CONCORD, N.C. - A handful of Thunder Cup drivers took the opportunity to test their cars on the 1.5-mile Lowe's Motor Speedway Wednesday night in preparation for support races for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend races in May.

In 2007, the Thunder Cup (formerly the Thunder Roadster) raced on the 1.5-superspeedway twice during the 10-week Summer Shootout with the addition of a frontstretch chicane. In Wednesday's practice, there was no chicane, allowing the drivers to flat-foot it around the entire superspeedway.

"It is certainly better without the chicane," said Thomas Van Wingerden, who competed at the Summer Shootout. "It is totally different from racing on the quarter mile. It is a lot more exciting."

Van Wingerden and his brother, Michael, also competed during a recent Thunder Cup race at the Rockingham Motor Speedway, a one mile speedway. During the race at Rockingham, the brothers had a chance to utilize the draft.

"The drafting is pretty amazing," said Thomas Van Wingerden. "It is amazing how different the speed is in the draft."

Van Wingerden is planning to run the King of the Ovals Thunder Cup Series in North Carolina in hopes of qualifying for the Race to the Top event which awards one driver a chance to race in an ARCA RE/MAX Series event.

Taylor Hull is a three year veteran of RACEceiver Legends racing, but had never turned a lap in Thunder Cup competition until Wednesday's practice. He was quickly hooked by the speeds on the bigger track.
"It's a blast!" Hull said. "The cars are a lot bigger than a Legends Car, and it is really fast on the big track. It has been a lot of fun already."

Hull plans to run the Race to the Top Challenge in the Georgia market.

The cars averaged 125 mph during the test with some cars reaching a top speed of 130 mph. INEX has specific guidelines for safety equipment required for the Thunder Cup car on any track over a certain size, and will release an update to those guidelines to include superspeedways soon.

Drivers wanting to compete on superspeedways in the Thunder Cup car or in the Race to the Top Challenge should contact their local dealer for more details.