Dodge among the leaders in Talladega's practices

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- After taking six of the top-eight positions in the season-opening Daytona 500, Dodge has all but disappeared from the top 10 since. In fact, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne are the only Dodge drivers to finish in the top 10 in the last seven races.

But the series returns to a restrictor-plate track for the first time with Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway and a quick look at practice speeds shows the manufacturer is ready to return to the front.

"The Dodge teams had talked Sunday morning in Daytona to stick together and get a Charger to Victory Lane in the 500 and it worked out," Kahne said. "Whether that happens this weekend -- it would be cool to get another Charger in Victory Lane -- that's what it's all about."

Kahne was the only Dodge driver to post top-10 speeds in both practices, with the sixth-fastest lap in the first practice at 193.921 mph and the 10th-fastest in the final practice at 191.264. In all, five different Dodge drivers posted top-10 speeds in the two Talladega sessions.

Kevin Harvick set the fast lap in the first practice with a speed of 195.936; Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart were second and third, respectively, followed by Carl Edwards and Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman in his No. 12 Dodge, with the fifth-fastest lap at 194.011.

In the afternoon, Newman fell to 21st losing almost 4 mph, and admitted that momentum has slipped from the No. 12 team.

"Momentum-wise, it's more of a mentality thing with the team," Newman said. "We know we can get the job done -- we've accomplished that. I think car-wise, performance-wise, we're better than average, but we're not where we want to be -- we're not dominating."

Newman's teammate, Kurt Busch, did just that in the afternoon practice, posting the second-fastest lap at 191.950, behind Michael Waltrip's drafting lap of 192.754. Stewart was third, P.J. Jones in his No. 7 Dodge was fourth and Martin Truex Jr. was fifth.

Busch said he was pleased with his practice runs and is ready to go Sunday.

"[The car] seems to be doing pretty good," Busch said. "Drafting practice was good for us, that's where that speed came from. We didn't do a qualifying run because it's an impound [race] so we will go race our car on Sunday. It feels pretty good."

In the morning session, Busch was 22nd on the chart and the team made some changes that ultimately made the car stronger.

"We just did a couple different shock packages [in the first practice] and then this [afternoon] session we just changed the rear-end gear to test it out," Busch said. "We feel like, where NASCAR lets us change things, we explored those options and away we go."

With practice wrapped up at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, all that's left for the drivers on track is two qualifying laps Saturday before the green flag drops Sunday. Busch said everything that can be done has been done to his No. 2 Dodge, and now it's a matter of surviving until the end of the race.

"We feel like we've got our homework done and now we get to go and race a 500-mile race with the best car you can possibly have, and I think that we have that," Busch said. "And so you always have to go through the pit strategy portion of it and who you're friends are out there and who isn't and then to get to that final pit stop and be in position -- that's when you have to strike."

Newman and Busch's 1-2 finish at the Daytona 500 was historical for both Penske Racing and Dodge -- and despite some struggles in the seven races since, Newman hopes the momentum created from that finish transfers from Florida to Alabama.

"I think the momentum from Daytona will definitely carry over -- although that car is gone and this is a different racetrack," Newman said. "The best thing I can bring is that if we have a good car, to have drafting help. My teammates from other cars want to work with us because they know we're capable of winning.

"Two top-fives in the last two races is not bad when it comes to restrictor-plate races."