Notes: Darlington claims its victims in Friday practice

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- The recently repaved Darlington Raceway proved to be just as tough on machinery as its former incarnation. No fewer than four drivers were forced to backup cars after incidents in Friday's two practice sessions, including defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson had just turned his quickest laps of the early session when he lost control of his No. 48 Chevrolet and hit the wall (watch video).

Fast facts

What	Dodge Challenger 500
When	Green, 7:20 p.m. ET Saturday
TV	FOX 7 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 7 p.m. ET

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"I hit the wall in Turn 1," Johnson said. "We worked hard over the night to make some gains and we ran two of the fastest laps and unfortunately I crashed on my third.

"I'm still trying to understand why we lost it. I lost it early on the straightaway before the corner, so something happened up on the straightaway."

Johnson spun the backup car in the second session, damaging the left-front fender and splitter, but it appeared the team would be able to repair the damage in time for qualifying. Johnson said he couldn't remember crashing two cars in one day.

"Hey, we don't race until 7 p.m. [Saturday night]," Johnson said. "They can get another backup here. Maybe I can make it three."

Other teams that pulled out backups from Friday incidents included Reed Sorenson and Paul Menard. David Ragan and Robby Gordon also suffered damage during final practice crashes.

In the rear-view

When it comes to the fallout from last weekend's incident at Richmond International Raceway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is just "too busy to hate," while Kyle Busch has said everything he wanted to say about the subject.

When asked why he seems so cool, calm and collected despite losing a golden opportunity to snap his winless streak, Junior said getting mad is wasted effort.

"There are things that I've got to do during the week and my schedule is so busy that I just ain't got time for it," he said during preparations for Saturday night's Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. "I'm in a bad enough mood just with the grind of the season that I just don't let those kinds of things get to me and get under my skin.

"I don't want to make an issue worse for me. I don't want to give anybody ammunition for me. We've got a lot of critics out there and a lot of supporters too, and I know they would have rather me have been a little more vocal and a little more angry about it."

On Friday, when asked about the backlash Busch has received as a result of the incident, he said, "I really don't know and I really don't care."

Biffle's too busy to talk contract

With Carl Edwards signing a "multi-year" contract extension to remain in Roush Fenway Racing's No. 99 Ford, the talk in the garage area naturally turned to teammate Greg Biffle, whose deal with Jack Roush expires at the end of the season.

But Biffle confessed that his long-term future is not foremost on his mind at the present time.

"I haven't talked to anybody, really," Biffle said. "This week was sort of off the radar for me because we tested and did all that, so this is a busy week and so is next week with the Nationwide testing. I haven't really been paying attention to any of that stuff. I've been worrying about the racecar right now."

Different shade of Green

Jeff Green was in uniform in the garage area Friday as driver of Front Row Motorsports' No. 34 Chevrolet. John Andretti had been running the car this season, making three starts with a best finish of 35th at Fontana. However, Andretti is busy looking for a ride in this year's Indianapolis 500, giving Green the opportunity.

"John's at Indianapolis and is going to be there all month of May," Green said. "I drove a [Nationwide] car at Richmond, the first time I've driven all year other than practicing the No. 21 car at Bristol a little bit.

"I've been sitting on the sideline and [crew chief Scott Eggleston] has been a friend for a while, and he either remembered me or somebody told him about me, so it's a good thing. I hope I can help these guys out and they can help me get back in the seat and have a little fun."

Green was let go by Hass CNC Racing after Martinsville last fall. He finished 38th at Richmond, driving the No. 31 Key Motorsports Chevy.

Deja vu all over again

With five wins and 35 top-10 finishes, Bill Elliott has extensive experience at Darlington, but even he realizes that won't be much of a help when the green flag drops Saturday night.

"It's not the same Darlington," Elliott said. "It's gonna be a little bit harder to race on it because everybody seems to be running closer to the same speed. The new car has probably made that a lot more apparent, but the cars aren't gonna give up as much and the times are not gonna slow down as much. It's just different."

How different?

"I was just thinking that I had to get my act together and get back in the groove because I haven't been here since 2003," Elliott admitted.

Elliott finished 10th in his Darlington debut in 1977, running the family-owned No. 52 Ford. The eventual winner? David Pearson, driving the Wood Brothers No. 21 -- the car that Elliott is driving this weekend.