Justin Allgaier takes the No. 12 Dodge Challenger out of the Talladega Superspeedway garage and onto the track during Monday's NASCAR Nationwide Series new car test. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) via www.nascarmedia.com

The NASCAR Nationwide Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings leader Justin Allgaier got to drive Dodge's new Challenger today at Talladega.

“It drives like a dream,” Allgaier said. He was one of eight drivers representing the four series manufacturers putting the cars through their paces on the speedway.

The morning was spent on solo runs while the afternoon consisted of drafting.  Two of the drivers driving in the draft were RCR teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton.

“The great advantage of this car is we have a lot of time with the first new car (in NASCAR Sprint Cup), Burton said. “This is an evolution of that. I think it’s going to work really well. I like the way the cars look and the way the cars drive.”

I honestly think that this new car will aid in providing the Nationwide Series with its own identity, now if we can just keep the Sprint Cup regulars out of the series so that a non-sprint Cup driver can vie for the Nationwide Championship.

(this post was created with aid from a NASCAR press release written by T. Judd)