Greg Biffle has two consecutive Busch Series wins at Fontana. Credit: Autostock

Biffle, Riggs quick in Fontana practices

No. 16 Ford fastest in final warmup for Auto Club 500

FONTANA, Calif. -- Judging by Friday's Nextel Cup Series practices at California Speedway, Greg Biffle and Scott Riggs aptly prepared their respective machines for competition under NASCAR's new spoiler/tire package.

Biffle and Riggs ranked second and third, respectively, in Friday's first practice, then improved to first and second in the evening session.

	Practice makes perfect? Friday's final practice speeds for Sunday's Auto Club 500 Pos. Driver MPH 1. Greg Biffle 186.809 2. Scott Riggs 186.800 3. Carl Edwards 186.417 4. Ryan Newman 186.229 5. Jeff Gordon 186.162 • Complete results, click here

"The guys did a really good job," Biffle said. "We were really fast out here in testing. This is a car we won with a couple times last year (at Michigan and Homestead)."

Biffle's 186.809 mph lap in the final practice was some two-thousandths of a second quicker than Riggs' 186.800 mph effort. More impressively, Biffle's quick lap came on the 33rd of his 35 total laps. Riggs' best circuit came on his 23rd and final lap of practice.

Carl Edwards was third in Happy Hour -- up from eighth in the morning -- followed by Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon in the top five.

"This is one of my favorite racetracks," Edwards said. "It's very temperature-sensitive, and that makes it a lot of fun. When it's sunny out, it makes it really slippery. You have to search around for grip. It makes it really hard to drive, which I like."

Gordon, the only driver to record multiple Nextel Cup victories here, was impressive throughout the day. He paced the first practice with a day-best 185.763 mph lap before dipping to fifth in the evening.

Following Preseason Thunder West, some drivers voiced concerns about the loose conditions the new aerodynamic package present.

"Right now I think everybody is over-compensating for being loose, so they've tightened their cars up a lot," said Casey Mears, who posted the 16th-best lap in Happy Hour. "So I don't think it's really that bad. I think everybody's really dealing with it pretty well."

Scott Riggs was fourth in last weekend's Daytona 500. Credit: Autostock

Jeremy Mayfield said his car is stable, but fears it'll be less settled in traffic.

"We won't know 'til Sunday exactly what'll happen, but I feel good about it," Mayfield said. "I just don't know how everybody's going to race, with the new rules and all, but our car seems to be balanced good.

"I think everybody is a little bit loose, but it's going to be worse in traffic, worse during the race."

This marks the first weekend NASCAR will impound cars following Bud Pole Qualifying, meaning practice for the Auto Club 500 is over.

"I think it's a good idea -- especially if it allows us to stay home and have another day at the shop and let the crew guys have another day off the road," Jimmie Johnson said. "I think it's very important to have it on restrictor-plate races.

	Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson both have visited Victory Lane at Fontana. Credit: Autostock
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"There is no need for us to spend the time and money we do to run two laps at Daytona or Talladega. We could save all the teams a lot of money -- or some huge number -- if we started the impound process there. I think we need it on the plate races more than anything and if we see it throughout, I think it's good.

"It keeps us focused on the right thing and it's going to raise the level of competition. Everybody is going to have more of an opportunity to work on their race setup and qualifying isn't as important in that respect. You've got to worry about race. I think it's a good move."

Johnson, also a former California winner, was fifth in the early practice and ninth in the final preparatory session. Other notables during Happy Hour included Bill Elliott in seventh, Mark Martin in 13th, Kasey Kahne in 14th, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 25th and Kurt Busch in 29th.

Nine drivers failed to pass pre-practice inspection for the first practice, including Robby Gordon, John Andretti and Kevin Lepage. All participated in the second session.