DEI team members help Dale Earnhardt Jr. from the car after 61 laps in the Siemens 300. Credit: AP

Sunoco Pit Move of the Week: Loudon

It was all for naught after a mid-race spin, but Martin Truex's quick actions on Sunday kept him on the lead lap.

The Dale Earnhardt Jr.-Martin Truex Jr. driver swap was textbook, as the pair switched in just 38 seconds.

The move was reminiscent of the Tony Stewart-Todd Bodine switch at the spring event at Bristol in 2002, when Bodine relieved Stewart on the 367th lap.

VIDEO Pit Move The No. 8 team changes drivers in under 40 seconds

Bodine went on to finish on the lead lap in 15th place, and Stewart went on to win the championship that year.

Truex said the driver switch went more smoothly then he anticipated.

"The driver change was a lot faster than I expected," Truex said. "They lifted Junior out, and all of a sudden, I'm buckled in and on my way. It happened really fast."

"I was fine. I thought it was cool that we did it so quick. We didn't even practice this morning like we had planned.

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"I just hopped down in there and threw the belts across me and the next thing I knew, I was going. So that worked good. I wouldn't mind doing that again. But I would have liked to finish better."

Truex Jr. spun after contact with Ken Schrader on Lap 139, sending him two laps down. He finished 31st.

"We were there to race for last-place points, and anything better than that was a bonus," Truex said. "So, I guess that means a bonus of 12 positions. It's not a lot, but it keep Dale Jr. in second place in the points."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have John Andretti standing by for him at Pocono.

That track brings good and bad news when it comes to driver switches in mid-race. A lap around Pocono takes longer than anywhere on the Nextel Cup circuit, but lost track position is often difficult to regain at the 2.5-mile track.