Notebook: Earnhardt steps up in practice at Phoenix

Notebook: Earnhardt steps up in practice at Phoenix


AVONDALE, Ariz. —Saturday's practice was an unknown for Dale Earnhardt Jr., but the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet made the most of it.
In the Happy Hour session in which drivers were fine-tuning their cars for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, Earnhardt's top speed of 131.733 mph was second fastest to the 132.343 mph posted by polesitter Carl Edwards.
After a disappointing 31st-place qualifying run on Friday, Earnhardt came to the track Saturday morning not knowing what to expect from his car."We showed up solely in qualifying trim, and in practice (Friday) we only ran those qualifying runs," Earnhardt told Sporting News on Friday night. "I don't really know how the car's going to be. We were pretty good off the trailer, made some adjustments and went backwards with the car and qualified rather poorly.
"But (Saturday's) a new day and a totally different setup in the racecar, so hopefully we'll get an opportunity to get the car running better."
That was certainly the case on Saturday with the No. 88, which was sporting a one-off Diet Mountain Dew paint scheme designed by a fan and submitted through the website paintthe88.com. Earnhardt chose the winning design from a group of 10 finalists and unveiled the car Friday night at a Phoenix Coyotes hockey game.
"I picked the one I chose, based on the fact that I like really clean, simple schemes that don't get lost in the decals and sponsorships on the car," Earnhardt said. "And I like schemes that also represent the actual sponsor's colors really well."

IT'S IN THE PITS
Earnhardt also figured in another pick on Saturday, one that could have major implications for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.
Lance McGrew, Earnhardt's crew chief, chose the pit stall immediately in front of Denny Hamlin's for Sunday's race. That choice came a week after Hamlin's crew chief, Mike Ford, picked the pit box right in front of that of fellow Chase contender Jimmie Johnson at Texas .
After Hamlin won the Texas race, Ford credited the proximity of the teams with forcing Johnson's teams into mistakes. After a succession of slow pit stops, No. 48 crew chief Chad Knaus replaced his crew with that of Jeff Gordon, who was wrecked and out of the race.
At Phoenix , Ford picked for Hamlin, who qualified 17th, and chose stall No. 18. Knaus picked stall No. 39, near the entrance to pit road, for Johnson, who qualified 21st. When McGrew chose 31st for Earnhardt, stall No. 17 was still available and McGrew opted for the box immediately in front of Hamlin's.
That raises the possibility that Earnhardt could make life difficult for Hamlin by pitting toward the right rear of the pit box and blocking the progress of Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota.

EDWARDS TOP CHARTS AGAIN
Carl Edwards is batting 1.000 at Phoenix , having won the pole for Sunday's race and posting the fastest time in all three practice sessions.
"The race is the race, but we still have the best pit stall, and we've got the fastest racecar in all the practices," Edwards said. "If you could have that every race, you'd be really happy, so I think we'll do well, and I think we're going to be good."

BABY WATCH
Ron Hornaday Jr. took some laps in Ryan Newman's No. 39 Chevrolet in Saturday's final practice just in case Newman has to leave the track unexpectedly. Newman's wife, Krissie, is expecting the couple's first child.
By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service