By the end of the 30 laps my times in the heat of the day were competitive, and I was looking forward to the 50-lap run. About 20 laps into the timed segment the motor popped a valve and we were done for the day, leaving Travis Kvapil without the opportunity to test. Although Travis did not get the chance to test at Greenville I had been told that they knew that he had a lot of short-track experience in the RE/MAX series and they had been watching his progress for a while. So it was only fair for him to show his ability at a superspeedway. I really think they were leaning towards Travis' involvement even before the test.
The interaction between all of the drivers was pretty minimal since we were all in and out of the truck. Information from driver to driver was kept to a minimum. We all knew what was at stake, so the atmosphere was pretty intense. Because driver performance was kept tight-lipped I am not sure why Tyler Walker did not get the opportunity to go to the superspeedway test. The way the whole team conducted themselves while not showing any signs of favoritism was one thing I liked and thought was handled in a very professional manner.
The second day of testing took place at the new Kentucky Motor Speedway. This new 1.5-mile superspeedway is very similar to the track in Las Vegas. We were initially told that only two of us would advance to the superspeedway test after the short track test but since Travis did not get his opportunity at Greenville-Pickens he along with Marty and myself advanced to Kentucky. I was fortunate enough to advance and was made aware that I, even though my test was cut short, performed well. I felt very comfortable in the truck. I was able to get right up to speed, my times were consistent, and I believe I showed my ability to read the track conditions and drive the truck according to those conditions.
The Kentucky test format was similar to the previous test. I really like driving on the superspeedways. I had thousands of laps at several of the other superspeedways while teaching at the Richard Petty Driving Experience, so the track did not feel foreign to me.
I was the third driver out and divided my segment up with some changes I thought would loosen the truck up. By the end of 10 laps with a fresh set of tires I was running speeds that were as fast as what the team had qualified there in June and would have put me in the top 10 in qualifying. All three of us were running times within tenths of each other. Marty was actually slightly faster than Travis and I. My times may have been faster in some areas while Travis was faster in others, with our overall times being very close.
Now it was down to Travis and me. We had been made aware that the test was really down to Travis and I since Marty was in the middle of making a commitment with a Busch Series team for the 2001 season
The final segment, which consisted of a 20 lap run, would once again identify tire management and consistency. Because of our consistency at the short-track test this was a segment I was really looking forward to running. Unfortunately, we were done for the day. Mother Nature did not allow either of us to complete final segment.
Even more unfortunate is that I was not chosen as Addington Racing's driver in 2001. Some of you are probably scratching your head and saying, "Why?" Well, that's racing! However, now that I look back on it, I feel I did not get the ride for several reasons-some of them only speculative. I know that Travis and I both deserved the ride based on our performance as well as our ability to work well with the sponsors' interest in mind. I also know that it was a difficult decision on the team's part to decide just on performance alone. But as I said, it just takes one little part of the equation, whether it be a chemistry or not, to determine the decision. I would have to say it was a great experience for me and one that I would recommend and even do again myself.