Carl Edwards highlighted a group of four NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series drivers participating in a two-day test session at Infineon Raceway on Tuesday.The drivers tested the 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course in advance of the Dodge/Save Mart 350 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup weekend, set for June 23-25 in the Sonoma Valley.

Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford), who placed 38th in his only other visit to Infineon Raceway in 2005, tested his Busch Series car with coaching from road-race specialist Boris Said. Said will also compete in the Sonoma NASCAR weekend as part of a four-race deal behind the wheel of his No. 60 No Fear Ford. His other races are in Daytona, Indianapolis and Watkins Glen.

Edwards wasn’t in race trim and his car featured substantially less horsepower than his NEXTEL Cup car, as he clocked a top lap of 1 minute, 18 seconds. Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet), Reed Sorenson (No. 41 Target Dodge) and Kyle Busch (No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet) also took part in the test, which concludes on Wednesday.

“I just followed Boris’ lead out there today; he helped me out a lot,” Edwards said. “I need a top 10 when we come back out here later this month. This race is of huge importance; I took 38th here last year and that can’t happen again with the Chase (for the NEXTEL Cup) coming up.”

“Carl’s getting real good out here,” commented Said, who has placed sixth twice in Cup events in Sonoma. “He’s about as fast as I am on three-quarters of the track. There are only a couple of places that he still needs to figure out.”

Sorenson posted a 1:19.79, also in a Busch Series car, while Bowyer clocked a 1:21.3 in a Grand National Division AutoZone West Series car, which features even less horsepower than a Busch Series car. Busch did not report a time.

“I haven’t run a lot of road courses in general so my goal is to just gain some track experience and learn the corners,” Sorenson said. “I’m hoping I’ll learn enough to be better when I come back, but this is a pretty tough track.”

Sorenson is one of six NEXTEL Cup drivers pulling double-duty the weekend of June 23-25, competing in both the Cup event in Sonoma and the Busch Series event in Milwaukee. Other drivers pulling double-duty are Edwards, Bowyer, Kevin Harvick (No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet); Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Kinko’s Chevrolet); and J.J. Yeley (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet).

[Infineon Raceway]

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