Teams take different agendas into test, Jeff Gordon says, so results aren't an easy read

DAVID POOLE

The Charlotte Observer

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008

Juan Pablo Montoya jumped to the top of the speed chart as Sprint Cup Series testing wrapped up Tuesday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Montoya took his No. 42 Dodge around the 1.5-mile oval at an average speed of 186.761 mph to post the fastest single lap of the two-day session. AJ Allmendinger, in a Toyota, was second fastest at 185.752 mph. Casey Mears, Kasey Kahne and Reed Sorenson rounded out the top five.

Other than putting his name in the headline, though, it’s hard to tell from the speeds list who had the best of it.

“We all have the telemetry or the times and the first thing I do ... is to look at all the laps that every car made,” said Jeff Gordon, whose fastest lap at 183.542 mph had him 22nd on the final cumulative list.

“The only true way you know who's good and who's not is to look at five-, 10- and 20-lap runs of a team or a car,” Gordon said.

“I think there are certain teams that are up toward the top that if they're fast now, they're going to be fast when we come back. There are some guys making qualifying runs that are outside the top 35 in points.

“You've got to be careful about reading too much in that. ...Guys can put up a great first lap, but if they fall off after five laps, we're not going to worry about them too much except maybe for qualifying.”

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