Drivers struggle to find grip in Sonoma practices

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA - If Happy Hour was any indication, Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350 might be a three-hour affair.

Three hours for an event at Infineon Raceway is a little on the lengthy side, but in Saturday's final practice, the caution flag was displayed early and often.

The cars simply didn't have any grip, sending everyone from Michael Waltrip to Brian Simo sliding off course.

Tony Stewart put down a lap of 94.341 mph -- the fastest lap of the entire weekend, including qualifying -- to pace the final practice. Robby Gordon was second at 94.294 mph.

Saturday's twin practices were run under cool and cloudy conditions, in sharp contrast to Friday's searing heat, but Rusty Wallace said that Sunday should improve.

"It's a little loose and slippery [today]," said Wallace, who was fourth quickest in the second practice and 23rd in Happy Hour. "When the race gets going I expect everyone to find their rhythm and everything will be a lot better."

Wallace starts 14th on Sunday and is looking to avenge last year's event at Sonoma, where he ran out of gas in the final laps.

"I feel good about it, I screwed up qualifying, I got loose coming to the flag and that really hurt my chances," Wallace said. "Other than that, I am real confident and conformable for tomorrow. I would have liked to have run more, and I couldn't get that done because the caution flag come out."

Brian Simo ran the most laps (24) in the final session, but he spun his No. 33 Chevy at the top of the hill in Turn 2. That turn also caused Ricky Rudd to spin, but Rudd's team made some late changes to his car that dramatically helped it negotiate Sonoma's 10 turns.

"We're pretty fast," said Rudd, who was third quickest in the final session. "I chased Tony around for a little while and we didn't have much for him, so we have in and made some changes."

Ron Fellows was the biggest casualty on Saturday. He spun off course in his No. 32 Chevrolet of course in Turn 4 and slammed the left side against the tire barriers, but his team is repairing the damage.

In a surprise move, Morgan-McClure Motorsports brought in road course veteran P.J. Jones to drive the No. 4 in lieu of Mike Wallace. Jones practiced the car in both sessions but was only able to get the car only as high as 37th-best.

Jones will also drive the car on Sunday.

Tom Hubert, who got Kirk Shelmerdine's No. 27 Ford in the field on Friday, was summoned by Roush Racing to substitute for Carl Edwards, who is in Milwaukee for Saturday's Busch Series event.

Bob Osborne, Edwards' crew chief, says they had prepared for Edwards' absence. Edwards is fourth in the standings, and the team is trying to maintain their recent swath (three top-fives in the last four races) through the tour.

"We came out here and tested for two days, we spent the test getting him some laps and getting him some experience because we planned on him missing the two practices," said Osborne.

Nextel Cup-Dodge/Save Mart 350 Lineup
After Friday qualifying; race Sunday
At Infineon Raceway
Sonoma, Calif.
Lap length: 1.99 miles
(Car number in parentheses)

1. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 94.325 mph.

2. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 94.165.

3. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 94.012.

4. (36) Boris Said, Chevrolet, 93.975.

5. (7) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 93.885.

6. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 93.690.

7. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 93.574.

8. (11) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 93.296.

9. (39) Scott Pruett, Dodge, 93.269.

10. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 93.184.

11. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 93.164.

12. (01) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 93.151.

13. (5) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 93.119.

14. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 93.114.

15. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 93.051.

16. (10) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 93.015.

17. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 93.010.

18. (25) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 92.985.

19. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 92.806.

20. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 92.785.

21. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 92.673.

22. (33) Brian Simo, Chevrolet, 92.648.

23. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 92.563.

24. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 92.289.

25. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 92.217.

26. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 92.182.

27. (22) Scott Wimmer, Dodge, 92.109.

28. (87)Chris Cook, Chevrolet, 92.107.

29. (07) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 92.102.

30. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 92.016.

31. (0) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 91.969.

32. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 91.871.

33. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 91.806.

34. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 91.774.

35. (27) Tom Hubert, Ford, 91.702.

36. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 91.668.

37. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 91.608.

38. (43) Jeff Green, Dodge, 91.373.

39. (77) Travis Kvapil, Dodge, 91.240.

40. (4) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, owner points.

41. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, owner points.

42. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, owner points.

43. (32) Ron Fellows, Chevrolet, 91.698.
Failed to qualify

44. (02) Brandon Ash, Ford, 91.660.

45. (37) Kevin Lepage, Dodge, 90.399.

46. (92) Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet, 90.251.

47. (66) Johnny Borneman III, Ford, 88.685.

48. (52) Jose Luis Ramirez, Dodge, 74.941.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)