Notes: Roush Fenway catches up to others in COT

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Carl Edwards ran 83 laps in Friday evening's Happy Hour practice for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway; but while that put him in the bottom third of the cars that ran the most laps, he was at the top of the sheet after 65 minutes of practice.

Earlier in the day, Edwards was just as happy about his No. 99 Roush Racing Ford, which was 14th in the opening practice, before Edwards qualified seventh for Saturday night's event.

"Our Office Depot Fusion was really fast," Edwards said. "Bob Osborne [crew chief] and everybody did a really good job and the car seems pretty fast."

Edwards' best Happy Hour lap was 16.286 seconds, an average speed of 117.819 mph. But in typical Bristol fashion, two-tenths of a second covered the first 21 positions on the speed chart.

Jeff Burton (101 laps), Kevin Harvick (47), Denny Hamlin (93) and Bud Pole winner Kasey Kahne (74) rounded out the top five, proving there was more than one school of thought on how to get it done. Defending race winner Matt Kenseth ran 112 laps, high for the session, and was 16th on the chart.

"You just never know -- it's real competitive and you never know when you're gonna hit it right or be off," Kenseth said. "I feel a little better about our Car of Tomorrow stuff. Carl ran really well the last couple of races and Dover was a pretty decent race for us, so I think we're making progress.

"I've been pretty happy with the car most of today. It's been a lot better than I expected and it's actually a lot better than my Busch car has been this weekend, so I feel all right about it right now."

Mark's the man?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at Bristol that he's totally cool with his decision to go to Hendrick Motorsports and get a new number for next season; and while he said he may never get used to the fact that after this season he'll no longer drive the No. 8, which will remain with Dale Earnhardt Inc., he's good with Mark Martin possibly using that number for at least part of next season.

Earnhardt said Martin wouldn't have any concern about driving "another driver's number," particularly one with as ardent a fan base as Earnhardt has proven to carry.

"Mark wouldn't do it if he didn't want to do it -- he's been around this sport for a long time and he's pretty smart," Earnhardt said. "I'm sure he'll want to talk to me [about it].

"It's cool. I'd rather have Mark do it than anybody else. There's probably a lot of guys I'd hate to see in there. Mark's always been really, really respectful. That's all that matters to me."

Kenseth pumps crew

Often this season, the Sharpie 500 defending champion Matt Kenseth has knocked his racecars but praised his Roush Racing pit crew and team for delivering good finishes -- which equates to eight top fives and 15 top 10s this season.

"Last week I felt we had a car that could win and I ran it in the wall, so that wasn't one of those weeks," Kenseth said, laughing. "[The crew] have always been good at that and Robbie [Reiser, crew chief] has been good at calling the races and making sure we position ourselves the best we can no matter how we're running all day -- to try and get ourselves positioned the best we can for the rest of the race -- so they've been good at that.

"You see it in all sports. I've been real lucky because all of my over-the-wall guys are really gamers. They practice really well, but when the pressure is on is when they really perform and you see a lot of people that are the opposite.

"A lot of people you'll go out and watch pit practice and say, 'Man, they're lightning fast,' and then they get in a pressure situation and drop a lug nut or can't get a tire indexed or don't get the car jacked up or whatever it may be. I'm fortunate that my guys are the opposite.

"When it's on the line is when they're always the best."

Sprinting Stewart

Tony Stewart, never to be daunted by a little upside-down mayhem in his past -- specifically a crash in Kahne's inaugural event -- is set to return to Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., to compete in the second annual Kasey Kahne Foundation Sprint Car Challenge on Aug. 29 -- when Stewart joins fellow Sprint Car graduate Kahne for the event that feature the pair going head-to-head in winged 360 Sprint Cars.

"I'm looking forward to heading back to Skagit Speedway with the Kasey Kahne Foundation," Stewart said. "The race not only gives me a chance to get back in my 360 Sprint Car, but it benefits a great organization at the same time. Kasey has always supported my charity events at Eldora Speedway, and it means a lot that he's invited me to participate in this race alongside him. Hopefully, we'll be able to put on a great show for the fans and help out a lot of deserving kids."

In addition to competing on behalf Kahne's foundation, Stewart has donated an autographed Home Depot driving uniform to be auctioned on eBay immediately following the event. Last year's Kasey Kahne Foundation Sprint Car Challenge drew a sellout crowd, with all of the proceeds benefiting the Kasey Kahne Foundation.

Good advertising, bad racing?

A weekend of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway guarantees lots of crumpled, torn and flattened sheet metal, which is bad for racecar fabricators but good for sheet metal suppliers, such as Stock Car Steel & Aluminum. The bad news Friday morning came when driver Jason White crashed the Pennington Motorsports car that Stock Car Steel was sponsoring this weekend, preventing it from making a qualifying attempt for the Busch Series' Food City 250.

"Greg [Fornelli, SCSA's owner] always jokes that his favorite words in NASCAR are when we yell 'There's trouble in Turn 2,'" said Larry McReynolds, analyst for FOX Sports and SPEED and former crew chief. "Well, we tend to say those words a lot at Bristol. I would say that track is definitely good for his business."

Fornelli estimates that between the Craftsman Truck, Busch and Nextel Cup Series events at Bristol, more than two tons -- some 4,600 pounds -- of sheet metal will be ruined and need to be replaced; including a few panels from White's No. 08 Dodge.