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Haase Paces First Iowa Practice

By Jason Christley, NASCAR
May 17, 2008 - 6:24pm

TWO TEENS TOP SPEED CHARTS FOR SUNDAY'S US CELLULAR 200 

NEWTON, Iowa – Alex Haase doesn’t have fond memories of his experience at Iowa Speedway last year.

“We just struggled all week,” Haase said of last year’s NASCAR Camping World Series race at Iowa where he started 41st and finished 27th.

He’s feeling much better about the 7/8-mile track following Saturday’s 1 ½-hour practice for Sunday’s US Cellular 200. Haase (No. 51 Kyle Busch Foundation/Electric Sunglasses Chevrolet) posted the fastest time at 23.971 seconds (131.409 mph). He was one-thousands of a second faster than fellow teenager Austin Dillon (No. 3 Garage Equipment Supply Chevrolet) at 23.972 (131.403).

“We tested here a couple weeks ago,” Haase said. “That makes a big difference – knowing what we’ve got; we’ve just had to change minimal stuff. And that paid off.”

The 18-year-old Haase was runner-up for NASCAR Camping World Series West Sunoco Rookie of the Year last season. He moved from his native Las Vegas to North Carolina and is running a regional Late Model series in the southeast for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Haase’s Iowa effort is being spearheaded by crew chief Tom Busch – Kyle and Kurt Busch’s father – and Richie Waters, Kyle Busch’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series crew chief.

“We come here with good stuff,” Haase said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be on top of the board.”

Another pair of rookies, Ricky Carmichael (No. 4 Monster Energy Drink Chevrolet) and Jeff Barkshire (No. 46 Centennial Batteries Dodge) were third and fourth respectively. Barkshire was the top NASCAR Camping World Series West driver in practice.

“It’s where we hoped to be,” Barkshire said. “I was hoping to be in the top five, especially with all the heavy hitters here.”

Barkshire is running a car he purchased from Ray Evernham Motorsports over the winter. He raced it at Phoenix International Raceway last month, but said it’s much more prepared for this weekend. His fastest time was on lap 10 of an initial 20-lap run to start the session.

Dillon’s teammate, Peyton Sellers (No. 44 Specialty Fertilizer Products Chevrolet) was fifth.

“The Late Models ran all day, so they put down some rubber,” Sellers said. “When we got on track, we were hammer down. I still think we need to be better. The track’s going to tighten up when the sun comes out tomorrow.”

Sellers isn’t surprised to see his teammate run so quick.

“He’s really impressed me testing,” Sellers said. “I think he’ll be alright. A lot of people see these kids come out and put up fast laps. I really think he has what it takes to keep it up there all day.”

Winds from the northwest gusted at 30-40 mph during the day. Saturday's practice was 1 1/2 hours. The teams will have another hour of practice Sunday morning. Qualifying is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CT and the race at 4:15 p.m. CT. 

Notes
Ryan Preece’s inaugural NASCAR Camping World Series entry came to a premature end. Preece’s No. 28 Logan Steel Ford blew a tire during Saturday’s practice and suffered irreparable damage. With no backup car, Preece will not race Sunday.

“We’re all done,” said Preece, who ran just three laps. “The right side is totally torn up. They said first five laps feel it out. After the first couple laps, I started to feel it out more. All the sudden, it took a dip in the right front and the thing went straight into the wall.”

The 17-year-old Connecticut native is a regular on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, where he became the youngest Coors Light Pole winner in tour history earlier this season. He will race next in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event Friday, May 23 at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway.

Fifty-two cars practiced Saturday afternoon. The only car not to take the track was the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne. With Preece out, fifty-two cars will attempt to qualify for 44 spots. 

