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DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Carl Edwards backed up a strong day Friday at Darlington Raceway by leading Happy Hour practice for Saturday's Dodge Charger 500.
Edwards, who qualified seventh for Saturday night's Nextel Cup race, also posted the third-best speed in the opening Cup practice.
He led the session with a lap of 165.331 mph.
"I don't know if my car was that good, but it's pretty good," Edwards said. "It's hard to tell with all the laps and tires and traffic. I'm going to look at the lap tracker right now -- but it was pretty good, you know?"
Edwards said that, much as his Roush Racing teammate Greg Biffle did last weekend at Richmond, it was essential for him to maintain the momentum his team has as it tries to battle back toward the top 10 in the standings.
"This is my favorite racetrack and I just like racing here," Edwards said. "If we finish first or fifth [Saturday night] it doesn't matter -- we just need to finish well."
Rounding out the top five speeds in Happy Hour were Evernham Motorsports teammates Jeremy Mayfield (29.826/164.876) and Kasey Kahne (29.916/164.380) in Dodges, Jeff Burton in the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (29.926/164.325) and Kurt Busch in the No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge (29.979/164.035).
Each of the drivers in the top 10 turned their fastest lap on either their second or third lap, understandable given Darlington's valid reputation for eating tires.
"If tire wear wasn't an issue, I don't know how many laps I'd want to practice here," Edwards said, grinning. "It's fun and I just like racing here. And the tire thing is cool, too; because it's not like you're running the same speed all day.
"They wear down and wear down and you put some new ones on and it's like, 'wow, this is great,' for five or 10 laps, and then you're conserving. But it's fun and it adds another dimension to this place."
On the other end of the spectrum, Sterling Marlin lost his qualifying effort -- 27th on the grid -- when the Hendrick engine in his No. 14 MB2 Motorsports Chevrolet blew up on his first lap out of the garage.
Marlin, who started from the back of the grid in the spring of 2002 when he got one of his two career Darlington victories, rolled back to the garage while the red flag flew, but never got out for a hot lap in practice. He was 16th in the earlier Cup session.
"It's a tough break because we didn't get any practice time during the Happy Hour session," Marlin said. "But better to have this happen today than in tomorrow's race. Now, we'll be starting with a fresh engine that can hopefully give us the power to drive through the field.
"I've done it before, hopefully I can do it again."
Mayfield, who was 23rd in the opening practice and qualified 30th in his No. 19 Charger, lauded the presence -- for the second consecutive weekend -- of his favorite engineer, Josh Browne, at the racetrack rather than the shop.
"This is about the first time all year I've had a car this good [in Happy Hour], isn't it?" Mayfield said. "It's a fast car -- it's pretty good. We didn't qualify good but we did all race stuff in practice.
"We're just trying to get better, and we're in a pretty good mood right now -- we're pretty happy with it. I like this place, but we were better last week and we just didn't get to show it.
"I guess it's just getting used to each other and raising enough hell. We've just done a lot of fine-tuning to the cars to get them to fit me again, and that's what I like. It's just communication, and I've got Josh, who was my engineer here a couple years ago and was with me back when I was on the 12 car, and he knows what I like and that helps."
The red flag for Marlin's engine was the only stoppage in the one-hour practice session.
Dodge Charger 500
Happy Hour Speeds
Pos. Driver Speed Time
1. C. Edwards 165.331 29.744
2. J. Mayfield 164.876 29.826
3. K. Kahne 164.380 29.916
4. J. Burton 164.325 29.926
5. Ku. Busch 164.035 29.979
6. J.J. Yeley 163.789 30.024
7. S. Riggs 163.783 30.025
8. E. Sadler 163.702 30.040
9. G. Biffle 163.392 30.097
10. D. Earn. Jr. 163.180 30.136
Lineup
Pos. Driver Speed Time
1. K. Kahne 169.013 29.096
2. R. Newman 168.192 29.238
3. C. Bowyer 168.071 29.259
4. D. Stremme 167.727 29.319
5. D. Hamlin 167.453 29.367
6. E. Sadler 167.413 29.374
7. C. Edwards 167.379 29.380
8. B. Vickers 167.362 29.383
9. G. Biffle 167.231 29.406
10. Ku. Busch 167.146 29.421
Edwards, who qualified seventh for Saturday night's Nextel Cup race, also posted the third-best speed in the opening Cup practice.
