Testing at Atlanta: In a day full of testing for the March 12-14 Golden Corral 500 weekend, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup rookie #10-Scott Riggs led the speed chart Tuesday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ten drivers from the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series tested Tuesday in preparation for the upcoming race weekend at NASCAR's fastest track. Driving the #10-Valvoline Chevorlet, Riggs was caught on the unofficial stopwatches at an average speed of 185.915 mph (29.82 seconds) around the 1.54-mile superspeedway. Just behind Riggs on the speed chart was fellow Raybestos Rookie Of The Year candidate #9-Kasey Kahne at 29.85 (185.728). Rounding out the top five were #99-Jeff Burton and #22-Scott Wimmer, both clocking a lap of 29.91 seconds (185.356 mph), and #30-Johnny Sauter at 30.18 seconds (183.698 mph). Most drivers said they used Tuesday's test to get comfortable with the new tire and spoiler rules. Testing is expected to continue at AMS Wednesday. Test sessions are open to the media and closed to the public.

Unofficial Speeds:
Car#-Driver,Speed
#10-Scott Riggs, 185.915
#9-Kasey Kahne, 185.728
#99-Jeff Burton, 185.356
#22-Scott Wimmer, 185.356
#30-Johnny Sauter, 183.698
#01-Joe Nemechek, 182.368
#23-Dave Blaney, 182.910
#77-Brendan Gaughan, 181.473
#40-Sterling Marlin, 180.351
#5-Terry Labonte, 179.012.(AMS PR)(3-3-2004)

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