• Friday: Practice 1 | • Saturday: Practice 2 | Final

LONG POND, Pa. -- Pocono Raceway's Turn 3 "patch," which in a matter of weeks has achieved almost legendary status, claimed its first terminal victim Saturday morning during practice for Sunday's Pocono 500.

Kyle Busch, who's less than halfway through a grueling tripleheader weekend pushing him to race in three states, had to go to a backup No. 18 Toyota when he apparently lost control twice in a half-mile, then hit the inside pit wall with less than three minutes left in Saturday's opening practice.

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It wasn't nothing that has anything to do with his racing in Texas, Pocono and Nashville. I talked to him [Saturday] morning and he was fine. He got plenty of rest [Friday] night."

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STEVE ADDINGTON

"It's just part of racing," said Busch's crew chief, Steve Addington, who spoke for his driver, who left the track to head to Nashville Superspeedway. "The car got a little bit loose off [Turn 3] and then he tried to just turn down pit road and spun out and tore the front end up on the car.

"It's no big deal. These guys will dig in and we'll have a good car [Sunday] afternoon for the race."

Added Busch once he arrived at Nashville Superspeedway: "I wrecked. It's as simple as that."

Carl Edwards, who was one of seven drivers who left Pocono to fly to Lebanon, Tenn., to qualify Saturday afternoon and then compete in Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 300, was quickest in both practices in his No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

"Yes, we got everything done -- and that car is good -- it's very good," Edwards said. "So, we're excited. Bob [Osborne, crew chief] did a great job. He had a plan, and our tests and everything went well. But now it's just up to see how the race goes.

"I think it's going to be really good. Man, this is a good car."

Busch challenged Edwards for the top spot in the opening practice, but on the exit of Turn 3, Busch slipped off the patch of new asphalt and appeared to catch his car at the head of the frontstretch after it pitched violently sideways.

However, when he abruptly tried to turn left to head to pit road, he completely lost control and crashed.

The car, with which Busch turned 20 laps and posted the third-best time in the session -- behind Edwards and Jimmie Johnson -- made a long slide and hit the low, inside pit wall right in front of where several spectators were standing immediately after Busch drove away.

"It was the transition off the patch onto the racetrack and onto the old asphalt and it just got a little loose on him," Addington said. "He thought he was going to save it and it didn't. It was just a mistake and he's sorry about that."

NASCAR officials were immediately told to speak to Busch's spotter about the incident. Sprint Cup director John Darby said that was a result of Busch's "bad decision at the last minute to come to pit road."

After crashing, Busch drove his car, which was new this weekend, back to the garage, trailing fluid. He briefly stopped between his garage stall and the Joe Gibbs Racing team's transporter, and then parked the car near its hauler as his teammates unloaded his backup.

Addington said the backup is also a new car with no race action, though it was tested here last week for two days. Addington's comment on his driver's mood was no surprise.

"He was disappointed," Addington said. "He felt like he disappointed us more than anything -- he just kept apologizing. I told him, 'We're in this thing together -- we win and lose them together.' That's why we bring a backup car and the guys prepared it good.

"We took our time and got it as close to the other car as we could and got our front-end stuff done. We took our time getting it ready and he feels pretty good about the racecar now."

'Patch' work

It's called "the patch," a partial paving job for crumbling asphalt and disrepair in Turn 3. And it has changed the track a lot.

• Complete story, click here

"The patch" that caught Busch out is actually a 3,800-foot one-lane strip of new asphalt that was laid this past November from the entrance of the long, flat Turn 3 to the exit that leads onto NASCAR's longest straightaway, 3,740 feet.

Busch, who finished second in Friday night's Craftsman Truck Series race after starting from the back for making a driver change, will also have to give up his 10th-place starting position at Pocono and drop to the rear for using his backup. After Happy Hour ended, the JGR crew was making an engine change to Busch's car.

After completing Happy Hour, Busch left to fly to Lebanon, where he was scheduled to qualify a Braun Racing Toyota for Saturday night's Nationwide Series race.

"Everything travel-wise has been good," Busch said once he arrived in Lebanon. "I got a little bit of sleep [Friday] night and got some sleep on the way here. We're trying to catch up on it. Everything has worked out smoothly thanks to the Marquis Jets."

Addington said Busch's schedule this weekend had nothing to do with the crash. Busch, who leads the Sprint Cup standings by 142 points over Jeff Burton, left Pocono Friday to fly to Texas, and then returned to Pennsylvania. After racing in Tennessee on Saturday night, he'll fly back to Pocono for Sunday's 14th Cup race of the season.

"No, I don't think so," Addington said. "When he gets in here people see it. He's got his game face on when he walks in here but when he gets in [the transporter] with us, one-on-one, he's still the same as he always is -- laughing and cutting up.

"No, [his focus] didn't have a thing to do with this. We came in and had a little time left on the practice clock and we wanted to try to make a change and it freed the car up and it got it loose off the corner there.

"It wasn't nothing that has anything to do with his racing in Texas, Pocono and Nashville. I talked to him [Saturday] morning and he was fine. He got plenty of rest [Friday] night."

Busch's crash was the only major incident in three Cup practices this weekend in the corner that's been predicted to cause the most trouble in Sunday's 500-miler; but about five minutes into Happy Hour, Clint Bowyer slipped off the same patch and bent the very end of his No. 07 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet's right-rear corner against the wall.

His crew quickly repaired the car and Bowyer turned 15 laps in practice, ending up 11th on the time sheet.

Sam Hornish Jr. also had to go to a backup car when he lost control of his No. 77 Penske Racing Dodge entering the Tunnel Turn less than 20 minutes into Happy Hour.

"The car has been not very good so far this weekend and we were fighting it being really loose," Hornish said. "We were trying to do everything we could to get it out of it [but] it was a matter of time -- so I guess it was better [to have this happen Saturday] than [Sunday]."

Hornish was high on the racetrack when his car turned sideways and executed a long slide to the infield grass. He rolled back to the garage with two flat tires and, despite not hitting a wall, enough body damage to force his team to unload its backup after Hornish made six laps in Happy Hour in his primary car.

Hornish ended up making six more laps and ended the session 42nd, just ahead of Kyle Petty's substitute driver, former two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte.

"When I spun we lost the left-front tire and then when we went to the grass the front end just dug in because it didn't have a tire to keep it up," Hornish said. "It ripped the valance off of it and some other stuff."