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"I was impressed with him, then," Furr said. "We're happy to have the opportunity to put him in the car and appreciate Jimmy Smith working with us on it."
Since Jack Sprague was released from the ride in Gene Haas' car, John Andretti has driven it at New Hampshire and Pocono. However, Andretti had a previously arranged deal to drive a Chevrolet for Chance 2 Motorsports.
 | Andretti strong in qualifying | | LONG POND, Pa. -- Maybe John Andretti wasn't the problem at Petty Enterprises. And maybe Jack Sprague was at Haas CNC Racing. |
| | OK, it was only one race. Heck, it wasn't even a race. It was one qualifying lap. |
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"I'm excited and I think Jason is excited," Smith said. "I'm going to have both of my truck drivers and Jimmy (Spencer) attempt to make the Brickyard so I think that's a good deal.
"I think it's going to be great experience for Jason. There's no question I think he can get in and make the show, and it's a big payday so I'm happy for him. And once again, it showcases the talent there is in the Truck Series."
Labonte a frequent flyer
Bobby Labonte has logged some air mileage this weekend, and unlike a typical week for the 2000 Winston Cup champion it involved his nine-year-old son, Tyler's racing career.
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On Monday following the New England 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway the Labonte's flew to Indianapolis for a week-long Quarter Midget racing event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Bobby Labonte stayed there for the balance of the week, flying to Pocono Thursday evening, while Tyler raced in three different classes. On Saturday following Winston Cup Happy Hour, Labonte will fly back to Indy to watch Tyler's final event before returning for Sunday's Pennsylvania 500.
Smith also logging miles
Jim Smith is bouncing back and forth this weekend as well. His trucks qualified first (Jason Leffler) and third (Ted Musgrave) on Friday at Michigan International Speedway for Saturday's Sears 200.
Smith said first thing Saturday morning he would fly to Michigan for Saturday's afternoon's 13th truck race of the season. Immediately following the event, he plans to fly back to Pennsylvania.
Smith also said he had arranged helicopter transportation to facilitate his truck drivers competing at events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Raceway Park next Friday.
"It won't be a problem," Smith said. "Truck practice is from noon to 2, Winston Cup practice is from 2 to 4 and truck qualifying is at 4:30."
McClure heads home again
Morgan-McClure Motorsports owner Larry McClure thought he had a better idea when he put Winston Cup veteran Brett Bodine in his Kodak Pontiac at Pocono, as McClure's team continues to be strapped by having no provisional starting positions available.
However, on Bodine's first lap of practice, the car hit oil and spun out. After inspection and repairs, the team finished the session, but lost valuable track time in the process.
Bodine was able to improve his practice speed by 1.2 seconds in qualifying. The time still fell short of making the field by 2/10ths of a second. Bodine was put into the car instead of Winston Cup rookie David Reutimann, who McClure opted to put into the companion ARCA race.
Even though Reutimann qualified fourth there, his speed was slower than Bodine's, so McClure's gambit wasn't unreasonable. In 32 races at Pocono, Bodine had used only three provisionals.
"We needed 30 more minutes of the practice time we missed out on earlier in the session," McClure said. "This is a setback for the race team, but we will continue our strategy in the selection of driver.
"This team plans to move forward to gain positive results (and) feels like if they had been able to complete a test with Bodine, the results would have been much more positive. Under the circumstances, we took a chance and did not succeed."
Kenseth eyeing Winston Bonus
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The NASCAR Winston Cup Leader Bonus will be worth $200,000 for Sunday's Pennsylvania 500, which if awarded to current point leader Matt Kenseth will be the highest payout since the program began in 1996.
With a 234-point lead over former four-time champion Jeff Gordon, Kenseth is the only driver that can claim the award, which goes to the race winner if he is also the point leader.
Bobby Labonte was awarded $190,000 at Indianapolis in 2000 -- the largest payout in program history. The current skein also is the longest that the award has gone without being awarded to an individual driver.
Sterling Marlin was the last driver to claim the award when he won at Darlington in March 2002, 51 races ago. A total of $2,280,000 has been awarded since Winston's program began in 1996.
Newman up front again
When Ryan Newman won his fifth Bud Pole of the season at Pocono, he became the 14th different pole winner in the past 15 races at Pocono. Newman and second qualifier Jimmie Johnson reversed their June Pocono qualifying results when Johnson started on the pole and Newman started second.
Newman's effort was the sixth pole for Dodge in 2003. Chevrolet has 10 Bud Poles, Ford has two and Pontiac has one.
Mears opens on high note
Casey Mears won the Giant 200 for the ARCA Series. In three ARCA starts this season, while gaining more seat time to improve his Winston Cup effort, Mears has two wins and three top-five finishes.
Mears qualified 10th for Sunday's Pennsylvania 500.
He started from the pole in the ARCA race and easily defeated four-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel. On Saturday, Mears will drive in his second 200-mile ARCA race of the weekend when he starts second in his No. 77 Dodge, next to Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Busch.
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