NASHVILLE TN (7-22-08) - Canton, Georgia's Matt Hawkins unofficially posted the quickest speed in morning testing Tuesday at Nashville Superspeedway where 18 drivers took part in on-track activity in preparation for the upcoming Saturday afternoon, August 9th Toyota 150.

Hawkins, in the no. 39 JaniKing-Racing Radios Dodge, circled the 1.33-mile concrete oval in 29.600 seconds, for an average speed of 161.757 mph. Hawkins, a rookie on the 2008 tour, is coming off a solid sixth place finish last Friday night at Kentucky Speedway. Hawkins first made headlines in the series back in April at Iowa Speedway where he won in his career-first series start. In four career series starts, he has three top-10 finishes including a fourth place finish at Rockingham Speedway.

Kentucky SIM Factory Pole winner Brian Scott, in the no. 25 Venturini-prepared Albertsons Chevrolet, was second quickest unofficially with a speed of 159.600 mph.

Sean Caisse, who finished second to Scott Speed at Kentucky, was third quickest at 158.806 mph in Shigeaki Hattori's Toyota.

Justin Allgaier, who was third at Kentucky, was fourth quickest at Nashville with a speed of 158.596 mph. Allgaier was also in a Venturini Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet.

Wildwood, Missouri's Jesse Smith was fifth overall (157.811 mph) in Terry Jones' no. 30 Lloyd's BBQ-Hormel-Spam Dodge.

Eddie Sharp Racing teammates Scott Speed and Justin Lofton were sixth and seventh on the charts in front of John Wes Townley, Patrick Sheltra and current point leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr in the Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

Also on hand for the open test was NASCAR veteran Carl Edwards, who was assisting Stenhouse as Stenhouse was turning his first laps at Nashville.

There were no on-track incidents.

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Unofficial Morning Test Speeds
Nashville Superspeedway (7-22-08)