Notes: Practice carries over to quals for some drivers

LONG POND, Pa. -- Friday's Cup Series practice wrapped up just as rain drops began to fall, and David Ragan may drop to a backup car after an incident with the No. 84 of Brian Vickers.

Casey Mears, near the end of practice, also sustained damage to his right-rear bumper and ended up 19th fastest in practice.

On the higher end of the session, Kurt Busch's No. 2 Dodge topped the speed chart with a lap time of 53.402 and little brother Kyle Busch's No. 5 was close by in third with a lap time of 53.655.

The Busch brothers appeared to be ready to sweep the front row until rain delayed qualifying, giving Dale Earnhardt Jr. a cooler track and the pole.

Kyle Busch said he feels like he has a legitimate shot to win.

"Last time we were here we had a great racecar," he said of his eighth-place finish. "It was fun. We had a shot -- I think Denny Hamlin and [Tony] Stewart were really, really good. Ryan Newman was also pretty good as well as Martin Truex Jr. We've got to catch up to those guys a little bit but I think there's going to be a heck of a battle there for second and third."

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Rush Hour at NASCAR
NASCAR teams and Hollywood's love affair is still going strong as Chris Tucker, star of the upcoming movie Rush Hour 3, will be at Pocono this weekend promoting his new movie via the hood of Tony Raines' No. 96 Chevrolet for the Pennsylvania 500.

Tucker will serve as grand marshal of the event and will give command to start the 500-mile race on Sunday.

"This will be a pretty cool weekend for everyone at DLP and Hall of Fame Racing," Raines said. "It's exciting to have Rush Hour 3 on the Chevy and we're going to show Chris a good time. After they watch us race, we'll head to the theater and watch their tremendous work."

The movie hits theaters Aug. 10.

Celebrity hookup for Kahne?
Kasey Kahne is apparently doing some Hollywood hob knobbing of his own.

The New York Daily News reported Kahne and celebrity heiress / recent jailbird Paris Hilton were seen together at Les Duex in Hollywood Wednesday night.

Kahne bumped into Hilton and apparently had a conversation.

"The two of them chatted for a while," a source told the Daily News, "and before they parted ways for the night, she leaned in and whispered 'God, you're cute' and kissed him!"

Sources close to the Kahne camp deny the kiss.

Game off for Hamlin
Recall Denny Hamlin attributed his last-season Pocono sweep to his NASCAR simulation video game.

The driver of the No. 11 Chevrolet, who finished sixth in the June race at Pocono, said he didn't play the game this season.

"I haven't the last two times here and I didn't win last one," he said. "So we will see how it works this time. I have kind of gotten used to the track enough where I feel like I am a lot more comfortable when I go out here for the first few laps than I was in the past."

Labonte to honor victims of bridge tragedy
Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 43 Dodge will place a special decal on the hood and rear bumper featuring a silhouette of the state of Minnesota with a heart and date of the accident on top.