Newman, Kahne lead final session at RIR

RICHMOND, Va. - Kasey Kahne crashed his primary car Friday during Bud Pole Qualifying at Richmond International Raceway, but rallied to post the second-fastest Happy Hour lap in his backup machine.

Kahne rounded the .750-mile RIR oval in 21.003 seconds at 128.310 mph. Ryan Newman led the final session with a lap of 128.639 mph.

The car Kahne wrecked was the same one he wrecked during a test at Martinsville.

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Kurt Busch was third fastest, followed by Johnny Sauter and Joe Nemechek in the top-five. Nemechek, who won this event a year ago in the No. 25 Chevrolet, is a sentimental favorite this weekend, as he's driving the No. 01 Chevrolet on the one-year anniversary of Jerry Nadeau's accident.

Speaking of the No. 25 Chevrolet, pole-sitter Brian Vickers fell off terribly during Happy Hour, posting the 25th-quickest time during the session. Third-place qualifier Jeff Green struggled as well, ranking 35th overall.

Jeremy Mayfield was sixth in Happy Hour, followed by Michael Waltrip, who has never finished better than 12th at RIR.

Former Richmond winner Jeff Burton was eighth, followed by Bobby Labonte in ninth. Jeff Gordon, winner of the past two Nextel Cup Series races at Talladega and California, rounds out the top 10.

Being that the racetrack was repaved before this weekend's event, NASCAR chose to place cones in the corners of the racing surface in an effort to help break in the second groove, and separate drivers scuffing tires in the low groove from drivers working in the high line.

There were no accidents during the session.