Bowyer paces final practice after wreck in first session

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- It didn't take long for Talladega Superspeedway's reputation to be tested.

The first of two Sprint Cup practice sessions Friday was no more than seven laps old when disaster struck, particularly for three members of Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff Gordon suddenly slowed and jumped out of line in the middle of a large pack of cars, setting off a chain-reaction. Mark Martin smacked Dale Earnhardt Jr., and at the same time, Sam Hornish Jr., Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer wound up making contact, with Hornish and Bowyer getting the worst of things.

Greg Biffle was an eyewitness.

"I think [Gordon] got bumped out of line or decided to quit or something going into the corner and everybody got bunched up," Biffle said. "I hit the brakes and I got clipped in the left rear. It did a little bit of body damage, but then I looked in the mirror and they were wrecking behind us, so we're not real sure what happened there."

While all those involved wound up in the garage area for cosmetic repairs, the No. 77 Dodge team determined that the damage to Hornish's left-rear fender was too severe to be repaired, and the backup car was unloaded from the hauler and the primary car's engine was transferred over. On the other hand, Bowyer's No. 33 Chevrolet underwent extensive repairs, including welding to repair a damaged frame rail under the crumpled right-rear fender.

Perhaps the welder deserves a bonus, because Bowyer's lap of 193.154 mph was the fastest of the 38 cars which recorded speeds in the final 60-minute practice before Sunday's Amp Energy 500. Michael Waltrip wound up second-fastest, but also ran afoul of NASCAR officials' pleas to be less aggressive with bump-drafting and was ordered to the garage area for a short time.

Still, most drivers believe Denny Hamlin could be the biggest force with which to be reckoned at the biggest track on the Cup circuit. He's led at least one lap in each of his seven visits to Talladega, and a total of 162 laps since 2007. When pushing Kasey Kahne in a two-car draft during the first practice, the two posted identical lap speeds of 195.944 mph -- more than a full mile an hour better than third-place Paul Menard.

"All of us are trying to keep up with him right now," Tony Stewart said of his former teammate.

For all his worries about Talladega, points leader Jimmie Johnson looked uncommonly cool Friday. Of course, having a 118-point lead will contribute to that.

"In some ways, it's less tense," Johnson said. "When I look at the points and knowing that we've never been in this strong a position, it does make me feel better about things. But there's still just as much to lose.

"... I still look at it and know anything can happen in those other three races. And I also know I'm racing my teammates right now for this championship. And [Martin] won at Phoenix, has been great on the mile-and-a-halfs, Jeff won at Texas. So when I look at the races following, I don't want to lose any points. I don't want to have to spot any of these guys any points. I don't want to have to chase them in the points, because there are great tracks coming up for them."

Johnson admitted a phone conversation with crew chief Chad Knaus before heading for Alabama was a confidence-builder.

"This race, you can probably look at probably eight scenarios and then on top of that, all those scenarios can go out the window," Johnson said. "Chad and I probably spent an hour, hour-and-a-half [Thursday] on the phone, talking about some different ideas and things. And at the end of it, we realized you can't control any of it.

"We know the car's going to be strong, we know we're going to be prepared, we know the pit stops are going to be great. Let's just have some positive thoughts. Let's just think about the good things that are going to take place, put the right spin on this and go racing, and just take it from there."

Knaus helped Johnson realize that there's no sense in building additional anxiety.

"In some ways, I've feel organized that I've worried about a lot of different situations and there's no more worrying left," Johnson said. "... It changed my attitude, I relaxed a little bit more with that conversation because we went through the steps. And Chad's outlook on things, his view of it really helped turn it around for me in some ways and made my outlook more positive."

Still, Johnson knows the pressure will build as Sunday's green flag looms ever closer.

"It'll ramp back up," Johnson said. "The nerves will kick in, the stress will be there. Because there's just so much to lose. I end up in this argument in my head, because there's so much to lose, but then we have great tracks following [Talladega] and we've been running really well. And a smile comes to my face and I calm down a little bit."

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