CONCORD, N.C. – Juan Pablo Montoya topped the speed chart in the first session of testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Tuesday morning with a fast lap of 185.976 mph (29.036 seconds).
The lap came before the team switched from the wing to the spoiler in an effort to set up a comparison for the test, but crew chief Brian Pattie said the difference between the two was not discernable.
Montoya himself is pleased with the spoiler.
"It's fine," Montoya said. "The balance is a little bit different but it's not huge. We'll have to see how it is when we get around other cars."
For Kasey Kahne, it was the first time he drove the new car with the spoiler as opposed to a wing. Kahne, a three-time CMS winner, traditionally uses several points on the tracks ("on entry and the center of the corner") for reference to measure for a baseline.
"The back of the car, the downforce and sideforce, all of that stuff matters when you're racing cars," said Kahne, who was 17th fast. "So far, I haven't felt a big difference by myself. I think it's somewhat similar with the spoiler and the wing. On the straightaways the speed is a little different because of the drag side of it, but the car probably handles pretty similar. "
Martin Truex Jr. tested with his California car in the morning session. After 34 laps, Truex was 15th fastest and says he prefers the spoiler over the wing at Charlotte.
"I like it," Truex said. "It feels good. We haven't been in the draft yet, but it feels better to me. It feels more like the cars we always ran. The car is a little more 'draggy' so you let off the gas and it slows down. You don't have to use the brake as much. It gets in the corner real nice -- I don't know if it's just this car because I haven't been here with this car.
"But I like it a lot. The car feels a lot better with the spoiler than the wing. For Charlotte, it definitely feels better."
