Ryan Newman, left, and crew chief Matt Borland will have to find another car for qualifying. Credit: Autostock

Newman quick at RIR, but forced into backup

RICHMOND, Va. -- Ryan Newman was a tenth-of-a-second quicker than any other driver Friday during Nextel Cup Series practice at Richmond International Raceway, albeit in a car he'll neither qualify nor race after an accident forced him into a backup.

According to his team, Newman blew a right front tire and slammed the Turn 1 wall midway through the two-hour session. The backup car was his primary car here in the spring, which was also crashed, and the team chose to install a backup engine, as well.

	Jeff Gordon knows this is the make-or-break weekend. Credit: Autostock
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Greg Biffle was second on the speed chart, followed by teammate Kurt Busch, Rusty Wallace and Johnny Sauter in the top five.

Matt Kenseth, Tony Raines, Mike Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top 10. Gordon, 12th overall in the point standings entering Saturday's final qualification event, must race his way into the 10-race playoff. But his mindset isn't solely focused on Chase qualification.

Matter of fact, he says it's no different than any other weekend.

"I go into every weekend to win, focused on getting the car to go as best we can," Gordon said. "And that's all I feel that I'm doing this weekend. I don't know if it will really sink in until the race is all over.

"The last few weekends, once you get in the race, the intensity builds as the race goes and until the finish of the race is when reality sinks in. We're basically coming here to try to win the race like we would any other time."

Elliott Sadler and Jamie McMurray, among those Gordon is battling for those coveted final slots in the Chase, were 29th and 31st, respectively, on the speed chart.

McMurray said Friday that his position this season -- 10th, but just one point ahead of Newman -- is a far better standing that where he was in 2004, on the outside looking in.

Costly accident?Ryan Newman cuts a tire and hits the wall in practice Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"I went through this last year and really let it get to me," McMurray said. "This year is a lot better. Honestly, though, we haven't run as well as we did last year and that takes some of the pressure off.

"Last year, running so well at this time, we were running good enough that we should be in. This year we've haven't run that well. We have a good car this weekend, and coming in here it's not nearly as bad as it was last year."

Nextel Cup Series points leader Tony Stewart was 22nd overall in practice, while third-place Jimmie Johnson was 34th.

Bud Pole Qualifying for the Chevy Rock 'n Roll 400 begins at 6 p.m. ET.