Newman not worried after engine forces him to rear

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Ryan Newman has his work cut out for him Sunday. The new engine the No. 12 Dodge team installed Saturday morning was lacking the horses of the motor Newman powered to the pole Friday, his seventh at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Newman's Happy Hour speed of 184.960 mph was significantly slower than his qualifying lap of 193.124, when he circled AMS in 28.707 seconds. But the latter engine gave way nine laps into Saturday morning's practice.

"It started tightening up coming off Turn 4 and we had a pretty good amount of oil in one of the spark plugs. Something was wrong," said Newman, who noticed something was amiss during qualifying.

"We had a little miss in the engine [Friday night]. We were surprised it was as fast as it was. On that second lap I just tried to hold it wide open. It washed up in [Turn] 4, and I said that was enough."

Only Jeff Burton put in more laps during Happy Hour than Newman, who raced around AMS 48 times in the final practice session. His top speed was nearly 4 mph behind that of teammate Kurt Busch, whose lap of 188.758 (29.371) led the session. Newman was 25th-best.

"I think we can shake down the new engine and go with it," Newman said, who has started on the front row in eight of 10 Atlanta starts. Newman will be sent to the back to begin Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500.

"Obviously we don't want to do it, but we've got a great car," Newman said. "This is the best racetrack if you have to go to the rear."

On Saturday, no drivers came close to the top qualifying speeds, when 18 cars reached 190 mph or higher. Jimmie Johnson, who stands to inherit the inside of the front row after qualifying third, led the morning session at 189.234 (29.297) and was third in Happy Hour at 188.322 (29.439).

Elliott Sadler, who will start on the outside of the front row, also struggled in Saturday's practices. Sadler finished one spot ahead of Newman in Happy Hour (184.880 mph, 28.987 seconds), only a slight improvement from his morning pace (184.652, 30.024) on a day when temperatures strained to reach the 50s.

"It's cold, but I'm going to have the warmest seat in the house Sunday," Sadler said. "As nice as it was two days ago ... now it's 50 degrees and freezing."

It should be pointed out Atlanta's temperatures will return to the norm for this time of year -- on Monday. But the forecast calls for another chilly afternoon on Sunday, with a high of 58 degrees expected.

"I don't think that will affect the racing any," Sadler said. "It'll give us more grip for Sunday."

Busch was the only driver to reach 190 mph in the opening practice Friday and was a touch better in qualifying, although his speed of 190.189 mph (29.150 seconds) was only good enough for 17th place.

"We were real fast in practice and we were fast again in qualifying; we just came up a little short," said Busch, who also posted a top-10 speed in Saturday's morning practice. "The speeds are stacked on top of each other right now, but we'll have a good car for Sunday."

And Newman expects to have one, too.

"I've had cars that may not have been so great in practice or qualifying, but once we got to the race, the cars were good," said Newman, who has overcome a failed engine at Daytona to finish 12th and eighth, respectively, the past two races.

"[Friday] was good. I'm not going to complain at all about luck or a break," Newman said. "This stuff happens once in a while.

"The guys at the engine shop are working hard and we'll carry on."