Change in schedule good with Hamlin
INDIANAPOLIS -- A scheduling change could help Denny Hamlin win Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. At least he hopes so.
Last season, the second Pocono race came before Indianapolis. This year, the races flip-flopped to allow ESPN to make its return to broadcasting Nextel Cup races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Many in the garage say that Pocono and Indy have several similarities. Do well at Pocono, which like Indy has little banking, and a team likely would be good at Indianapolis. Denny Hamlin swept both Pocono races last season and finished 10th at Indianapolis.
With the schedule change, teams will have to rely on what they did at Pocono in June instead of a week before Indy. Denny Hamlin likes that. He led a race-high 49 of 106 laps in the rain-shortened race at Pocono in June but finished sixth to race winner Jeff Gordon because of pit strategy Jeff Gordon and others employed.
"This year, (competitors) have only got one Pocono race to really kind of get their car good where I felt like we were pretty good that very first race in Pocono and felt without a doubt we had the best car by a pretty decent margin," Denny Hamlin said. "Hopefully the guys in the shop (for other teams) haven't closed that gap on us."
COLD FEELINGS: Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he could be back at Dale Earnhardt Inc. later in his career. Earnhardt said he talks often to Max Siegel, DEI's president.
But stepmother and owner Teresa? "I still haven't talked to Teresa, but the fact that I'm in contact with Max I think means that we're keeping the relationship open in case, say, 10 years from now, I might want to come back and drive and/or work there, some way, some how. But that's just such a long ways down the road."
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP: Car owner Ray Evernham told ESPN.com that his personal relationship with his team's development driver Erin Crocker affected her racing career and says he has advised her to drive for another team.
"I think the girl has a lot of talent," Evernham told ESPN.com. "But if I sit here and say to somebody, 'Look, she's got a lot of talent, you should sponsor her,' my credibility is not good because of the personal relationship."
MOVING DAY: With Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing merging, the DEI team of Paul Menard will move immediately to the Ginn race shop and join the No. 01 team of Mark Martin and Aric Almirola.
DEI officials plan to move the No. 1 and No. 8 teams to the Ginn shop after this season. DEI plans to house two Busch Series teams, at least one truck team and two Busch East teams in its facility.
BACK TO THE PAST: Evernham Motorsports has put the 2006 nose back on its Dodges for the races not involving the Car of Tomorrow this season. The organization, which has struggled all season, is putting its focus on the COT to be better prepared for next season.
PIT STOPS: Carl Edwards says that suffering a dislocated thumb after a crash in a dirt late model race last Sunday won't curtail his racing outside Nextel Cup and won't affect his driving this weekend.
