Mark Martin goes back-to-back in winning Bristol pole

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- A week away from the racetrack gave Mark Martin the break he needed from his disastrous start to the season.

It certainly didn't slow him down.

Martin won his second straight pole Friday with a lap of 125.773 mph around Bristol Motor Speedway, giving him the top starting spot in consecutive races for the first time in 20 years.

Two weeks ago in Atlanta, the 50-year-old Martin became the second oldest driver in NASCAR history to win the pole. That pole had been Martin's first since May 5, 2001, at Richmond.

"It's the (No.) 5 car," Martin said in giving all the credit to his Hendrick Motorsports crew. "We have learned so much through each individual event that man, I feel good. We unloaded here rolling."

It's the lift Martin and his team need after falling far short of their early season goals. His motor blew up at California and Las Vegas, leading to consecutive 40th-place finishes, and then he cut a tire at Atlanta while running fourth. That caused him to finish 31st and he heads into Sunday's race 34th in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

"As soon as we have one good run, one good finish, we're going to start feeling better," he said. "We've been a little bit nauseous."

Ryan Newman, who qualified second, can relate to that feeling.

He's also had a rough start to his first year with Stewart-Haas Racing -- his best finish so far was 22nd at Atlanta -- and he's 32nd in the standings. But he unloaded quick, was second fastest in practice, and posted a lap at 125.740 to just miss knocking Martin from the pole.

Three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson was third with a lap at 125.453. Bristol is one of just six tracks where Johnson has yet to visit Victory Lane, and his 17.4 average finish is only better than his marks at Indianapolis (where he's a two-time winner but has three DNFs), Infineon and Richmond.

"I've studied video, I have worked with engineers, I've driven many laps in my head and I started the whole process of convincing myself I love this track so my outlook is I love this place and cannot wait to get on track," he said before practice.

Greg Biffle qualified fourth and Kasey Kahne was fifth. He was followed by David Reutimann, Reed Sorenson and Dave Blaney. Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top 10.

With only 45 cars entered, only two were sent home. But the two who failed to make the field were Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs -- the same two who started the season with such optimism after racing their way into the Daytona 500.


Djokovic wins, Fish loses at Indian Wells
Nadal, Djokovic, Roddick advance
Mark Martin takes first pole since 2001

Earnhardt wants video of father's 1979 win

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt won his first NASCAR race 30 years ago at Bristol Motor Speedway, and his son wishes he had a video of the monumental race.

Earnhardt drove his Chevrolet to victory in the Southeastern 500 at Bristol, a fitting place for his first trip to Victory Lane.

"That makes sense, I guess, him winning his first race here, because this track, if there's a race track that fits his personality, this would be the one," Earnhardt Jr. said Friday before qualifying at Bristol.

"He loved racing here and loved winning in front of the people here in Tennessee. This is such an exciting race track, and (I) just think he fed off of that for all those years."

Earnhardt went on to win nine races at Bristol, but his son has yet to see the 1979 victory in its entirety.

"That'd be awesome to get a videotape of that race," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I've never seen it, just some clips of him coming off the corner."

His son was present for several other wins, and his favorite was the 1985 victory when Earnhardt lost his power steering 50 laps into the race. The seven-time Cup champion rallied for the win in an unbelievable feat of strength.

"The Earnhardt moment for me here was when he ran like 450 laps and won the race with no power steering," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I ran like 20 laps at California with no power steering. I mean, it was difficult, and it was hard to drive the car and get it to where you wanted to go. The whole feel of the car changed. I was having a hard time running any kind of competitive lap on new tires.

"For him to have been able to do that here at a place like this for basically the entire race and win, that was pretty cool."

The elder Earnhardt was killed in an accident on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.


Busch brother finally wins at home track
Earnhardt asks for criticism of cousin to stop
Diarra - Title race still on

Earnhardt asks for criticism of cousin to stop

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- A month into the season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is already feeling the heat.

He can handle it.

Just lay off his cousin, please.

Earnhardt on Friday reiterated his fierce loyalty to Tony Eury Jr., his oft-criticized crew chief. Eury has occasionally drawn fire for Earnhardt's failure to win a Cup championship, and fan disapproval has increased with Earnhardt's slow start this season.

He came to Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday ranked 24th in the Sprint Cup Series standings with just one top-10 finish through the first four races.

Earnhardt said if anyone is to blame, it's him.

