LONG POND, Pa. -- With no less than nine men praying for some version of clear skies this weekend, in and around Pocono Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway, drivers like Carl Edwards are becoming rookie meteorologists.

While fewer drivers this season are simultaneously balancing full schedules in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series -- which Edwards has done for the last three years -- Edwards is doing it best, as he's sixth in Nextel Cup points and leading the Busch standings by a wide margin.

Five men are currently doing full seasons in two divisions: Edwards, David Reutimann, David Ragan, Dave Blaney and J.J. Yeley; although that number will no doubt have shrunk by at least a couple by the end of this month.

But nine are trying to do the double on this, the first weekend of six this season in which a "stand alone" Busch event will create travel and personnel dilemmas for at least seven Cup and eight Busch organizations.

Clint Bowyer, David Stremme, Greg Biffle and Mike Bliss are joining the full-time two-timers in trying to make it back and forth, if only on Saturday for Busch qualifying and the Federated Auto Parts 300.

Edwards, at least, has no worries.

"The bad part about doing back and forth is you can get held up somewhere -- you could have trouble with the airplane or something and you might not get [back to Pocono] until 6 or 7 in the morning on Sunday," Edwards said. "But, even then, that's not the end of the world.

"The good part is that you get to have fun and go to try and win a race in Nashville in the Busch Series, and get to travel around in helicopters and do all that stuff. It's a blast."

Friday wasn't much of a day for the travel planners.

Edwards, his Roush Racing teammate Ragan and team owner Jack Roush weren't enjoying Friday evening when a line of thunderstorms stretching from Canada to Atlanta reportedly tied up westbound air traffic.

Bowyer, who's eighth in the Nextel Cup standings, planned to fly to Nashville after Bud Pole Qualifying at Pocono, but the weather cancelled that plan. It also reportedly kept Biffle and Stremme "in the barn" in Pennsylvania.

Team representatives said Roush and his drivers were going to attempt to make the trip, but they had not arrived in Nashville by the time the first practice ended.

The vagaries of the weather, at least on Friday, enabled some drivers who are without full-time driving jobs to get some seat time.

Nashville area natives Chad Chaffin and Casey Atwood, Brandon Miller, Auggie Vidovich, Chad Blount, Carlos Contreras, Scott Lagasse Jr. and Matt McCall are among that group, lined up to substitute for the Cup Series primary drivers, as necessary.

Mark Green, a veteran of all three NASCAR national series and a spotter for Michael Waltrip Racing, subbed for Reutimann in his usual Waltrip Racing ride, the No. 99 Toyota.

Miller was the best sub at Nashville, sixth in Bowyer's car, while Green was 13th on the sheet and Atwood, who drove the No. 37 Brewco Motorsports Ford earmarked Saturday for Greg Biffle, in 14th.

Stremme's change of plans apparently messed up Bliss, who was hustling out of the garage, he said, to meet the Ganassi Racing driver on a helicopter to go to the airport. According to team and NASCAR representatives, Stremme canceled the trip to Nashville Friday evening.

Bliss, whose Cup team, BAM Racing, failed to qualify at Pocono, was reportedly forced to scramble on his own to get to Nashville.

While Yeley didn't plan to go to Nashville on Friday, he was far from idle.

Pocono might be one of the best lairs yet for diehard racers. Yeley, who is running his second consecutive year of concurrent seasons, opted to race open-wheel USAC dirt cars -- a Sprint Car Thursday night and a Midget Friday evening -- at Big Diamond Raceway outside Minersville, Pa.

The plan on Saturday for most of the commuters was to complete the two Nextel Cup practice sessions, scheduled for 10 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. ET.

Busch Qualifying in Nashville is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET, with the race scheduled at 7 p.m. ET.

Edwards, who won Tony Stewart's charity special event, the "Prelude to the Dream" dirt Late Model race at Eldora Speedway in Ohio on Wednesday night, put the perfect postscript on what would seem an ordeal to others.

"It's fun, really," Edwards said. "Everybody acts like it's some big deal. It's not, really.

"It's not like I'm pedaling a bicycle there. I get to ride in the back of an airplane, usually they have food; it's pretty fun."