting runs, Kyle Busch turned in the fastest lap at 202.402, followed by Joey Logano at 202.388, Brad Keselowski at 202.224, A.J. Allmendinger at 202.220, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. at 200.920.

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Veteran Mark Martin expressed extreme pleasure at being with Michael Waltrip Racing and running a partial schedule.

"See this big old smile on my face?" he asked.

On the new rules and drafting, he said, "When drivers find a way to go 10 mph faster it's hard to stop it. We'll have to see what happens when we get some experience in drafting practice here."

He also weighed in on the new fuel injection system, saying "It's noticeable more in the way you start the car and in the garage. On the track I hardly noticed any difference at all."

Martin went on to say that there is a lot of potential for sharp engineers with laptops to do lots of things, unlike the old days in the shop with Jack Roush and a carburetor.

Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt. Jr. told the journalists present to remind Matt Kenseth owed him $2,500. Apparently, Kenseth showed up wearing a beard at a 70s party that Earnhardt threw, and somehow a bet was made that he wouldn't keep it through the Daytona test session.

Kenseth had a response when he was questioned.

"In the old days he'd have had enough beers in him wouldn't have remembered the bet," Kenseth said.

Junior also talked about hiring Cole Whitt to drive his JR Motorsports Nationwide car. "Cole has a lot of untapped talent . . . everybody I talked to told me Cole is the guy." Earnhardt said he enjoyed helping young drivers develop, compared Whitt to Brad Keselowski.

Tony Stewart took time to reflect on his 2011 championship.

"Last season was like a fairy tale with a storybook ending," he said.

Danica Patrick talked about getting comfortable in the Cup car and learning the team members.

"It's a little like the first day at school, fitting everything and meeting everybody," she said. "Zippy's Greg Zipadelli, crew chief) accent isn't as thick as Tony Junior's. I can understand every word he says."

Stewart said the team was to have Zipadelli on board and working with Danica. He was Stewart's crew chief when Tony came over from Indy cars, and also helped Joey Logano.

There were some technical difficulties with Friday's call, so I only got to hear Jimmie Johnson for part of his interview. He said that he and Chad Knaus had made some mistakes last year, and they're focused on correcting them in 2012.

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NASCAR officials Mike Helton, Robin Pemberton, and John Darby ended the call, talking about how the tests are going from NASCAR's perspective. With Friday speeds topping 206 mph, there might be some final rule tweaks coming for the 500. Pemberton and Helton also addressed questions about the new 2013 Cup car. Pemberton said that various pieces are currently being wind-tunnel tested, and that they expect prototype cars on track in the second quarter.

Helton hailed it as a historical event.

"Never before in our history has there been such collaboration between NASCAR and the manufacturers to start from a clean sheet of paper to design a car. We are all excited to see it unfold," he said.

There was a lot more, but I've run out of space. It should be an exciting season.