"The guy that I feel bad for is Tony Jr. He gets criticized so badly," he said. "Everybody in this room, and some of you have criticized him, know how smart a guy he is and that he's a good mechanic and a solid crew chief. He just wants to do this for a living, just like I do. I'll take the fall. I'd rather be crucified than him.

"Every time I read in the paper that people are on his case I feel like I'm sending my brother to jail for a crime I committed."

In some respects, he's right.

Eury had nothing to do with the two pit road mistakes Earnhardt made during the season-opening Daytona 500, and he wasn't inside the car when Earnhardt's contact with Brian Vickers triggered a nine-car accident that led to a 27th-place finish.

The engine failure the next week in California certainly wasn't Eury's fault, either. But after two races, Earnhardt was 36th in the standings, and his rabid fan base was starting to panic.

A 10th-place finish in Las Vegas and an 11th in Atlanta helped him climb from the back of the standings, but it's done little to quell the critics. Those who are against Eury want him gone, regardless of Earnhardt's steadfast insistence that he's the right man for the job.

"There's risks between every driver and every crew chief, and either you work it out or you don't," Earnhardt said. "I think me and Tony Jr. do a pretty good job of working it out. Obviously, through everything we've been through, we still love each other to death, and we'd do anything for each other.

"I don't dread seeing him when I get to the race track. I can't wait to see him when I get to the race track. We really do enjoy working together."

The two have been together in some capacity since Earnhardt first entered NASCAR in 1996. Their only time apart was when Earnhardt's stepmother, Teresa, insisted they be split during the 2005 season because of the way they'd bickered to close out the year before.

The split was an unmitigated disaster.

Although Eury was happy working with Michael Waltrip, Earnhardt was in a freefall that derailed the entire year. When Earnhardt failed to earn a spot in the Chase for the championship, Eury was sent back to run the team with 10 races to go in the season.

Earnhardt still finished a career-worst 19th in the standings.

But they rebounded to win a race in 2006 and make the Chase, finishing fifth but failing to contend for the title. The next year was one distraction after another as Earnhardt made the emotional decision to leave Dale Earnhardt Inc.

He signed with Hendrick Motorsports shortly after, and Eury was committed to stay with his cousin wherever he went.

"I've made this clear ... the biggest thing was I wanted to be a part of it," Eury said Friday. "That's all I'll ever say. I'd like to work on Dale Jr.'s cars and him have the trust that somebody is doing the best job they can possibly do for him and he can be surrounded by the best people.

"Whether it's me setting up cars or me cleaning the cars, I couldn't care less. I just want to be a part of his deal."

As far as the people at Hendrick Motorsports are concerned, Eury is still the best man for the job.

"It's unanimous still to this day that Tony Eury Jr. is the guy for Junior and possibly the only guy for Junior," teammate Jeff Gordon said. "Their relationship and how they communicate is second-to-none. We all know that it's easy to get through the good days. On the tough days, although those guys scream and yell, at the end of the day they still smile and joke about it and seem to only get closer."

Injured Greg Biffle pulls out of Nationwide race

BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) -- Greg Biffle bruised his ribs while fishing earlier this week and will not race in the Nationwide Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Biffle, who will race in the premier Sprint Cup Series event, said he was hurt Tuesday night when he jumped from the dock to the boat and slipped in a wet spot. He banged his right side on the boat.

"I wish I had a better story, I really do," he said Friday at Bristol. "It's just one of those freak, stupid accidents where you take a fall and you have no way to stop it or brace it or grab because I was over top of water. You're gonna land on your ribs with all your weight, plus you jumped on top of it, so it was a stupid deal.

"I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Everybody's jumped onto a boat before, but I just lost my footing."

Matt Kenseth will replace Biffle in Saturday's race, but Biffle plans to be in his car for the Sprint Cup race Sunday. Biffle is third in the Nationwide standings, 10th in the Sprint Cup Series.

Biffle decided to rest during the Nationwide event rather than risk aggravating his injury before Sunday's 500-mile main event.

"I'm just focusing on the Cup race because if you're bruised and if you get in a wreck in the Nationwide car, you blow a tire, you know how easy it is to get in a chain-reaction crash here," he said. "I'm thinking, "Why be even more sore for Sunday if something happened?' "

Biffle said he went to Roush Fenway Racing and sat in a race car to see how comfortable he was in the seat. He found it was more comfortable in the cockpit than it was in his personal vehicle.

