Leavine Family Racing (LFR) finally got some of the sun the Sunshine State is known for and managed to get in seven hours of on-track work Friday at the Daytona International Speedway.
The annual January test, named Preseason Thunder, provided Michael McDowell and his No. 95 team vital track time to begin preparations for next month’s season-opening DAYTONA 500, scheduled for Feb. 23.
Persistent rain showers washed out Thursday’s test session around the 2.5-mile superspeedway and threatened to impact the entirety of Friday after the morning session was cancelled. However, the 40 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams participating in the test session were able to take to the tri-oval Friday afternoon at 12:45 PM.
McDowell logged 41 laps at 189.865 mph before others participated in the draft prior to the close of the session. Although the originally scheduled two days of testing was crammed into eight hours, crew chief Wally Rogers said he was pleased with what his No. 95 team was able to accomplish and called it a day.
McDowell piloted the No.95 K-LOVE Ford to the 34th-fastest lap in the test session at 47.402 seconds.
When the Concord, N.C.-based team hit the high banks for the first time, it was the first official test for the team with McDowell.
McDowell will return to the track in February with Leavine Family Racing as they start the season. Together they will embark on a schedule of at least 20 selected NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events during the 2014 season.
As Leavine Family Racing enters its fourth year of competition, the team will continue to campaign in Fords, with engines from Roush Yates Engines and chassis support from Team Penske.
The team continues to show they are making the most of their opportunities, and are pushing to make new opportunities within motorsports. The progress Leavine Family Racing has made since 2011 has shown that persistence is making the difference.
LFR PR
