Threat of rain for Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway has racers worried

DOVER, Del. - Changing weather conditions at Dover International Speedway on Friday had NASCAR crews scrambling to keep up, after the Sprint Cup Series held its morning practice amid bright sunshine and finished the afternoon session under heavy cloud cover.

And Saturday could bring even more challenges, with a threat of rain that could wash away the tire rubber buildup in the concrete racing surface, or even wipe out the scheduled afternoon qualifying runs altogether.

The fact that several top teams struggled to find speed only added to an interesting scenario unfolding for Sunday's AAA 400, the third race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Points leader Tony Stewart was visibly upset at the performance of his No. 14 Chevrolet, which topped out at 25th on the charts (154.453 m.p.h.) in the heat of the morning, when most teams ran their cars in qualifying trim. Stewart's Impala sank to 41st (out of 44 cars) after lunch, slogging along at a relatively pedestrian 151.114 m.p.h.

In contrast, Mark Martin topped the second session at 155.072 m.p.h.

Ryan Newman, Stewart's teammate who stands 11th in the Chase, tried to put a positive spin on the bleak efforts by the two Stewart-Haas Racing vehicles.

"The timing and scoring doesn't show it, but we made some big gains," said Newman, whose No. 39 Chevy dropped from 28th in the morning to 39th in the afternoon.

Kevin Harvick, who trails Stewart by seven points, wasn't particularly stellar in the No. 29 Chevy (16th and 18th) in the two sessions. But Harvick pointed out that the cloud cover that rolled in later in the day "gave us a better read on how we need to set up the car for Sunday."

Unlike Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was left searching for a silver lining after complaining that his No. 88 Chevrolet was "way loose" throughout his runs, which went from 19th in the morning to 37th in the afternoon.

Yet Junior's Hendrick Motorsports teammates - led by Mark Martin - had reason to look forward to Sunday's race.

Jeff Gordon, who has won here four times, could be a threat to take the checkered flag following a consistently fast performance. The No. 24 Chevy improved from fourth in the morning to second in the afternoon.

Five-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, with six Dover victories on his resume, was sixth and 12th in the two practices.

"We're getting there, this was a really useful session," Johnson said. "We're a little bit better in qualifying trim than race trim, but we're getting there."

The Track: Dover International Speedway is north of Dover, Del., on Route 13, about 70 miles from Philadelphia.

Directions: Take I-95 south to I-495 south, Exit 1. Take Route 1 south, exiting at North Dover, then go left on U.S. Route 13 south.

Saturday's on-track events:

 Nationwide Series qualifying, 12:05 p.m.

Sprint Cup Series qualifying, 1:40 p.m.

Nationwide Series OneMain Financial 200 race, 3:30 p.m.

TV: Nationwide Series qualifying (SPEED, noon); Sprint Cup Series qualifying (SPEED, 1:30 p.m.); Nationwide Series OneMain Financial 200 race (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.).

 - Pete Schnatz

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