"I actually feel better sitting in that (race car) seat because it's hard foam and it's molded. It doesn't create any pressure points," he said. "When you sit in a seat that has a lumbar support cushion, it's pushing in on you when you're naturally sitting in it like an easy chair or something, whereas this is hard and rigid and it fits your body."

There's a green feeling in sports car racing

SEBRING, Fla. (AP) -- Tires made partially from orange peels and motor oil made from animal fat are part of the green future for sports car racing in America.

On Thursday at Sebring International Raceway, Yokohama tires introduced its ADVAN ENV-R tires, which combine orange oil made from discarded peels with natural rubber to form a new compound called Super Nano-Power Rubber. The tires will be used on Porsche 911 race cars in the Patron GT32 Challenge, a series sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association.

IMSA also sanctions the American Le Mans Series, which likes to call itself the most environmentally friendly racing series in the world.

Another step in that direction also came Thursday at Sebring with the announcement that ALMS has signed a two-year agreement with Green Earth Technologies to make its official motor oil G-Oil, a green motor oil made mostly from American-grown beef tallow.

G-Oil only recently certified for use in motor vehicles, will initially be used only in ALMS trucks and official vehicles. ALMS officials said they expect several teams to begin using the new oil in their race cars when the new product becomes readily available.

In another move announced Thursday, Michelin, which competes with several other tire companies in ALMS, announced that it will become the title sponsor of the series' green initiative that began last year in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency, the SAE International and the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Michelin Green X Challenge will hand out an award at each event, beginning with Saturday's 12 Hours of Sebring, to a prototype and a GT entry that demonstrate the best overall performance, fuel efficiency and least environmental impact throughout the length of the race.

"Providing support to the American Le Mans Series through the Michelin Green X Challenge is a natural fit for us and together with our partners, we can help encourage teams and manufacturers to demonstrate a cleaner, more fuel-efficient way to race, while maintaining performance and the spirit of competition," Michelin spokesman Scott Clark said.

Every car in the ALMS competes using one of four street legal fuel alternatives: clean sulfur-free diesel, E10, cellulosic E85 or gas-electric hybrid. Street legal refers to alternative fuels that can be purchased by the consumer at the local fuel station.

The inaugural ALMS Green Challenge was last October in the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta. Corvette Racing, using cellulosic E85, had the best overall green achievement score in the GT class, while Penske Racing won in the prototype class with its Porsche RS Spyder that competed using E10.

In the challenge, all cars are ranked according to the amount of energy used, greenhouse gases emitted and the amount of petroleum displaced. The Argonne National Laboratory created the rules, regulations and technical specifications for the competition.

------

YOUNGEST GUN: Sage Karam just turned 14 years old, but he is already on his way up the racing ladder.

Karam, from Nazareth, Pa., and 16-year-old Cort Vernon from Key Biscayne, Fla., were both winners at the annual Skip Barber Mazda karting shootout, with both of them earning a full season in the 2009 BF Goodrich/Skip Barber Nationals that begin this week at Sebring.

The two are just part of the MazdaSpeed Motorsports Driver Development Ladder.

The class of 2009 also includes 19-year-old Justin Piscitell from Patterson, N.Y., 18-year-old John Edwards from Cincinnati, Ohio, 17-year-old Conor Daly of Noblesville, Ind., and Eric Foss from Forth Worth, Texas, the old man of the group at 35.

Nazareth is also the home base for racing's famed Andretti family, and Karam's driver uniform carries the logo of Andretti Green Racing, co-owned by longtime racing star Michael Andretti. He is the son of racing legend Mario Andretti and the father of current IndyCar star Marco Andretti.

"My dad is a (physical) trainer for Michael and Marco," Karam said. "Michael recommended my dad buy me a go-kart for my fourth birthday, and that's how I got started."

Asked if a ride for AGR in IndyCar might be in his future, the youngster said, "IndyCar, NASCAR, I just want to be a professional driver. Formula One would be awesome."

------

DRIVER DEVELOPMENT: Racing veteran Eliseo Salazar from Chile has started Eliseo-THL Motorsports, a driver development team to help young South American racers establish careers in U.S. motorsports.

The team will race in the Star Mazda Championship and its first driver is 18-year-old Kevin Toledo from Rancagua, Chile, whose resume includes karting, the Formula Renault and F3 series in Chile and Argentina and two Star Mazda races in 2008.

"My dream is to someday drive in Indycar," said Toledo, who just graduated from high school. "And to have a legend like Eliseo Salazar, who has raced in Formula One as well as the Indy 500, managing my career gives me great confidence that I will achieve my goal."

