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Rehagen Racing
came to the Grand-American KONI Challenge test at Daytona (Fla.)
International Speedway with a plan. The team brought five Ford Mustangs
to the race track with the intention of gathering data, testing product
and educating the drivers. By the time the checkered flag flew over the
Jan. 4-6 test, every one of those goals was accomplished, and then some.
The team set the two fastest times recorded by any of the more than 60
KONI Challenge cars which participated in the three-day event. And even
better, each of the five Mustangs recorded a top-five time in at least
one of the on-track sessions.
Hugh Plumb recorded a 2:00.963 elapsed time over the 3.56-mile stadium
road course in the afternoon session on Jan. 5, posting what would stand
as the best time of any during the test session. He will compete with
co-driver Mike Canney in the No. 60 Mustang which will have ROUSH 427R
graphics on the body.
Dean Martin posted a time of 2:01.084 in the same session in the No. 59
ROUSH Performance Mustang, a time which would stand as the second-quick
overall. As with last season, Martin will share the seat with Jack
Roush, Jr. in 2008.
"I don't think that our team has ever come into a test session better
prepared and knowing in advance exactly what we wanted to test and how
to measure the different variables," said Martin. "We tested a number of
different things like chassis setups, springs, brake packages, and even
the handling of the ROUSH Mustang with and without a spoiler on the rear
deck lid. I feel like we gathered an incredible amount of data and we
should be much stronger this season because of it."
While Martin took the testing lead on the No. 59 ROUSH Performance
Mustang, Roush had the responsibility to relearn the race track and work
on improving his lap times. Now in his second season of KONI Challenge
competition, Roush participated in the test session at Daytona
International Speedway in 2007, but did not race at the track as the
birth of his second daughter presented a conflict.
"It had been a year since I was last on this race track and it took a
couple of sessions to get back into the correct line," Roush explained.
"My main goal for the test was to continue learning the racetrack and
how the ROUSH Performance Mustang handled in the different sections.
This track has some extremely high-speed areas, but there are also some
technical sections too. I am happy with the progress that I made, but I
think that I still can get a little more out of the car when we come
back for the race."
Roush posted his best lap of 2:02.253 in the morning session on Jan. 6,
dropping more than four seconds from his first lap times just two days
earlier.
The 10-race KONI Challenge Grand Sport season begins on Friday, Jan. 25
with the running of the Fresh from
Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway. The teams will take
the green flag at 2:15 p.m. ET with live timing and scoring available at
Grand-Am.com.
Photos by Juha Lievonen via
The Race Site. |
Test Days at Daytona
