Scott Pruett was able to get a couple of laps in the No. 40 Dodge during practice Friday. Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Pruett to fill in as Marlin tends to ailing father

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Though Scott Pruett's hopes were temporarily dashed by rain Saturday at Watkins Glen International, the road course ace will still race in Sunday's Sirius Satellite Radio at The Glen.

Pruett's No. 39 Target Dodge was 10th on the grid with nine cars remaining in the qualifying line when Bud Pole Qualifying was interrupted by rain. When rain persisted, qualifying was scrubbed and the lineup set per the 2005 Nextel Cup rulebook. Pruett's 39 car lacked a sufficient number of owner attempts to make the race.

Scott Pruett Credit: Craig Jones/Getty Images

Pruett, who planned to race three times this weekend on the 2.45-mile road course, will substitute Sunday for Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Sterling Marlin in the No. 40 Coors Light Dodge.

David Stremme qualified Marlin's car 25th in the lineup, but the car will drop to the rear of the inside line of the grid before the start for making the driver change.

Stremme stepped into the No. 40 when Sterling Marlin left New York Thursday evening to return to Tennessee to be with his critically ill father, former NASCAR driver Coo Coo Marlin.

"We talked to Sterling about an hour ago and his dad has stabilized," Ganassi Racing team manager Andy Graves said early Saturday afternoon. "He's not getting any worse but he's not getting any better either, so we're still in a holding pattern there to see how Coo Coo is doing.

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"At this point in time, it doesn't look like Sterling is coming back, so with qualifying getting rained out and the 39 car going home, we'll put Scott Pruett in the 40 car."

Pruett said that, while he was happy to be racing on Sunday, he had some misgivings. With the Sirius at The Glen being an impound race, the competitive chassis set-up that was on the No. 39 his team prepared for him can't be transferred onto the No. 40 that he will be racing Sunday.

"The set-up on the 39 car is significantly different and fine-tuned for what I like," Pruett said. "With Stremme, he was just out there to get some laps in a Cup car on a road course, so it is what it is and it's all part of the rules they have here."

Pruett said he had taken a run in the 40 car in Friday's lone Cup practice to evaluate the set-up in the car before Stremme took over and that gave him little hope.

Sterling Marlin Credit: Autostock

"It cannot be adjusted, at least not as much as what we might want to do," Pruett said of the tweaks that could be done on regular pit stops. "It will be OK.

"It's not exactly what we want, but the good thing is, I'm not going home. Chip is being good enough to put me in the Coors Light car and we can go and have some fun tomorrow."

Pruett said his biggest challenge might be in adjusting his driving style downward, to match his car's "tame" set-up.

"It's more along the lines of a generic set-up instead of being one that's a little bit more aggressive -- similar to what (Ganassi teammates) Jamie (McMurray) and Casey (Mears) have in theirs," Pruett said. "That would give me a bit more speed and you could do more with the car, but it's better than packing up my bags and going home."

Pruett said he has a Coors Light driver's uniform -- as he attempted to qualify a car in that livery for Ganassi last year, when qualifying was also rained out.

"They're trying to get that uniform up here right now," Pruett said. "I know it's still down at the shop. I just feel bad for all my Target guys that worked so hard getting that 39 car together -- that's just so disappointing," Pruett said. "It's unfortunately one of those deals.

"It's a gamble (you take in coming here), it seems like 50 or 60 percent of the time it rains here, but what're you gonna do?"