Johnson not worried after strong Happy Hour

Qualifying setback not a problem for 600-mile event

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jimmie Johnson, who required a provisional starting position for the Coca-Cola 600 after breaking a crankshaft during qualifying Friday, rebounded Saturday to post the fastest lap during Happy Hour practice.

Coca-Cola 600  Lineup  1st Practice Speeds  2nd Practice Speeds  Happy Hour Speeds

Johnson, winner of The Winston a week ago, rounded the 1.5-mile Lowe's Motor Speedway in 30.057 seconds at 179.659 mph to jump from sixth in the day's first practice session to the top of the chart heading into Sunday's marathon.

"Luckily, the race is long," said Johnson, who starts 37th Sunday. "We've had problems where we've had to start at the back of the pack before and it seems like we've run out of laps in a 500-mile race. With an extra 100 miles, it makes it a lot different.

"We're going to have to play our game as though we're starting up front. We're going to have a loose racecar in the beginning and a tight car at night and we just need to be on top of our changes. We know there will be cautions and it's going to bunch everything up. We'll be fine."

	Johnson dominated at Charlotte last year, but a late mistake cost him a win. Credit: Autostock

Likewise, it seems, for Bobby Labonte. Labonte qualified 11th Friday before pacing the field in Saturday's first practice with the day's fastest lap. He dropped to third fastest in Happy Hour, behind Johnson and pole-sitter Ryan Newman.

"I'm probably a better racer than qualifier here," Labonte said. "I just can't make myself do the right things as a driver here to go fast. I think the car was there, the driver just screwed up.

"That was the biggest thing. Today, the things I did as far as race setup seem to be a little bit better than they were yesterday."

Labonte's teammate, Tony Stewart, was obviously content with his No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet Saturday. He bowed out of Happy Hour with 20 minutes remaining, both because he was fast -- fourth quick -- and in an effort to keep laps off of his engine.

	Bobby Labonte Credit: Autostock

Sterling Marlin jumped from 14th in the morning to fifth in Happy Hour, followed by Mike Skinner, Jeff Burton, Jimmy Spencer Jack Sprague and Jeff Green.

Jeff Gordon qualified fourth Friday, but fell to 12th quick during morning practice and dropped even further during Happy Hour to 31st. Dale Jarrett also struggled, ranking 42nd of 43 cars in the morning before improving to 40th in Happy Hour.

Roush Racing teammates Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle both had near-miss spinouts in Turn 4 during Happy Hour.

Busch looped the No. 97 Rubbermaid Ford five minutes into the session and spun down the front straightaway, but managed to keep it off the wall and suffered no damage. Biffle wasn't quite so fortunate -- but that's not to say he had bad luck.

Biffle lost the rear end of his No. 16 Grainger Ford 20 minutes into the session and nipped the outside wall, causing minimal damage to the rear bumper.

However, as he attempted to collect the machine, he slid down the track and barely missed Ken Schrader, who was speeding by on the bottom of the track.