Jerry Nadeau Las Vegas test notes

U.S. Army Team completes preseason testing.

LAS VEGAS (Jan. 30, 2003) -- The U.S. Army Racing team completed its preseason testing Wednesday (Jan. 29) following a two-day session for downforce cars at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"The test went well," said driver Jerry Nadeau. "We learned a lot, the guys worked together great and we had a good time doing it."

The Las Vegas test was the second preseason test session of the month for the U.S. Army team - the other was in Daytona, Jan. 6-9.

"The preseason test sessions are going to help us in a couple of different ways," said crew chief Ryan Pemberton. "Being a new team our learning curve is pretty steep right now - not only about the cars, equipment and facility, but also about each other's jobs. We're really trying to come together as a team and the test sessions have helped us tremendously."

Pemberton, Nadeau and the U.S. Army road crew will head to Daytona Beach, Fla. next week for NASCAR's traditional season opener, the Daytona 500.

"Every day I feel a little better about Daytona," said Pemberton. "We've worked hard on the cars and feel better than when we left the test session there a few weeks ago. We're all looking forward to getting there and having the season start. I really feel this U.S. Army team has come a long way in a short period of time."

Practice for the Daytona 500 starts Saturday (Feb. 8). Pole qualifying is Sunday (Feb.9). The Twin 125 qualifying races are set for Thursday (Feb. 13) and the green flag for the Daytona 500 will drop Sunday (Feb. 16) 1 p.m. EST.

-mb2m-