Thursday marked the final day of NASCAR Preseason Thunder, the annual preseason test sessions that began Jan. 11 at Daytona. Both the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and the NASCAR Busch Series have spent the week engaged in the West Coast portion; on Monday and Tuesday, the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series tested at Las Vegas while the NASCAR Busch Series tested at California Speedway. The series switched tracks for Wednesday’s and Thursday’s sessions. Still California breezin’ ... Strong Santa Ana winds continued to blast California Speedway on Thursday, frustrating teams and playing havoc with testing data. “This is by far the windiest I have ever tested anywhere, anytime,” said Mark Martin (No. 6 Viagra Ford), who’s retiring from fulltime competition after the 2005 season and has his share of tests under his belt. Turns three and four took the brunt of gusty northeast winds, and high wind warnings were posted for inland areas through mid-Thursday afternoon. “(Turns) one and two are where you’re doing most of your testing,” Kevin Harvick said. “(Turns) three and four, there’s a lot of wind blowing, and it’s hard to get anything done. But you can still get a lot accomplished and get your car handling well.” Teammates and admirers … Roush Racing teammates Mark Martin and Kurt Busch (No. 97 IRWIN Industrial Tools/Sharpie Ford) both visited the California media center during Thursday’s lunch break and both waxed eloquent about teammates and chemistry. Martin is anticipating his final fulltime season while Busch will try to defend his 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series title. Busch paid tribute to Martin. “With Mark creating the identity for Roush Racing, it enabled me to jump into a competitive car and win races right away,” said the 27-year-old Busch. “The same thing for Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford). Mark is the essential ingredient that built Roush Racing. To look at Mark and see what he’s done. He’s a true competitor. He inspires us to look at him and want to be like him.” And Martin doesn’t want the commitment of his No. 6 crew to be lost in the hubbub of his final season. "We're focused pretty intensely on 2005, the whole team,” Martin said. “They paid me a great compliment and honor. It will be the first time that I've had such a successful season, that I can remember and not lost team members to other races teams, and it wasn't because people didn't try to get them. It was because they knew that we had a championship caliber team and they wanted to give me a shot."

(NASCAR PR)

NOTE: No official speeds were kept during the test sessions on the West Coast.

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