Ryan Newman remained strong at Atlanta on Saturday as he guns for his third win of the year. Credit: Autostock

Practices at AMS go off without a hitch

No wrecks, engine changes in advance of Sunday

HAMPTON, Ga. -- For the first half of Saturday's Happy Hour practice session, it was business as usual. The second session, however, was business as un-unusual.

Ryan Newman led the morning's first practice session in his Bud Pole-winning Dodge, clicking off a lap at 29.599, 187.304 miles per hour.

Kurt Busch picked up a lot of speed during Saturday's pair of practices. Credit: Autostock

That was nearly a full mile per hour faster than second-quick Kasey Kahne. Kurt Busch, who was 22nd in qualifying, bounced to third in his Ford, followed by Kevin Harvick and Chaser Elliott Sadler.

Among the drivers in the Chase, Mark Martin was sixth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. wound up 14th and Jeff Gordon 15th.

Tony Stewart was 17th, Matt Kenseth a respectable 23rd after being forced to take a provisional in qualifying, and Jimmie Johnson was 28th. Jeremy Mayfield was 33rd after the first session.

In Happy Hour practice, Bobby Hamilton Jr. "won" with a lap at 29.927, 185.257 miles per hour, bettering Martin's lap of 185.102.

Hamilton, who took over the No. 32 Chevy for Ricky Craven earlier this season, was 20th in the first session, nearly a second off Newman's time.

Bass Pro MBNA 500 Happy Hour Speeds 2nd Practice Speeds 1st Practice Speeds Lineup

Carl Edwards continued to be fast, clocking in third, while Brian Vickers was fourth and outside pole starter Joe Nemechek was fifth.

Newman, fresh off his usual dominant performance in the first session, took it easy in the second and logged a lap at 183.315 to rest seventh, while Stewart was ninth at 182.801. Johnson improved to 10th quickest with a lap at 182.693.

Sadler was 13th after the second round at 182.314, while Kurt Busch slipped all the way to 21st at 180.899. Earnhardt Jr. was 25th at 180.494, while Kenseth slipped a touch to 27th at 179.918. Gordon slid all the way to 33rd, logging in at 178.971, and Mayfield once again was last, his 178.775-mph lap good for 34th.

There were no incidents in practice, and everything was fairly normal in the garage.

There were no engine changes following practice, so the starting lineup remains the same for Sunday's race.