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Motorsports

Newman runs into trouble in practice

DAYTONA BEACH -- A day after a practice crash sent three Winston Cup drivers scrambling to backup cars, Ryan Newman brushed the wall in Turn 2 while in heavy traffic.

Damage to Newman's No. 12 Dodge wasn't too significant, and he returned to the track for the final session of the day.

"I just got caught three-wide on the high side coming off Turn 2 and I didn't expect it," he said. "Whoever it was inside me got me real, real tight, and I had to crank a bunch of wheel to it. The next thing I knew, I was up in the wall."

Jeff Burton, Elliott Sadler and Mike Skinner, involved with Steve Park and rookie Jack Sprague in Tuesday's crash, got their backup cars on the track for the first time. Burton was sixth-fastest in the late practice, turning a lap of 189.278 mph in the draft.

"We did manage huge improvement from the first practice to the second practice and found a lot of speed," Burton said. "The other car was good at testing but it wasn't good when we got it here. So it's hard to tell what this car is going to be like.

"I'm a firm believer you never expect what you expect."

Sprague never made it to the track Wednesday. His crew worked furiously on the Pontiac damaged in the wreck, but didn't get done in time to practice.

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