Montoya, Hendrick cars rebound in Sat. practices

SONOMA, Calif. -- Denny Hamlin only made 10 laps in Happy Hour on Saturday at Infineon Raceway, but the Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet driver made them count as he led the final session of preparation for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Hamlin had to go to West Allis, Wis., for Saturday night's AT&T 250 Busch Series race at The Milwaukee Mile, but participated in the first 25 minutes of Happy Hour before bolting for the airport.

Hamlin was 14th in the first Saturday practice and was first on the Happy Hour sheet, with a lap in 78.219 seconds, an average speed of 91.589 mph when he left the facility with 31 minutes remaining in practice.

The car had an intermittent electrical issue and crew chief Mike Ford told Hamlin over the team's in-car radio that the distributor and other elements in the electrical system would be changed before Sunday's race.

Defending race winner Jeff Gordon and Formula One refugee Juan Montoya made significant comebacks in Saturday's final two practice sessions for Sunday's 16th Nextel Cup race of the season.

Montoya, the Colombian road-racing veteran who'll make his 17th Nextel Cup start Sunday, has been cautious in his assessment of his chances in his first Cup road race; and his 32nd-place qualifying run Friday bore that out.

But he led the morning's first, 50-minute practice session with a lap in 77.591 seconds, an average speed of 92.330 mph, in his No. 42 Ganassi Racing Dodge. That was more than a second quicker than his qualifying lap on the 1.99-mile circuit.

In cooler temperatures, Kevin Harvick, who won the Watkins Glen road race last season, was second-fastest (77.703 seconds) in his No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and Gordon was third (77.803) in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.

"We made a couple of changes since [Friday when] we were expecting to be a lot better," Montoya said. "With the lap time we did in practice [Saturday] on 10-lap tires we should have been on the front row [of the grid].

"That's a little frustrating, but that's the way it goes. We're learning. We're a little bit behind schedule and did so little testing against some tough teams it was hard to compete.

"Now we're a little better and we're learning our way. We should be OK."

Montoya ended up 12th on the final Happy Hour time sheet. (Continued)