Ryan Newman, left, and crew chief Matt Borland paced the field before having to unload the No. 12 backup car after a practice crash. Credit: Autostock

Newman fast in practice, forced to backup at RIR

RICHMOND, Va. -- The fact that Ryan Newman paced Nextel Cup Series practice Friday at Richmond International Raceway is not surprising, but it is misleading.

Yes, Newman posted the fastest time.

But that was before he wrecked.

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Newman rounded the three-quarter mile track in a session-best 20.923 seconds. But midway through the practice, he wrecked in Turn 2 and thus was forced into a backup car for the remainder of the weekend.

"I put the car in a vulnerable position going into turn one. It caught the marbles a little bit and shot it up the racetrack into the fence," Newman said.

"That's something to learn from. We had a real fast car. I'm disappointed in that, but I'm pretty confident that our backup car was about 98 percent of what that one was. We've got a shot at the pole."

Due to Newman's accident, Kurt Busch effectively posted the fastest time at 21.008 seconds. Virginia native Ricky Rudd was third on the speed chart at 21.092 seconds.

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"Got a real fast car," Rudd said. "We went to make our qualifying run and somebody pulled up in front of us and kind of messed that up, so we've got a little bit more speed left.

"The track is giving up a little grip in (Turns) 1 and 2, so we made a few adjustments for race runs. But the way this impound deal works you can't have it both ways, you've got to pick and choose your setups."

Jeff Burton and Travis Kvapil both posted top-five practice times, while Scott Riggs, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Casey Mears and Bobby Labonte made up the lower half of the top 10.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson struggled terribly, ranking 40th among the 47 cars entered in the Chevy American Revolution 400. Elliott Sadler was just ahead of him in 39th, and 2003 champion Matt Kenseth was 35th.

Jeff Gordon, who trails Johnson by 127 points heading into Saturday night's event, was 12th on the speed chart.

Defending race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 30th overall.

Newman wasn't the only driver to wreck during the two-hour practice. Carl Long backed the No. 00 Chevrolet into the wall as well.