Happy Hour for some, unhappy for others

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Todd Bodine isn't letting probation slow him down very much.

	Todd Bodine posted the second-fastest speed in Happy Hour on Saturday. Credit: Autostock

Bodine, placed on probation by NASCAR earlier this week for careless driving in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, posted the second-fastest lap Saturday during Happy Hour practice at Martinsville Speedway.

Rusty Wallace was the only driver quicker than Bodine on Saturday, rounding the half-mile bullring in 20.661 seconds at 91.651 mph. That was four-hundredths of a second faster than Bodine's 20.708-second lap.

Wallace continued Penske Racing's weekend-long dominance. Ryan Newman, who earned the Bud Pole for Sunday's Old Dominion 500 with a 20.397-second effort, had the fastest car in the weekend's first two practices.

Points leader Tony Stewart -- whose 31st-place qualifying effort Friday marks just the second time this season he'll start outside the top 30 -- had the third quickest time.

VIDEO CLIPS Jeff Burton and Mike Skinner meet in Happy Hour. Play video    ALSO  •  Happy Hour Speeds  •  Lineup  •  2nd Practice Speeds  •  1st Practice Speeds

Three-time Martinsville winner Ricky Rudd was fourth, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -- who has never run particularly well at Martinsville but qualified 10th on Friday -- was fifth quick. Jeff Green, Bill Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Ward Burton rounded out the top 10.

Jeff Burton was 11th quick, but suffered minor damage to his Ford in a wreck with Mike Skinner midway through the session. Skinner was in the outside groove, just ahead of Burton, who was on the inside.

As they exited Turn 4, Skinner drove down into Burton, spinning both cars out. Both suffered minor cosmetic damage, but neither was forced into a backup car.

"What happened was the track is different than it's ever been and Mike went in the corner high and then was going to turn across because you can do that now," Burton said. "He went in high and I drove in under him. He turned down in the corner to come off low, which you almost never did here.

"You always went in low and went around the corner low. Well, the track is different so he was expecting me to give him room and I wasn't expecting him to come down because that's what we used to do here."

Geoffrey Bodine posted the 32nd-quickest time Saturday in the No. 23 Dodge. With the current rainy conditions in Memphis, Tenn., for this week's Busch Series race, Kenny Wallace may be unable to return to Martinsville to pilot the car. If that's the case, Geoffery will drive the car.

"Yeah, I'll stay here if it rains us out," said Kenny Wallace via phone from Memphis. "If it rains us out, Geoff will be in the car."