Notebook: COT on drivers minds before Atlanta race

HAMPTON, Ga. -- With Bristol looming, the only topic with more drama than the continuing "Will he, won't he?" saga involving Mark Martin is the Car of Tomorrow.

The Car of Near Future makes its debut next week at Bristol Motor Speedway, and drivers had to plenty to say about it this week at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"I think everybody is a little excited and a little worried," Elliott Sadler said. "Everybody wants their COT program to be up to speed already, but we'll find out next week when we get to Bristol and everybody brings their race stuff to the track."

Denny Hamlin said it's nearly impossible not to be looking ahead to next week.

"We are definitely thinking about it," Hamlin said. "It is coming up, the COT is now the car of next week. I am almost excited to get this one [Atlanta] over with so we can get to Bristol next week."

Teams put their COTs through their Bristol paces earlier this month. But it was only a test.

"I'm excited about going to Bristol to see what the Car of Tomorrow is going to be like with other racecars trying to race on a small track with other racecars," Kasey Kahne said. "Some cars were still struggling in the test and others seemed like they were pretty good. I hope Evernham Motorsports has some of those."

Speaking of Martin ...

Mark Martin is sticking to his story and says he will not race at Bristol, even if he leaves Atlanta with the points lead.

A wavering Matt Kenseth has no choice than to stick to his wager. Former teammates, Kenseth thought so strongly Martin would continue a full schedule he placed a little bet.

"But as the weeks go on I keep feeling less and less like he'll do it," Kenseth said. "At Daytona I would have bet anything that he would have kept going but, for some reason, he's kind of sticking to his guns. We'll see if he does it or not."

Kenseth doesn't believe Martin when he says he no longer has a desire to win a championship.

"He's lying," Kenseth joked before saying, "I think he's got the desire to win a championship, I don't know if he has a desire to run a whole season and go through the grind and have his stomach in knots and being up all night because he's worried about losing 10 points the last week."

Kenseth wouldn't reveal his betting partner, but said it wasn't Martin.

"He's way too cheap to bet," Kenseth said. "When he goes to Vegas, he goes straight to the room and goes to bed."

So what is at stake?

"Nothing. It's just more jabbing at him a little bit," Kenseth said.

Atlanta remembers Parsons

On Friday, they remembered Bobby Hamilton. On Saturday, it was Benny Parsons. Atlanta Motor Speedway paid tribute to Parsons prior to the Nicorette 300, which was dedicated in his memory.

Members of the Parsons family served as grand marshals and gave the starting command. Parsons, a former smoker who became a proponent of Nicorette's smoking cessation programs, was one of six NASCAR legends to serve as grand marshals to last year's race.

Parsons, who had agreed to serve as grand marshal for this year's Nicorette 300, died Jan. 16 of lung cancer.

More Nicorette

Jeff Gordon oversaw a drawing Saturday at AMS to give away a brand new Chevrolet Tahoe, on behalf of Nicorette.

Ten finalists were selected from more than 100,000 entries nationwide to come to Atlanta for a chance to win the Tahoe. Gordon allowed each finalist to draw a key, only one of which would start the vehicle.

It came down to two when Robert McKim, drawing ninth, pulled out the winning key.

"I want to thank Nicorette for this and the whole program. I love it!," said McKim, of Rehoboth, Mass.

Judge not, lest ye be judged

Kurt Busch was one of three judges who critiqued American Idol personality Simon Cowell's high speed driving abilities for a segment on 60 Minutes, scheduled to air Sunday on CBS.

"We may have been a bit hard on Simon," Busch said. "He's known for being such a blatant and outspoken judge on American Idol, but he was a pretty nice guy in person.

"It'll be interesting to see how the feature turns out."