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Kyle Busch stays on top at Atlanta test

Kyle Busch was fastest again on the final day of Car of Tomorrow testing at Atlanta Motor Speedway completing a successful first outing for Joe Gibbs Racing, his new team for the 2008 season

Busch set a fastest lap of 29.632 seconds, running more than a tenth of a second faster than he had on Monday. His time was set in the cooler morning conditions, and he was once again followed on the leaderboard by his new teammate Denny Hamlin, who was a hundredth of a second slower than him.

Scott Riggs was third fastest overall making his first test for his new team Haas CNC Racing, where he will replace Johnny Sauter next year. He was half a tenth slower than Busch, completing a top three sweep by Chevrolet cars during the morning session, which was the fastest from the two days.

Kasey Kahne also set his best time of the test in the morning with a lap of 29.777 seconds, which was the best from the Dodge Avengers and fourth fastest overall.

He was followed by Mark Martin in his current 01 DEI car and by David Reutimann, who was once again the fastest Toyota driver of the day, running around two tenths off Busch's pace.

The afternoon session was much slower for everyone as the track got slicker due to the increasing temperatures on the asphalt. Kurt Busch was the fastest man in that final session of the test in his Penske Dodge, ahead of his brother Kyle. However, none of them were able to lap bellow the 30 second mark.

The day saw two incidents taking place during the morning session, the first of them for John Andretti who hit the wall in turn four. Jacques Villeneuve had a slight brush with the barrier as well, but was able to keep going without any major damage to his Bill Davis Racing Toyota.

"Yesterday we ended up running the high line and brushed the wall with the rear of the car a few times," Villeneuve said. "Seemed like it was okay. The car was tighter today, went in fast like yesterday and didn't turn.

"So used the wall to cushion to turn, which was okay, didn't really do any damage. But that's not the way to go."

Patrick Carpentier was the fastest among the newcomers, running a lap of 30.323 seconds in the morning session. He was around one and a half tenths slower than Juan Pablo Montoya, but a half of a tenth faster than Villeneuve and a tenth of a second ahead of Dario Franchitti.

"For me it was the first time on the oval with the Car of Tomorrow," Carpentier said. "The cars come up to the corners at tremendous speeds. They've got no downforce and they weigh a ton.

"It's very hard. You're always moving sideways and pushing and trying to get the car in the right lane. And it's been a challenge."

Nextel Cup teams will now focus on next weekend's race at Texas Motor Speedway.

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