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Bliss leads happy hour; Martin forced to backup car
By Art Weinstein
Saturday, November 04, 2006
FORT WORTH, Texas - Mike Bliss was the surprise leader during final round of NASCAR Nextel Cup practice at Texas Motor Speedway, piloting the BAM Racing Dodge to a speed of 188.180 mph while Chase contender Mark Martin damaged his primary Roush Racing car in an incident midway through the session.
Martin was taking the low line out of Turn 4 when Tony Raines, intending to go to pit road, came down into the side of his car. Martin's Ford suffered significant right front damage, and the team quickly prepared a backup car. The backup saw action earlier this year, finishing second at Atlanta in the spring and ninth at Texas in April. Before the incident, Martin had posted the 10th-fastest time in the session.
"We're gonna run the other car because there's enough damage to the primary car that it would be tough to fix," said Martin's crew chief, Pat Tryson. "These things are so aero sensitive that even though we might be able to fix it, you won't get it back right and that could make for a real long day.
"We'll see what we've got with this and see if we can get it as close as we can. ... It wouldn't be so bad if it was just racing, but when somebody is trying to come on pit road and they're not on the bottom and they turn into you, it's pretty sad."
Chip Ganassi Racing's Casey Mears (187.99 mph) was second in the final practice session - followed by Chase contenders Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson (187.937), Evernham Motorsports' Kasey Kahne (187.48) and Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton (187.402) rounded out the top five drivers.
Among Chase drivers not mentioned above, Kevin Harvick - who paced the day's first practice - was seventh, Kyle Busch was 12th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 19th and Jeff Gordon was 21st. Matt Kenseth, who struggled in Saturday's first practice, was 24th, and Denny Hamlin was 27th.
The Dickies 500 is scheduled to go green at 2:55 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.
Mentioned Drivers: Casey Mears
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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