TALLADEGA, Ala. -- A driver who flew the last time he was at Talladega Superspeedway and a bird that couldn't were responsible for the two caution flags during Friday's final practice session for the Aaron's 499.

And after Happy Hour, Talladega Superspeedway chairman Grant Lynch announced that even though there is a possibility of severe weather at the track on Saturday, things will be "business as usual" for Sprint Cup qualifying and the Nationwide Series Aaron's 312.

Lynch said he had three meetings Friday with meteorologists from the National Weather Service and decided from their forecasts to "press on." With as many as 60,000 fans already on site, Lynch said that factored into the decision to keep the current schedule in place.

Weather wasn't a factor in Ryan Newman's latest Talladega incident. Running in the middle of the pack and in the bottom groove early in drafting practice, Newman was tapped from behind by Mark Martin, veered sharply into the inside wall, then slid back up the track, finally tapping the outside barrier with his No. 39 Chevrolet. The car suffered major damage and before it even made it back to the garage, Stewart-Haas crews were preparing the unload the backup.

Newman admitted he's fed up with his bad luck on restrictor-plate tracks.

"I don't know what happened," Newman said. "I know I got hit. I just don't know why. I'm just tired of being the one who gets hit at these places. I'm just going to start driving into everybody else like they drive into me, and see if I can turn somebody else around and see what happens."

In 16 previous trips to Talladega, Newman's best finish has been third, although that came with a caveat. Newman was following Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski to the checkered flag when the two touched, with Edwards turning sideways, being launched into the air by Newman's hood and flipping into the catch fence.

However, in the fall race, it was Newman's turn to get airborne. With five laps remaining, Newman turned backwards, flipped end-over-end heading into Turn 3, slammed down hard on its roof, slid up across the track and then tumbled back onto the grass before coming to rest upside down. Safety crews had to cut apart the rollcage to get Newman out.

"It's a product of the racing here and it's not the greatest," Newman said. "I know NASCAR's doing everything it can and we'll see if it gets any better throughout the weekend."

The second caution was literally an instance of NASCAR having a bird in the hand. Spotters noticed a small black bird huddled near the SAFER barrier in one of the turns, and a member of the safety team was able to scale the banking and grab the bird.

Jeff Burton and Keselowski cruised around the 2.66-mile oval at a tick under 200 mph in the final practice session before Saturday's scheduled qualifying. Burton's top lap was clocked at 199.467 mph, with Keselowski close behind at 199.463. Because of concerns about the weather -- and trying not to end up like Newman -- only 38 cars took to the track for Happy Hour, many of them in qualifying trim.

However, all of the top teams had extensive drafting practice in the first of two Friday sessions, which occurred without serious incident.

Related:
• Video: Newman wrecks at practice
• Practice speeds