JGR's Busch and Hamlin pace practice, eye Johnson

DOVER, Del. -- Saturday practice at Dover International Speedway painted Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch -- the race's defending champion -- and Denny Hamlin as potential favorites for Sunday's Autism Speaks 400.

But each Busch and Hamlin, who led the caution-free morning and afternoon practice sessions, respectively, pointed their favorite's finger at three-time defending Cup champion and three-time -- though not since fall 2005 -- Dover winner Jimmie Johnson.

"The 48 [Johnson] looked really good for about 10-12 laps," said Hamlin, who'll line up 16th on Sunday. "His speeds were really, really fast. He's gonna be a guy we'll probably be chasing."

Johnson, who'll start eighth Sunday, was seventh in Saturday's first practice, which Busch led with a lap in 23.451 seconds, 153.512 mph. Hamlin was 12th in that session, .25 seconds behind his teammate.

Busch didn't limit his favorite's log to Johnson, including two Roush Fenway Racing drivers, which was no surprise considering three RFR men were 2 through 4 behind him last June and then swept the top three spots in September.

"The 16 [Greg Biffle], 48 and 99 [Carl Edwards] looked strong," Busch said. "The same old same old."

The Roush Fenway trio has a total of 17 career top-five finishes at Dover, with Edwards riding a string of five consecutive top-fives here.

In Happy Hour, Hamlin was quickest as conditions slowed in the heat, with a lap in 23.796 seconds, 151.286 mph. Johnson's Chevrolet was a little more than a tenth of a second behind Hamlin while Busch's No. 18 Toyota was another half a tenth behind that.

"The car was pretty good, but it seemed like the more the track got rubbered-up the better we were," Hamlin said of his No. 11 Toyota. "We weren't very good the first practice, but it seemed like the track just now is starting to take rubber -- I think it's because of the sun outside -- and it seems like our car's getting better under race conditions than it was in the earlier practices."

After Happy Hour, in which he ran 57 laps to Hamlin's 71 and Johnson's 64, Busch emerged from his garage stall debrief with crew chief Steve Addington without a smile as he hustled toward the Nationwide grid for his first of two Saturday afternoon races, including the rain-postponed Truck race.

"It was too hard to tell how good the car was," Busch said. "Because everybody runs the same pace and you can't pass anybody when you get out there."

Busch and Hamlin also disagreed on where they'd try to race Sunday.

"I only ever run the bottom [groove]," Busch said. "So I don't care about the top. The track was the biggest change [we dealt with]. As it continued to change, we just had to keep keeping up with it."

"You do hunt grooves here," Hamlin said. "I was really searching around a whole bunch because I know in the race you're going to be moving everywhere. I think this is a typical race track where you'll move around a ton depending on the way your car's handling."

Hamlin's said the track's physical dynamics also led him to explore options.

"It's a very physical race track -- the toughest race track in my opinion that we come to, physically," Hamlin said. "I think the G-forces and the load that you get here is substantial and it's grueling. I'm glad I was never here during the 500-mile days because the 400 is enough."

Busch was most cheerful about Saturday's sunny weather, also forecast Sunday. Busch dominated last weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway but finished sixth when he pitted under the final caution only to have the race never restart.

"Hopefully, we don't have a rain-shortened race, that might help us being able to run the whole 400 miles on Sunday," Busch said. "Overall, we've had great race cars here the past few times in Cup, Nationwide and Trucks, as well.

"We're trying to be able to get through here without any problems [because] if we tend not to have any problems, we typically finish top-three."

First-time Dover pole winner David Reutimann was third in the morning practice and 21st in Happy Hour. Matt Kenseth, the third Roush Fenway driver who had two top-four finishes last season, was fourth in the first session and 14th in Happy Hour.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who on Wednesday night was informed of a crew chief change on his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, was 14th in the opening practice, running 28 laps and then was 26th in Happy Hour, with 29 laps.

Lance McGrew, who'll become Earnhardt's interim crew chief next weekend at Pocono, became "a consultant" to the 88 team when Hendrick's part-time team for Brad Keselowski failed to qualify.

"I'll be on the radio Sunday, but my role really hasn't changed at all," McGrew said after spending considerable time Saturday afternoon in 'his car's' garage stall with 'his crew.' Junior's pretty happy with where the car's at, but he's been through enough change for one week."