Rudd confident heading into Sonoma defense

SONOMA, Calif. -- Normally, Ricky Rudd would be overjoyed to be heading to Infineon Raceway, a place where he's been dominant over his career.

He won the inaugural race in 1989, has a record four Bud Poles here and inherited another road-course victory last season when leader Jerry Nadeau suffered transmission failure in the closing laps of the race.

Unfortunately for Rudd, that has been the last of his 23 career Winston Cup trips to Victory Lane.

	Ricky Rudd's lone top-five finish this year came at Bristol. Credit: Autostock

After finishing last in last weekend's Sirius 400 at Michigan, Rudd is now 27th in Winston Cup points -- and has just one top-10 finish in his inaugural season with the Wood Brothers. So is Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 300 a place where Rudd can rebound?

"Our short-track program has been pretty solid," Rudd said. "Our road-course car is nothing more than a short-track car, mirror image, reversed image of the short-track car.

"I expect to do well here. To sit here and tell you we're going to win the race, I couldn't have told you that last year."

Rudd, who starts ninth on Sunday, said Saturday's final practice is the true indicator.

"When you come up and run these Happy Hour practices, you get a sheet that just shows one fast lap," he said. "We throw that away.

Dodge/Save Mart 350  Lineup  1st Practice Speeds  2nd Practice Speeds  Happy Hour Speeds  By the Numbers  Video Highlights

"We look at what guys are running at lap 8, 10, 15, where they're at, and that's what we gauge who the competition is going to be. So we'll see how we shake out on that time sheet, and maybe have a little different opinion of it."

So even though Rudd's best speed in Happy Hour, a lap of 91.492 mph, was only 17th fastest, he still believes good fortune could fall his way again.

"Someone obviously is going to win this race tomorrow," Rudd said. "It wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit for it to be us. I think we've got right now an equal chance as anybody else right now, going in."

Pole-sitter Boris Said backed up his hot Friday lap with the quickest time in Happy Hour, turning a lap of 92.72 mph around the 1.99-mile, 12-turn road course. The driver of the No. 01 U.S. Army Pontiac was followed on the charts by Ryan Newman, Robby Gordon, Ron Fellows and Jeff Gordon.

	Boris Said led Saturday's final practice at Sonoma. Credit: Autostock

Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet continued to have a weird weekend. After spinning out during Friday's Bud Pole Qualifying, Johnson struck and killed a rabbit during Happy Hour, puncturing a hole in the front air dam of his car. He returned after repairs and was sixth-fastest. After using a provisional, he'll start 37th Sunday.

Rookie Hideo Fukuyama, driving the No. 66 Kikkoman Ford, went for a wild ride coming into the esses. He fishtailed through the gravel, finally getting the car under control and continued on without further incident.

Christian Fittipaldi was the only one of Sunday's 43 drivers who did not turn a single practice lap.