"My idea for Eliseo-THL is to be a place where young South American drivers can come and not feel intimidated at first, for all the cultural and racing differences, starting with the language barrier," Salazar said. "I feel that I have, through blood, sweat and tears learned the ins and outs of American racing, and I can help ease the steep learning curve to succeed here."

Salazar is a veteran of F1, IndyCars, prototypes and international rallying.

Stewart, Schumacher get glimpse of Army life

FORT KNOX, Ky. (AP) -- You'd think since Tony Stewart doesn't blink while going 180 mph at NASCAR tracks every weekend that he wouldn't be impressed by a vehicle that tops out at 45 mph.

Then again, Stewart doesn't drive an Army tank.

Stewart admits he got a little trigger happy while in a tank simulator during a visit to Fort Knox on Thursday, firing shells at random targets in the western Kentucky base's Close Combat Tactical Trainer Facility.

Stewart -- who co-owns the No. 39 Sprint Cup car co-sponsored by the Army -- and NHRA driver Tony Schumacher spent a few hours with soldiers, getting a taste of Army life that hardly resembled the battles Stewart would wage with green plastic Army men in his parent's garden growing up.

The drivers took a glimpse at the cramped seat used by the tank drivers and marveled at how they can handle the massive machines without so much as a rearview mirror.

The tank drivers use electronic displays to give them a readout of the terrain and have to battle fatigue during shifts that can last for hours on end.

"We're used to looking out a windshield being able to see what's going on," Stewart said. "These guys are using monitors and trusting electronics to guide them along. I can't imagine being a 19-20 year-old kid doing this."

Stewart found things more to his liking while sitting in the Humvee simulator. He took the wheel -- of course -- and decided to chase members of Schumacher's NHRA team across a simulated desert training center, a chase that included a game of chicken.

Guess who won that?

"We didn't have a head-on collision, which I think was all driver skill there," Stewart said. "I think we got a little tired of stationary objects so we were going for the advanced training."

Training that also included a stop at the base's 50-foot rappelling tower. Schumacher quickly challenged Stewart to join him at the top.

Getting there, however, took some doing. Both drivers had to get properly outfitted with helmets and rope harnesses that proved to be a little snug. Stewart grimaced while cinching up the rope and couldn't help but laugh when someone suggest he "suck it in."

"I try to do that every day when I get in the car," he said with a laugh.

Neither driver, however, appeared intimidated by the 50-foot drop. Stewart leaned out over the wall and managed to navigate the face about as quickly as it'll take to get around the half-mile track during this week's Cup race at Bristol.

"You go up there and at that point, I never looked down, never even thought about the height of it," he said. "I guess it's no different than what you do in the race car. You just try to trust your guys."

Schumacher, whose top-fuel program is sponsored by the Army, said the teamwork showed by the soldiers helped him overcome his considerable fear of heights.

"These guys are the best in the world at what they do," he said. "When they say 'step off the bridge,' you step off it. You do what they tell you because they know better than you do."

Goodyear set to go to Indy twice before July race

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Goodyear will return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for at least two more tire tests before NASCAR races at the track in July.

Tire troubles turned last year's race at Indianapolis into a debacle, and NASCAR had to throw a caution every 10 to 12 laps to force teams to pit for fresh tires rather than risking an on-track failure.

Goodyear has already had two tests at Indianapolis, and will return with four teams in late April for additional work. Goodyear will then invite at least 12 teams to the track in June for another test session.

The Allstate 400 is scheduled for July 26.

Greg Stucker, director of race tire sales, said Goodyear was pleased with the tire it used earlier this month at Las Vegas and wants to apply some of the characteristics of that tire compound to the Indianapolis product.

"We feel like we've got a real good handle on the range of the compounds that are necessary to give us a tread wear on this car at that race track," Stucker said Wednesday during a tire test at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "When we go back there in April, we're going to build off that compound work we did in the fall and look at some construction changes. Some of the changes we made for Las Vegas, we're going to integrate into the Indy design as well and try to look at that."

Goodyear is also planning a test at Atlanta, where the tiremaker has been plagued with issues in the past. Although driver complaints were down after the race there two weeks ago, Stucker said Goodyear is still working to find the right match for NASCAR's car.

"We were hoping to have more of an impact than what we did," he said. "Not to say that it's better or worse, but we'd like to think we can go back and try to help it a little bit more."