Stewart cautious about Toyota pace

Joe Gibbs Racing are expected to be the leading Toyota squad in the NASCAR Sprint Cup this year, but testing has also seen Camrys from teams such as Bill Davis, Red Bull and Michael Waltrip Racing turn some of the best laps of the month at the 2.5-mile oval.

Stewart says he feels good about his team making a smooth transition from Chevrolet to Toyota, but preferred to reserve judgment on their speed relative to the other manufacturers, saying testing results are just a good sign thus far.

"It's a good sign, or I'm assuming it's a good sign," Stewart said. "You just don't know what everybody else is doing so you don't know if everybody else is showing their hand.

"But it makes you feel good when you make a big change like what our organisation has gone through this winter and to come to the first test of the first race of the year and see so many Toyotas on top of the chart like that, it's obviously a big plus for us."

The two-time Cup champion, who rarely tests in January, had the first chance to drive his new Toyota Camry at Daytona. He said that switching from Chevrolet was as big a change for him as driving the 'Car of Today' at the venue for the first time.

He says the change of car makes any comparison with his old Chevrolet virtually impossible at Daytona.

"I wouldn't know the difference so far," Stewart added. "It's hard to say. I mean, you've got to keep in mind, you're on a two-and-a-half-mile track and you're holding it wide open. You're not going to really feel (the change) until you get around other cars.

"Any driver that says they can is a heck of a lot better driver than me because I can't tell the difference."

Stewart has run comfortably in the top ten in every session of testing at Daytona thus far, both in the single-car runs and in the draft.