In taking over No. 01 car, Smith relying on Martin (cont'd)

And for that, he can thank at least in part one of the many phone conversations he has had -- and will continue to have -- with Martin. Smith said he also is drawing heavily on the experience of testing sessions he has had that included Martin, including one at Bristol last month.

"The main thing he said is he told me to do what I've been doing in testing and I'll be fine. He said, 'You've got the speed. Just relax and go out there and have fun. Eat it up. Remember, this is your first Cup race and you need to enjoy it,'" Smith said.

"I've been fortunate. There has not been pressure put on me by the team, or by [team owner] Bobby Ginn or [Ginn Racing CEO/general manager] Jay Frye or Mark or anybody. Everybody wants to keep asking me, 'What about all the pressure of [taking over a car that's] leading in points?' There is no pressure. This is the plan we set out at the beginning of the year. I'm just excited to be getting in a car that's good enough to lead in points."

Smith proved that he can handle it during qualifying Friday, when he ran a lap at 124.508 mph that was good enough to place him 12th in the starting grid for Sunday's race. Martin, no doubt, was proud but not surprised.

"Regan, he's ready," Martin said -- by phone, of course -- earlier in the week. "He's displayed great speed, great adaptability. I've been testing with Regan on more than one occasion. I worked with him up at Bristol [during earlier testing]. The guys have a good racecar and a great race team.

"Regan's biggest challenge at Bristol will be to try to avoid everyone else's troubles. Obviously we'd like to see him run all 500 laps, and that's not easy to do even for a veteran up there.

"So it's going to be an interesting weekend, but we think the world of Regan as a person, young man, and as a really bright new star coming into the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. So we look forward to being a part of his rise to success."

Oh, Martin will be a part of whatever happens, to be sure. Smith will make sure of that by staying in constant communication with the veteran driver.

"We'll definitely talk. I'm going to call him after practice [Friday], just to let him know what was going on and what I was feeling and how much different it is than when I was driving the Busch car in practice," Smith said. "So I'll talk to him [Friday night], and probably [Saturday] night, and probably again Sunday before the [Cup] race."

Hopefully Martin not only took his cell phone with him to Florida, but his phone charger as well. He obviously will need it.