Sadler tops NASCAR Lowe's test

The Gillett Evernham driver set a fastest lap of 28.994 seconds at an average speed of 186.245 mph, during Monday's evening session in a qualifying simulation run at the wheel of his No. 19 Dodge Charger.

Sadler was the only driver to lap below the 29-second mark and Roush Fenway's Jamie McMurray was the one who got closest to him over the two days, lapping in 29.076 seconds during Tuesday's final session in the evening.

Ryan Newman, AJ Allmendinger and Scott Riggs rounded out the top five, lapping within three tenths of Sadler's benchmark, also setting their fastest laps of the test in the final session of Tuesday.

Last year's All-Star race winner Kevin Harvick ended up sixth fastest overall with his best lap from Monday's evening session, followed by Patrick Carpentier who continued to show good pace after qualifying fourth at Richmond last weekend.

Kyle Busch was eighth fastest overall but dominated Monday's afternoon session when track temperatures seemed to create the most difficult conditions for the drivers, allowing the points leader to shine again, closely followed by Carl Edwards.

Dale Earnhardt Jr paced the morning sessions on both Monday and Tuesday but had a disappointing end to his test when he made contact with the wall during the final evening session. He ended 15th overall.

Kurt Busch and Regan Smith also had incidents in the final session of the test while Robby Gordon and AJ Allmendinger brushed the wall on Tuesday afternoon.

NASCAR Nationwide Series regular Brad Kaselowski tested for Haas CNC on Monday, ending an encouraging 11th fastest overall, while veteran Sterling Marling had his first run in the No. 40 Ganassi Dodge that he is set to drive next weekend at Darlington, replacing injured Dario Franchitti.

David Stremme, who replaced the Scot at Talladega, also completed laps on both days, running the No. 06 car for Penske Racing.

The test was organized just a couple of weeks ago to give drivers and teams the chance to test the new Cup car for the first time at the mile-and-a-half oval. Jeff Gordon, the last Sprint Cup winner at the venue, said the additional mileage would help every team to run better on the coming race weekends.

"This is the first time we have ever had this car here at this track so we're learning about the grip of the tyres," Gordon said. "Obviously, this is not a scheduled test, so I think that it is just great for us to get extra information and data.

"We are just gathering all kinds of data with the car. And obviously we are looking for speed. Sometimes that takes more time.

"When you have a couple hours of practice when you get to the race track, you can take your time a little bit more and really try things and make changes and really know what those changes are doing or hope you can read them a little bit better."

Sprint Cup teams will return to Lowe's Motor Speedway for the All-Star Race on May 17, followed by the Coca-Cola 600 a week later.