Scott Riggs will not have to switch to a backup car for Sunday's race. Credit: Autostock

Mayfield fast in practice; pole-sitter Riggs spins

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- On a day that should have been spent setting up for his first career NASCAR Nextel Cup pole position, Scott Riggs spent part of the Happy Hour practice session in the garage fixing body damage.

Riggs was running alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the early laps of the second session when the two collided between Turns 1 and 2, sending Riggs for a lazy spin with no further contact.

	Jeremy Mayfield Credit: Autostock
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"I got up under Junior over there, he was a lot slower than I was and I was trying to get by him," Riggs said after practice. "He just came down on me. I got on the curb trying to stay off him. He got our door a little bit and spun it out. No harm, no foul. He did come over and apologize though, so that makes him a man in my book."

Riggs said there was no lasting damage to the car, and that it would be fine for Sunday. Riggs recovered to post a lap at 19.895 late in the session, good for 14th in the rundown. Earnhardt's best lap was a 28th-quickest 20.021 in the second session. In the first session, Earnhardt was 14th at 19.923.

Jeremy Mayfield was the star of the practice session -- both of them, in fact. The Dodge driver paced both sessions, clicking off quick time at 19.721 seconds in the first session and a very consistent 19.733 in the second.

Mayfield's Evernham Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne got to second place in the final session, just a tick behind at 19.745, and then the Chevys of Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon were third and fourth. Mark Martin got Ford in the top five with a lap at 19.808 late in the second session.

Richard Childress Racing had all three of its cars in the top 11 for the second session, after his drivers had been eighth (Harvick), 30th (Dave Blaney) and 32nd (Jeff Burton) in the first.

In contrast, Penske's three cars were second (Ryan Newman), third (Travis Kvapil) and 21st (Rusty Wallace) in the first session, but faded in the second session. Newman dropped all the way to 26th in the second session.