RCR leads the way in practice at Talladega

Sadler to the rear after engine change

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets paced both Nextel Cup Series practices Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, the morning session by rookie Johnny Sauter and Happy Hour by Kevin Harvick.

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Harvick's 49.064-second lap at 195.174 mph bested Dave Blaney's effort by one tenth of a second in the weekend's final practice session, one that saw race favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. and pole-sitter Ricky Rudd drop well into the bottom half of the speed chart.

Harvick picked up considerably from the morning, but not nearly as much as Blaney did. Harvick improved 18 positions, while Blaney rocketed from 42nd to second in the No. 23 Dodge.

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It's no fluke. Blaney was surprisingly fast during Daytona Speedweeks, and teammate Scott Wimmer finished third in the Daytona 500.

Earnhardt's fortunes worsened as the day progressed. He ranked seventh in the morning session, but plummeted to 32nd overall in Happy Hour, possibly because he was the lead car in the draft, which is often slower than those behind it since it is punching the hole in the air and creating a tunnel for those behind it.

	Jeff Gordon has two wins at Talladega, but none since 2000. Credit: Autostock

Other perennially fast machines that lagged a bit in Happy Hour were Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Johnson fell from 18th in the morning to 28th in Happy Hour, while Gordon dropped from eighth to 29th.

Outside pole-sitter Michael Waltrip, Earnhardt's teammate and winner of the EA Sports 500 here last fall, was so comfortable with his car in the morning -- he was sixth fastest -- the he chose not to participate in Happy Hour.

He made 22 laps Saturday, all in the opening session.

Earnhardt, meanwhile, ran 33 laps in the morning and 34 in Happy Hour. Harvick ran just 16 laps in the final practice, the quickest coming on the seventh circuit.

Along with he and Blaney, Cup rookies Brian Vickers, Scott Wimmer and Brendan Gaughan made up the top-five. Roush Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle joined Dale Jarrett, Kasey Kahne and Joe Nemechek in the six-through-10 slots.

Elliott Sadler was 25th in Happy Hour but blew a motor. By rule, he'll start at the rear of the field in Sunday's Aaron's 499 after changing motors.