SAFER barrier gets test in first Cup practice

RICHMOND, Va. -- Driving MB2's No. 01 Pontiac, Mike Skinner was involved in a single-car crash just five minutes into the first NASCAR Winston Cup practice Friday morning at Richmond International Raceway.

	Mike Skinner

Skinner was not injured in his accident exiting Turn 4, despite missing the SAFER barriers that were installed prior to this event. He lowered his window net when he came to a stop and his crew immediately unloaded its backup car.

"The car got a little bit loose and the next thing I know it just snapped (around)," Skinner said. "Something malfunctioned in the car, or it got loose -- cold tires or whatever.

"It wasn't a terrible hit (but) it was just enough to tear our racecar up."

Skinner rebounded to put his backup car second on the practice sheet behind three-time Richmond winner Tony Stewart.

"We might not have been running our backup car if they'd continued it (SAFER barrier) another 40 or 50 feet," MB2 crew chief Ryan Pemberton said as he surveyed the black smears Skinner put on the wall. "We probably would have bounced off without a scratch."

	Christian Fittipaldi

Skinner turned his hot lap, 21.449 seconds and 125.880 mph, on his 17th and final lap of the session. Skinner turned the fewest laps of any of the 45 cars that practiced.

Stewart's best in the No. 20 Chevrolet was 21.398 / 126.180.

Skinner's accident was one of three in the practice. The other two crashes involved the SAFER barrier, and neither caused enough damage to the steel tubes or their foam backing to cause their replacement, a track spokesman said.

Twenty minutes after Skinner's wreck, Christian Fittipaldi backed his No. 43 Dodge into the Turn 1 wall. He also went to a backup car in which the team changed engines after practice.

"I just lost it going into Turn 1," Fittipaldi said. "The car was a little bit on the free side (and) I just lost it."

Shortly after the resumption from Fittipaldi's wreck, Steve Park backed the No. 30 Chevrolet into the wall entering Turn 1.

	Steve Park

"We had a problem with the brakes chattering real bad going into Turn 1, kind of wheel-hopping," Park said. "We thought we had it fixed but when I got into 1, the brakes chattered and when I let off 'em it got loose."

A NASCAR official said Park's backup car had an engine ready for Richmond in it and it remained in the car after the team changed its manifold and carburetor.

"The track is real slick on sticker tires and we've seen a lot of guys crash," Park said. "Two thumbs up for the SAFER barrier, though. The hit itself was a helluva lot less than it could have been for the damage on the racecar.

"It really didn't feel like that hard of a hit, so the SAFER barrier definitely did a good job."