Busch slowed by flu bug; Gilliland on standby at ACS

FONTANA, Calif. -- Kyle Busch has been an unstoppable force on the track in 2009. However, an unexpected foe -- the flu bug -- may be Busch's biggest battle this weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

Busch ran a total of 33 laps in a pair of Sprint Cup practices Saturday, with a fastest lap of 176.220 mph in Happy Hour, before climbing slowly and cautiously from the cockpit of his No. 18 Toyota. He had Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin standing by as a possible relief driver for the Nationwide race, and Riverside native David Gilliland on reserve in case Busch couldn't go the distance in Sunday's Pepsi 500.

Hamlin, who won the pole Friday, certainly found the fast groove again a day later. He was second-quickest to Jimmie Johnson in the first of the two sessions -- cut to less than 20 minutes because of a fog delay earlier in the morning -- then third behind Mark Martin and Casey Mears in the final 60-minute practice.

"Our car's pretty good," Martin said. "We're pretty happy with it. We got a few little tune-ups to make on it for [Sunday]."

The other front-row starter, Greg Biffle, may be scratching his head after his No. 16 Ford was well down the speed charts in both practices. His best lap in Happy Hour, 175.537 mph, was almost 5 mph slower than Martin.

There were no major incidents, although a handful of cars showed the effects of brushes with the speedway's wall.