Pos	No.	Name	Sponsor	Make	In Lap	Best Tm	Best Spd
1	51	Alex Hasse	Kyle Busch Foundation/Elec Sun	Chv	38	23.971	131.409
2	3	Austin Dillon	Garage Equipment Supply	Chv	40	23.972	131.403
3	4	Ricky Carmichael	Monster Energy Drink	Chv	47	24.131	130.537
4	46	Jeff Barkshire *	Centennial Batteries	Dge	10	24.178	130.284
5	44	Peyton Sellers	Specialty Fertilizer Products	Chv	12	24.196	130.187
6	8	Johnny Borneman	Twisted X Boots/Red Line Oil	Frd	28	24.219	130.063
7	35	Steve Park	Waste Mgmt/Whelen	Chv	10	24.227	130.020
8	81	Mark McFarland	Knights Companies	Chv	6	24.303	129.614
9	21	David Mayhew	BayBiodiesel	Chv	21	24.308	129.587
10	16	Moses Smith	Hasa Pool Products	Tyt	22	24.324	129.502
11	03	Rogelio Lopez	Telmex - Lucas Oil	Chv	36	24.329	129.475
12	22	Jason Bowles	Sunrise Ford	Frd	14	24.357	129.326
13	1	Trevor Bayne	Dale Earnhardt Inc.	Chv	6	24.448	128.845
14	08	Jeffery Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt Inc.	Chv	39	24.457	128.797
15	20	Eric Holmes	NAPA Auto Parts	Tyt	3	24.487	128.640
16	15	Brian Ickler	Ickler Motorsports	Chv	25	24.488	128.634
17	31	James Buescher	Coca Cola	Chv	3	24.505	128.545
18	80	Derek Thorn	ALS Assoc/RacinForACure.com	Frd	13	24.519	128.472
19	11	Jesus Hernandez	Dale Earnhardt Inc.	Chv	45	24.526	128.435
20	18	Marc Davis	Slim Jim	Tyt	31	24.555	128.283
21	17	Jason Patison *	Super Clean/LucasOil	Frd	17	24.592	128.090
22	30	Jeff Anton	Engineered Floors, Inc	Chv	25	24.604	128.028
23	42	Jeff Jefferson	MJ2 Racing/Gran Prix Imports	Chv	33	24.629	127.898
24	10	James Warn *	MJ2 Racing/Gran Prix Imports	Chv	32	24.644	127.820
25	02	Craig Goess	Greenville Toyota	Tyt	31	24.676	127.654
26	91	Ben Stancill	BSW Const./Stancill Farms	Chv	13	24.678	127.644
27	61	Brett Thompson	Pets Best Insurance	Chv	20	24.680	127.634
28	40	Matt Kobyluck	Mohegan Sun Resort	Chv	21	24.689	127.587
29	41	Ryan Foster	Glenhaven Beach Resort	Frd	12	24.693	127.567
30	70	Greg Pursley	Star Nursery/Gene Price Racing	Dge	20	24.706	127.499
31	59	Richard Johns	FreedonIsNotFree.com	Dge	24	24.723	127.412
32	89	Jody Lavender	H & R Block	Chv	20	24.805	126.991
33	14	Austin Cameron	NAPA Auto Care	Tyt	10	24.827	126.878
34	01	Jim Inglebright	Jelly Belly	Chv	11	24.842	126.801
35	75	Eddie MacDonald	Grimm Construction	Chv	14	24.847	126.776
36	2	Mike David	Bennett Lane Winery	Tyt	16	24.866	126.679
37	65	Stan Silva Jr.	A&S Metals/Stan Silva Trking	Chv	42	24.870	126.659
38	99	Bryon Chew	Buzz Chew Chevrolet	Chv	19	24.872	126.648
39	34	Mike Gallegos	RTD Motorsports	Chv	9	24.895	126.531
40	71	Daryl Harr	WestWorld Computers	Chv	24	24.904	126.486
41	36	Michael Faulk	Speech Phone/Orbital TV	Dge	16	24.916	126.425
42	7	Ryan Duff	Laughlin Perf/Pine Branch Coal	Chv	35	24.933	126.339
43	76	Max Dumarey	Bodycoach.net	Chv	28	24.954	126.232
44	88	Jamie Dick *	Viva Auto Grp/Johnnie Walker P	Chv	23	24.962	126.192
45	63	John Salemi	John Salemi Racing	Chv	12	24.983	126.086
46	5	Eric Hardin	Direct Shopping Network	Chv	36	24.985	126.076
47	77	Andrew Myers	J & M Construction/Jan's Tow	Tyt	11	25.091	125.543
48	19	Terry Henry	MMI Services	Chv	1	25.122	125.388
49	52	Jamie Hayes	J L Hendrick Automotive	Chv	24	25.134	125.328
50	39	Dustin Delaney	Delaney Motorsports	Chv	14	25.138	125.308
51	12	Jonathan Smith	Raintree Vac Club, Aquapure H\	Dge	12	25.201	124.995
52	28	Ryan Preece	Logan Steel	Frd	3	26.026	121.033