Brian Vickers and crew chief Lance McGrew didn't have anything to be happy about Friday at NHIS. Credit: Autostock

Vickers fails inspection; Wallace tops in practice

LOUDON, N.H. -- Brian Vickers and the No. 25 team likely will face penalties from NASCAR next week after its primary car failed inspection at New Hampshire International Speedway on Friday.

Twin practices for the Sylvania 300 were held, and Rusty Wallace easily led HappyHour with a speed of 130.765 mph. The teams qualify noon Saturday, weather permitting. Rain is in the forecast for the session.

Inside the Numbers Rusty Wallace at NHIS Year Start Finish 2005 6 8 2004 17 14   8 30 2003 11 6   11 17 2002 15 19   3 4 2001 9 18   23 43 2000 5 5   1 15 1999 1 6   2 42 1998 14 8   9 4 1997 33 21   12 3 1996 17 7 1995 20 6 1994 18 3 1993 33 1 21 starts 12.8 13.3

Teams were able to get in the two practices with minimal delay Friday, and Vickers got only two minutes of practice in after the team turned the car over to NASCAR. Officials covered the car and prepped it for transport to NASCAR's facility in Concord, North Carolina.

"It'll be in our R&D Center Monday morning," said Robin Pemberton, Director of Competition for NASCAR. "We opened at 7 and at 4:15, they gave up.

"They tried, they went through multiple times, couldn't get all the templates to fit at the same time."

"We have a very thorough system that should prevent these things, but something obviously fell through the cracks," said Doug Duchardt, Hendrick's Vice President of Development. "On Monday, we'll figure out the problem and make the necessary adjustments to fix it."

Vickers' team hurriedly prepared a backup, which passed inspection with mere minutes remaining in Happy Hour. He ran five laps and was 44th-best in the session.

Vickers won the Bud Pole here in Loudon in July and will have to rely on his teammates for a qualifying setup for Saturday.

Vickers won the Bud Pole here in Loudon in July and will have to rely on his teammates for a qualifying setup for Saturday. The team said that the car in question was a freshly-skinned body on a previously-used chassis.

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Meanwhile, Wallace stole the show in Happy Hour. Wallace hasn't yet won this year, but the veteran feels he should have won at Loudon earlier this year. Wallace won the track's inaugural Cup event in 1993, but he hasn't won here since.

"I got a good setup. I had a good run here the last race, I finished eighth here and ran better than that," said Wallace. "I unloaded with that setup and perfected on it. I got it better. I am pretty happy with it."

Kurt Busch won the title last year after starting the Chase for the Nextel Cup with a win at Loudon, and Wallace wants to do the same.

"I think everyone is like a horse or a motorcycle," Wallace said. "You want to get out front and then you can hold on to the lead easier."

Practice notes

Mark Green practiced the No. 45 Dodge for Kyle Petty and also will qualify the car Saturday, as Petty has not been feeling well this week. ...Jeff Gordon led the first practice but slid to 15th in the Happy Hour session. ...Dale Earnhardt Jr. was eighth in the first practice despite losing practice time because of a flat tire. ...Teams ran many more laps in Happy Hour than the first practice. Jimmie Johnson ran a series-high 55 laps in Happy Hour, but was just 16th-best.