Notes: Decision on future for Gordon not before 2009 (cont'd)

Menard's sad tune

Rookie of the year candidate Paul Menard was only one driver whom the rain really hurt in qualifying, as his DEI Chevrolet team got only one run in practice before rain cut the session short. (Speeds)

"We got just as much practice there [in qualifying] as we did in practice," Menard said. "We were really, really tight when we unloaded this morning. We only did one run, like three laps, and freed it up and were still tight in the middle and buzzing the tires off. I think we helped it turn a little bit [in qualifying] -- we just have to hook it up now on exit."

Open and shut

The likes of Dario Franchitti and other open-wheel stars are leaving some current Nextel Cup drivers without rides for next season. But Franchitti offers no apologies.

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Hornish still struggling

It's on to Atlanta for open-wheel standout Sam Hornish Jr., who continues to ping-pong while attempting to make his Nextel Cup debut. Hornish, who for the second time in five failed attempts fell back from a "qualified" spot in practice only to fail to make the race, plans to go to Atlanta and give it another try after he was the last go-or-go-home car to miss the cut Friday.

"The rain certainly doesn't help with getting practice time," Hornish said after missing by seven-one-hundredths of a second. "It's tough but we knew it was going to be tough. That qualifying lap was our own fault -- the car was good on the warm-up lap but it had way too much push on the qualifying lap.

"It's frustrating but we'll keep working at it."

Franchitti's schedule

Open-wheel changeover Dario Franchitti came to the infield media center to talk about his ongoing transition to stock-car racing, but couldn't say much about his upcoming schedule, which is anticipated to include next weekend's Busch Series short-track race at Memphis, a .750-mile oval.

Franchitti's public relations representative said his planned schedule has sometimes changed "two or three times in one day, so we're just playing it by ear as he completes the next step."

Green's moose

Nextel Cup driver Jeff Green submitted an application for the last 10 years to get a moose hunting permit in the state of Maine, before he was finally successful for the current hunting season. Green went on the hunt right after racing at Talladega and it was successful -- in about 10 minutes.

"You could go a long way chasing after one, but we were about 800 yards behind the guy's house who was guiding us," Green said. "I've bagged some pretty good-sized whitetail deer, but this was by far the biggest game I've shot -- it had a 54-inch rack [of antlers] and it was almost 1,200 pounds -- as big as a Clydesdale."