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NASCAR GDS: Rookies Continue to Lead Daytona Testing

19 January 1999

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA--With the two days of testing completed for the Goody's Dash Series at Daytona International Speedway, the rookie contention continues to be among the fastest around the 2.5 mile superspeedway. Eleven of the 20 fastest times turned were posted with rookie drivers behind the wheel.

Rookie, Randy Humphrey of Cornelius, N.C. continued his domination of the speedway by lowering his lap speed by almost a full 1/2 sec. and increasing his average lap speed to 161.273 mph. Humphrey's No. 93 Pontiac was the fastest in almost every session over the two-day test period.

"We're extremely happy with the way the car performed this weekend. This crew has been awesome. They worked their tails off trying to get this car ready to come down here. A week ago this car was sitting in the shop with nothing but a roof on it. They put in more than one 24-hour day just to get it to this point and I think there's still a few more hundredths can be shaved off."

George Crenshaw of Lakeland, Fla. shaved more than 1.5 seconds of his fastest lap of yesterday's sessions, posting a 56.069 sec. lap at an average speed of 160.517 mph for the second fastest time of the day.

Rock Hill, S.C.'s David Hutto found his groove in today's testing also. He moved his No. 16 Pontiac Sunfire up from the also ran category to third fastest in today's session.

Two more rookie candidates, Scott Krehling and Zach Brewer rounded out the top five in this final day of Dash Series testing.

The teams return to the track in about three weeks to make their final preparations prior to the running of the 21st annual Discount Auto Parts 200 Presented by AC Delco Rapidfire on Feb. 12. The upcoming event will kick off the 1999 season for the Series and marks the beginning of the Goody's Dash Series, NASCAR Touring Division 25th Anniversary year.