The rear quarter of the Toyota driven by Michael Waltrip, a memorial to former Winston Cup champion Benny Parsons, is seen during NASCAR testing at Daytona on Jan. 16. Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

Notes: Kenny Wallace dealing with more death

Hylton encouraged by Tuesday test; Edwards re-welcomes Osborne

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- For Kenny Wallace, it was a double dose of heartache.

News of his friend Benny Parson's death on Tuesday morning came shortly after the veteran NASCAR driver received a telephone call informing him that his father-in-law had died of pancreatic cancer.

"What's today's date?" Wallace asked, looking at his wristwatch. "[Jan.] 16. Not a good day."

Charlie Poole had been in his early 60s, and a big racing fan. Each season, he would ride in Wallace's motorhome from the Nextel Cup stop at Texas to the next one in Phoenix. It was there last November where Kenny and his wife, Kim, first realized that Poole was ill.

"Me and Kim got to Phoenix last year, and he was real white-looking," Wallace said. "That's when we realized he had had a stroke, and pancreatic cancer [followed] not long afterward."

Wallace planned to stay in Daytona for the remainder of Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder, which concludes with Wednesday's final Nextel Cup test session.

"My wife and the family asked me to please stay down here, because Charlie liked racing so much," Wallace said. "I'm sure the funeral will be later this week. Hey, it's Daytona, baby. What are you going to do?"

Hylton on track

James Hylton spent most of Monday's first day of Preseason Thunder in the garage. On Tuesday, the 72-year-old with aspirations of making the Daytona 500 managed a little more track time.

"We're back on schedule now," said Hylton, bidding to become the oldest man to ever start a Cup race. "[Monday] was just hectic, with me not having driven here in 15 years, and getting set up and everything. We just had a base run [Monday]. [Tuesday] we're in earnest trying to set it up for qualifying when we come back."

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Hylton battled radio problems Monday, when he made only five laps and was the slowest of the 33 drivers testing. The two-time race winner on NASCAR's top series made 11 circuits in Tuesday's morning session, and was quicker than one other driver -- Carl Edwards, whose backup car was last.

"It's much better now. And I'm much better now, too. I needed to get the rust off of me," Hylton said. "This crew chief I've got working on it [James Hylton Jr.], he's doing a tremendous job. Every time I go out, I get a little bit quicker. We're not going to be any dynamo, but we're going to be in the hunt."

What's new is old

Ask Edwards what's new with his Nextel Cup race team, and his answer is curious.

"The biggest thing that's new is that Bob Osborne is back," Edwards said.

But that's not new. That's old. And that's good according to Edwards.

Osborne was Edwards' crew chief in 2005, when the driver won four races as a rookie and finished tied for second in points, just 35 behind champion Tony Stewart. Yet car owner Jack Roush mandated that Osborne be replaced last season by Wally Brown, and Edwards struggled mightily with the switch at first.

Even though Edwards said he and Brown eventually had the team headed in the right direction, he failed to win a single Cup race and admitted that he is glad to see Osborne back this season. Brown left Roush Racing to spend more time with his family.

"Obviously, Bob and I had a lot of success," Edwards said. "From my first Nextel Cup start through that whole 2005 season, we got along really well and we learned a lot about each other. I think having him back is going to be good for a number of reasons.

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"Wally Brown did a great job and I was really sad to see him leave, but it's going to be nice. It's a familiar face, a familiar guy on the radio and somebody who definitely wants to win as badly as I do. So it'll be neat."

The lap times Edwards posted during Monday's afternoon session were significantly better than the times he posted earlier, when Hylton and everyone else outran him.

Likes the number

Ryan Newman was asked about the rumor that NASCAR soon intends to announce that it will be expanding the number of drivers eligible for the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

"To 12?" he asked before smiling.

Then the driver of the No. 12 Dodge added: "I think it's a good number."

All in a name

When he began racing for team owner Chip Ganassi in CART years ago, Ganassi told driver Juan Pablo Montoya to drop his middle name. So he did. But now he's Juan Pablo again.

"When I came to America [from his native Colombia], I was Juan Pablo," Montoya said. "Then Chip said, 'It's too long, we need to take the Pablo out.' And now he's like, 'No, we need the Pablo in.' I don't care, to be honest."

But which is it? Well, Montoya said that in Colombia his first two names are more or less melded into one.

"When you say it in English, it's Juan Pablo. When you say it in Spanish, it's JuanPablo, so it's pretty quick," he said.