DEI tops in practice for Martinsville

Joe Gibbs Racing had the fastest cars in qualifying, but Dale Earnhardt Inc. had the fastest cars in practice Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the fastest car in the final practice before Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race. He said his car has been awesome since qualifying Friday, but the brake situation with the Car of Tomorrow has him concerned.
"I am a little worried that we might not have these cars understood as far as ducking the brakes and cooling the brakes yet," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet for DEI. "That is sort of trial and error. Tomorrow is going to be a day of learning for a lot of us."
Earnhardt Jr. qualified eighth for the Cup race.
"I like to qualify good here," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It is one of my favorite race tracks actually to be honest. It is a good place when we have a good car so I am pretty pumped up."
Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr.'s teammate at DEI, was third fastest in practice and will start 15th in the race.
"This is a tough place to race," said Truex Jr., driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet for DEI. "My luck hasn't been so great lately. Seems like every time we running good, something weird happens. But we are going to give it all we got. Our Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet is really good."
Several Cup drivers have been critical of the Car of Tomorrow. But Truex said he doesn't notice that much of a difference between the Car of Tomorrow and the old Cup cars, especially at tracks like Martinsville. He said he expects the races at Loudon in New Hampshire and Phoenix will be similar.
"It really doesn't feel all that different, it is a little more top-heavy. It is a little more comfortable, has a little more safe feel with all the room around you," Truex said. "Other than that, it is not really a big change. I think it is a lot better suited to the flatter tracks like here and Loudon and Phoenix where you don't have to travel in the front as much. The bigger tracks it is going to be a handful like it was a Bristol. We kinda struggled a little bit, not bad but we struggled a little bit with the travel in front. It is going to be like that on all the banked tracks. On the flatter tracks here, it drives really good."