Johnson leads the way in Fontana Happy Hour

FONTANA, Calif. -- Jimmie Johnson may have wrecked the Lowe's Chevrolet on one of his first laps of the weekend, but it seems to have only momentarily slowed him down.

Johnson led both practices Saturday at California Speedway in a back-up car that qualified 19th. Johnson's quick lap in the morning session, when the track was cool, registered 182.709 mph for a time of 39.407 seconds.

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But as the track heated up, per usual, speeds fell off considerably. Johnson paced Happy Hour with a speed of 178.762 mph. The 40.277-second circuit was some three-hundredths of a second quicker than teammate Brian Vickers, who picked up from 12th in the morning.

Ryan Newman also picked up quite a bit, from 16th in the morning to third in Happy Hour. On Friday, Newman said to expect three racing grooves, despite California's traditional one-groove competition.

His prediction appears accurate, as many drivers -- Johnson, Vickers and Mark Martin included -- worked the high line well during Happy Hour.

Martin, who enjoyed a great run last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, was fourth in Happy Hour and Ricky Craven fifth. Kevin Harvick was sixth, followed by Rusty Wallace, Joe Nemechek, Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield in the top 10.

Jeff Gordon, the only driver to win multiple races here, picked up from 25th to 11th as the day progressed, the result of several changes to the setup during both practices. During Happy Hour, his team spent much of their time underneath the car changing a rear end gear. He'll start 16th Sunday.

Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. both dropped 11 positions during Happy Hour. Biffle was second in the morning and Earnhardt Jr. third, but they fell to 13th and 14th, respectively, during the weekend's final session.

	Casey Mears was forced to a back-up car following an accident during Saturday's first practice. Credit: Autostock

Defending race winner Kurt Busch was 19th in the morning and improved to 12th during Happy Hour, while his teammate, flip-flopped with Gordon. Kenseth was 11th in the morning, 25th in Happy Hour.

Casey Mears suffered a significant setback when he wrecked in Turn 2 during the morning's first practice, eliminating the session's sixth-quickest machine.

Forced into a backup, Mears forfeited the car he'd driven to a pair of career-best seventh-place finishes at Las Vegas and Texas. Having qualified 13th, he'll start at the rear of the field Sunday.

"(I) just lost it off (Turn) 2," Mears said. "It stepped out on me. I got it saved, but I was up in the groove and flat-sided it. I probably should have spun it out."

Pole-sitter Kasey Kahne was 18th in the morning and 24th in Happy Hour, and third-place qualifier Jeff Green 24th in the morning, then 22nd in the weekend's final practice.