Hapy Hour Times

Happy Hour for the Cup race at Sonoma was completed about an hour ago. If I'm a driver, I would want to get as much practice as I could. The race really is about following the leader and just not spinning, so these times aren't exactly the most useful information to use to predict the finish of tomorrow's race.

Marcos Ambrose, making his first Cup start, got the top time. He's been good all weekend, so I expect him to have a very good race tomorrow. I know he's kind of a road-course ace, but this is still very impressive.

Here's the rest of the top ten, with the full times on NASCAR.com.

1. Marcos Ambrose
2. Ron Fellows
3. David Gilliland
4. Denny Hamlins
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Juan Montoya
7. Brian Vickers
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9. Kevin Harvick
10. Tony Stewart

Hmm, some names new to the top times this weekend. Fellows is a specialist who is filling in for Regan Smith. He should have a pretty good race if this is an indication. Montoya, who won this race last year, has finally made some good adjustments to his car. Him and his team have really struggled with this in 2008. Harvick and Stewart also appear to have found a comfortable car, which eluded them both yesterday in qualifying.

I'm not exactly sure how, but Scott Pruett had the worst time. Keep in mind that he's a road-course specialist.