Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third in this race one year ago. Credit: Autostock
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
April 17, 2004
1:03 PM EDT (1703 GMT)
MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has posted four consecutive top-fives at Martinsville Speedway, including a career-best third-place finish last spring. Saturday, he served notice that he is once again a contender this weekend.
 | ADVANCE AUTO PARTS 500 | | | | | |  | Jeff Gordon leads the way at Martinsville
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|  | Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start inside the top five
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Earnhardt paced Happy Hour practice for Sunday's Advance Auto Parts 500, coursing the half-mile bullring in 20.58 seconds on the 13th of his 48 practice laps. He'll start fourth Sunday.
Jimmie Johnson fell just five-hundredths of a second short of Earnhardt's quick lap -- the top-eight speeds were separated by less than one-tenth of second -- while former Martinsville winners Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon ranked third and fourth, respectively.
Ryan Newman, who posted his first Martinsville top-five last fall, was fifth in Happy Hour.
Gordon picked up only slightly -- he was seventh in the morning session -- while Busch and Newman improved significantly. Busch, the Nextel Cup Series points leader, jumped from 16th to third, while Newman went from 24th to fifth.
Likewise, Earnhardt picked up considerably from one session to the next. In the initial session, which was led by Mark Martin, Earnhardt posted the 18th-quickest time.
Martin's 20.561-second lap was the fastest of the day, and bested Kevin Harvick's effort by less than three-hundredths of a second. Harvick was consistently fast all day, ranking sixth in the weekend's final practice session.
Look for Johnson to be strong Sunday. He has three straight top-10s at Martinsville, including a runner-up effort to the boss man last fall. Johnson felt so good about his test two weeks back that he and crew chief Chad Knaus left a day early. He starts eighth.
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| Jimmie Johnson was second in Saturday's final practice. Credit: Autostock |
Gordon is an obvious threat. He has earned three consecutive Bud Poles at Martinsville and swept both events a year ago, joining Rusty Wallace as the only drivers to achieve the Martinsville sweep since 1993.
Matt Kenseth, currently second in the championship point standings, has struggled throughout the weekend. After qualifying 29th Friday, he improved to 22nd in the morning practice, before falling to 38th in Happy Hour.
The lone accident Saturday occurred in Turn 3, when Jeff Burton spun the No. 99 Ford and hit the outside retaining wall. He'll require a backup car, and hence will start at the tail end of the field Sunday.
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