He led the session with a lap of 165.331 mph.
"I don't know if my car was that good, but it's pretty good," Edwards said. "It's hard to tell with all the laps and tires and traffic. I'm going to look at the lap tracker right now -- but it was pretty good, you know?"
Edwards said that, much as his Roush Racing teammate Greg Biffle did last weekend at Richmond, it was essential for him to maintain the momentum his team has as it tries to battle back toward the top 10 in the standings.
"This is my favorite racetrack and I just like racing here," Edwards said. "If we finish first or fifth [Saturday night] it doesn't matter -- we just need to finish well."
Rounding out the top five speeds in Happy Hour were Evernham Motorsports teammates Jeremy Mayfield (29.826/164.876) and Kasey Kahne (29.916/164.380) in Dodges, Jeff Burton in the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (29.926/164.325) and Kurt Busch in the No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge (29.979/164.035).
Each of the drivers in the top 10 turned their fastest lap on either their second or third lap, understandable given Darlington's valid reputation for eating tires.
"If tire wear wasn't an issue, I don't know how many laps I'd want to practice here," Edwards said, grinning. "It's fun and I just like racing here. And the tire thing is cool, too; because it's not like you're running the same speed all day.
"They wear down and wear down and you put some new ones on and it's like, 'wow, this is great,' for five or 10 laps, and then you're conserving. But it's fun and it adds another dimension to this place."
On the other end of the spectrum, Sterling Marlin lost his qualifying effort -- 27th on the grid -- when the Hendrick engine in his No. 14 MB2 Motorsports Chevrolet blew up on his first lap out of the garage.
Marlin, who started from the back of the grid in the spring of 2002 when he got one of his two career Darlington victories, rolled back to the garage while the red flag flew, but never got out for a hot lap in practice. He was 16th in the earlier Cup session.
"It's a tough break because we didn't get any practice time during the Happy Hour session," Marlin said. "But better to have this happen today than in tomorrow's race. Now, we'll be starting with a fresh engine that can hopefully give us the power to drive through the field.
"I've done it before, hopefully I can do it again."
Mayfield, who was 23rd in the opening practice and qualified 30th in his No. 19 Charger, lauded the presence -- for the second consecutive weekend -- of his favorite engineer, Josh Browne, at the racetrack rather than the shop.
"This is about the first time all year I've had a car this good [in Happy Hour], isn't it?" Mayfield said. "It's a fast car -- it's pretty good. We didn't qualify good but we did all race stuff in practice.
"We're just trying to get better, and we're in a pretty good mood right now -- we're pretty happy with it. I like this place, but we were better last week and we just didn't get to show it.
"I guess it's just getting used to each other and raising enough hell. We've just done a lot of fine-tuning to the cars to get them to fit me again, and that's what I like. It's just communication, and I've got Josh, who was my engineer here a couple years ago and was with me back when I was on the 12 car, and he knows what I like and that helps."
The red flag for Marlin's engine was the only stoppage in the one-hour practice session.
Dodge Charger 500
Happy Hour Speeds
Pos. Driver Speed Time
1. C. Edwards 165.331 29.744
2. J. Mayfield 164.876 29.826
3. K. Kahne 164.380 29.916
4. J. Burton 164.325 29.926
5. Ku. Busch 164.035 29.979
6. J.J. Yeley 163.789 30.024
7. S. Riggs 163.783 30.025
8. E. Sadler 163.702 30.040
9. G. Biffle 163.392 30.097
10. D. Earn. Jr. 163.180 30.136
Lineup
Pos. Driver Speed Time
1. K. Kahne 169.013 29.096
2. R. Newman 168.192 29.238
3. C. Bowyer 168.071 29.259
4. D. Stremme 167.727 29.319
5. D. Hamlin 167.453 29.367
6. E. Sadler 167.413 29.374
7. C. Edwards 167.379 29.380
8. B. Vickers 167.362 29.383
9. G. Biffle 167.231 29.406
10. Ku. Busch 167.146 29.421
