Bowyer has best practice, but worst average at NHMS

LOUDON, N.H. -- Even though rain washed out qualifying for Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, there was some inkling of who's good and who has some work to do during the only practice session the 12 drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup were able to complete.

The Chase drivers will line up in seeding order for Sunday's race, which means that Kyle Busch will lead them to the green flag and Carl Edwards will be to his outside. That's good for Edwards, because he was 11th of the 12 Chasers in practice, a half-second off Clint Bowyer's best lap.

It's also good for Busch, who will have the coveted first pit stall at the Turn 1 end of the speedway on Sunday.

Busch started last week's race at Richmond on the pole after Tropical Storm Hanna canceled qualifying and the starting field lined up on car owner points. He runs well at NHMS, logging a victory and three top-fives in seven starts and finishing at a 15.7 clip.

Edwards, who logged in at 29.908 seconds (127.351 mph) in practice, has a second-place finish as his best effort in eight starts -- he finished second to Busch in 2006 -- and his average finish is a respectable 14.1.

Bowyer led the session with a lap at 29.237 (130.273) in his Chevrolet, just a tick ahead of Jimmie Johnson's 29.264 (130.153) best. Busch at 29.275 (130.104) was third, and Greg Biffle at 29.383 (129.626) was 10th.

Bowyer, the defending champion of this race, felt good about his chances on Sunday.

"It is a lot of fun to roll back in here as part of the Chase,: Bowyer said. "It is a confidence builder to just be a part of this Chase. Getting things started back almost on square one. Obviously, we are 70 points behind the leader, but that is a heck of a lot less than I was. Really looking forward to getting this thing started off right. It all starts right here. This is a very important weekend for us and I really feel like, with our race team, once we get the ball rolling, the sky is the limit. I think we have proved that last year."

Bowyer won last year's race going away, and that's by far his best effort in five starts. His average finish is a Chase-low 22.2.

Denny Hamlin turned the 11th-fastest lap in his No. 11 Toyota at 29.385 (129.617) while Tony Stewart was 13th at 29.411 (129.503). Jeff Burton was right behind Stewart at 29.417 (129.476), and Kevin Harvick came next at 29.426 (129.437).

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. at 29.429 (129.423) and Jeff Gordon at 29.449 (129.335) were 17th and 18th, respectively, in the practice rundown. Matt Kenseth was the last of the Chasers in practice, logging in at in his Ford.

Of the Chasers, Hamlin has the best average finish, an astounding 6.8 in five races. He won here in the spring of 2007 and has four top-10 finishes, as well. Gordon is the master, winning three times in 27 starts, logging 12 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes in that span and averaging an amazing 11.6 for finishing position.

Despite Gordon's run of success, Burton has more victories (four) and also is the only driver ever to lead all 300 laps at NHMS, doing it in 2000. During those same 27 starts, Burton has seven top-five and 12 top-10 results and finishes only slightly worse than Gordon at 13.1.

Both Johnson and Tony Stewart have won twice there, Stewart's last victory coming in his championship season of 2005. Smoke has 19 starts at NHMS, with a pole, the two wins, 10 top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. His average finish is 12.8.

Johnson swept both 2003 events, and he has slightly lower numbers than Stewart, logging three top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 13 starts.

Despite his performance in practice, Kenseth runs very well at NHMS. In 17 starts, the Ford driver has five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes, and his finishing average of 10.9 is third-best among Chasers, trailing only Hamlin and Johnson (10.5).

Earnhardt Jr. has 18 starts at NHMS, and he has four top-five and seven top-10s in that span. His best finish was third in 2004, and his average finish of 17.8 is 10th of the 12. Harvick has won at NHMS, taking the Chase opener in 2006, and he has three top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 15 starts with an average finish of 12.7.

Biffle was third in the 2006 opener, but he has just three top-five and four top-10 finishes at NHMS for an average of 19.5 per race. That's 11th of the 12 Chasers and trails only Bowyer.