DAYTONA BEACH FL (12-20-08) - Tom Hessert III rose to the top of the speed chart Saturday morning, as day two of the ARCA RE/MAX Series open test forged on under sunny skies at Daytona International Speedway.

Hessert, in Andy Belmont's #14 Ford, circled the famous 2.5-mile Daytona tri-oval in 49.738 seconds, for a top speed of 180.948 mph.

"We didn't miss today," Hessert joked, referring to the day before when he was listed second on the speed charts. "This is a good car; it gets better every time we go out."

The fast lap was turned late in the morning session in a set-up Hessert said was "almost" a qualifying set up.

"It was close to a mock run...not everything we would do for a qualifying set up."

While that was the fastest lap of the session, it was not the fastest turned so far this weekend. Steve Blackburn is still quickest overall with a speed of 180.995 mph set Friday afternoon.

J.R. Heffner was second quickest in Saturday's morning session at 180.901 mph, but he quickly brushed off the fast time.

"That single lap is no big deal," Heffner admitted. "I think I caught a draft off another car coming through four, which probably gave us a tenth of a second."

Despite admitting he might have had help on the fast lap, Heffner liked his car.

"We're good, though," Heffner stated. "We were top 10 all morning, and happy with that."

Heffner has partnered with veteran ARCA competitor Howard Bixman to form BCR Racing, and together they intend to run 6-8 races in 2009.

The morning session was slowed by a single yellow flag after Brett Butler lost a driveshaft on the front stretch. Butler, driving an Andy Belmont-prepared Ford, rolled onto the grass after the drive shaft came off, and the hot exhaust under the car started a small grass fire, which was quickly extinguished by the Daytona International Speedway safety crew.

The remnants of heavy morning fog once again delayed the start of the on-track activities, as track and series officials worked to dry the damp racing surface. Unlike yesterday, when the first session was delayed by almost 3 hours, today's efforts resulted in just a 30 minute delay.

The Saturday session will continue at 1:00 p.m., with the first drafting of the weekend on the schedule.

For live timing and scoring, along with live audio, go to http://www.arcaracing.com/.