Notes: Some drivers split on COT's Darlington show

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Gaining a small amount of momentum, but more of a turnaround, Kurt Busch said Friday that Darlington will be the fastest the COT has gone yet and his opinion is still strong on the new car.

"Richmond I thought was great racing, side-by-side, nose-to-tail, cars on top of each other all day," he said, although Busch compared the COT to a 16-year-old whose dad brings him home a car to drive.

Earnhardt Jr. leaving DEI at end of season

In a news conference at his JR Motorsports race shop on Thursday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he will leave DEI at the end of this season.

• Complete story, click here
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• Childress to give Junior room
• Drivers offer thoughts
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"You know you're going to go drive it at the end of the day. The problem is, the car your dad brought home needs about a year's worth of work before you can get it out on the street and drive it around."

For Mark Martin the new car is still a point of contention.

"It's going to perform terrible here at Darlington," Martin said. "We haven't run a big track with it yet. Theoretically it is going to be worse on a big track than on a small track on the aero side."

Martin said mechanically speaking there is room for improvement and the front suspension continues to be an issue.

"Trying to limit the front suspension to 50 percent of what we have been using is a real problem for all of us," he said. "If we had front suspension in these cars, we wouldn't be screaming like this."

Junior rumor mill spilling over
Evidently the Silly Season is starting early this year.

While rumors continue to swirl about where Dale Earnhardt Jr. may land next season, a new rumor came to light Friday that Ryan Newman would be leaving Penske for Joe Gibbs Racing, ousting driver of the No. 18 J.J. Yeley.

But as quick as that recent rumor, and many like them, were spawned, they were squelched even faster.

"As I stand here today, that is not happening," said Bill Janitz, media spokesperson for Yeley, whose contract with Joe Gibbs Racing expires at the end of this year.

Perhaps even before Earnhardt arrived to the track Friday, rumors that the free agent inked a deal with Richard Childress Racing were rampant.

"You know I'm hoping he's considering us but I think right now we just give him some time and space to do his own due diligence on the race teams that he's looking at," Richard Childress told a group of reporters at Darlington.

Did Kahne and Stremme kiss and make up?
Well not exactly, but Kasey Kahne, who last weekend called David Stremme "fat and out of shape" said he regretted spewing the critical remarks after Kahne, a lap down, said Stremme "was all over the track" in Richmond.

"I have my opinion and he has his opinion and it's really not that big of a deal," Kahne said. "I was probably critical on some of the things I said, and shouldn't have, but that's they way I felt at the time. He was squirrelly. I thought maybe he was having a problem."

Stremme has stayed out of the back-and-forth since the report surfaced last week during the test at the Lowes Motor Speedway.

All smiles after qualifying
Clint Bowyer was all smiles Friday as the driver of the No. 07 Chevrolet landed his first career Cup pole.

Bowyer said starting up front in Saturday's Dodge Avenger 500 is nice but making the Budweiser Shootout is the real bonus.

"It's a bummer to sit and have to watch that race from home on TV," he said.

Another driver with a big smile was Ken Schrader. After missing the last two Cup races, Schrader breathed a sigh of relief and satisfaction posting a lap time of 163.724 mph, putting the driver of the No. 21 Ford eighth on the starting grid.

"I thanked the guys for giving me something quick enough that I didn't have to hold my breath real long. We went home for two weeks and I've got to apologize to [sponsors] Little Debbie and Motorcraft about that. I don't like that."

As a go-or-go-home car, the stress was clearly mounting for Schrader.

"This week, like right now, I feel like, 'Oh yeah, it builds,' but as a driver, I can make more difference here," he said. "So that means I can do better or I can screw up, so there's more pressure on you here as a driver."

Gordon's baby has a name ...
Only no one is revealing exactly what that is, said Jeff Gordon's mother Carol Bickford.

She did, however, dish some other pertinent details about wife Ingrid Vandebosch-Gordon's pregnancy.

Due Date: Latter part of June, first part of July
Name: Determined and beautiful, says grandma
Far along: Seven and a half months
Last sonogram: Couple of weeks ago
Who the kid will drive for: In talks with all the Chevy teams

Family and friends on both sides of the couple's family gathered in North Carolina recently for a baby shower, where games such as "identify what kind of melted candy bar is in the diaper" and "who can chug a baby bottle of champagne the fastest."

"Jeff was very competitive but you already knew that. He didn't win any of the games though," Bickford said.

Mother's Day, not Junior's Day
Earnhardt may still be dominating headlines this weekend, but Mother's Day doesn't go unnoticed in NASCAR.

Not only do the mothers of the drivers step in as honorary starters for Saturday night's Dodge Avenger 500, but Daytona International Speedway on Friday announced a sizeable donation payable to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure honoring moms on their special day and to kick off ticket sales for the 50th running of the Daytona 500.