Atlanta Motor Speedway is tough enough for full-time teams that aren't breaking in a rookie driver. Steven Lane and the rest of the No. 40 Dodge team will contend with the fast 1.54-mile oval and give Bryan Clauson his coming-out party this weekend in Georgia.

"It's tough in two ways," Lane said of attempting NASCAR's fastest track with a 19-year-old rookie driver. "Having to make the race and unload without a lot of practice time is really the biggest thing we're facing."

“

I don't think you're going to call the race any different than you normally would, no matter who is driving the car.

”

STEVEN LANE

Lane's plight is common this time of year, as teams plan out the moves they're going to make for 2009. Driver changes, crew changes, all kinds of changes are being worked on by the teams not in the Chase.

"Our original plan when we went to Charlotte with him was, we were going to get two days to test, and then we went back and unloaded in qualifying trim and all we have to do is make the race," Lane said. "We had already done all our race prep. We knew how we were going to handle everything. Even though Atlanta is sort of like Charlotte, now we've got to unload in qualifying trim to get him in the race. He'll have maybe 10 laps of practice and then he's got to go qualify."

Clauson was slated to make his debut at Charlotte, but the rains came and washed out qualifying. Lane and the No. 40 team have to adapt to the changed circumstances.

"The biggest thing we're worried about is him being able to pick out where his marks are going to be, how he's going to drive this racetrack," he said. "He's got a whole different racecar than what he's used to."

Clauson has tested the new car, but never raced it, and it is much different from the Nationwide Series car in which Clauson has been training.

"The biggest thing I see with the [new car] is it's more of a handful to drive," Lane said. "The Nationwide car, with more downforce and less motor, they've got to be easier to drive. The [new] car has a higher CG, less downforce and more horsepower. And you're looking at a lot tighter field when it comes to qualifying."

That presents Lane with a challenge as far as setting up the car.

"It's just getting it to his liking," he said. "He's going to get an hour and 45 minutes of practice time total, and we have to make it drive as well as we can for him keeping in mind that he really doesn't know what one of these things is supposed to feel like. The test at Charlotte was good and it helped him some. We're going to have to rely on our teammates to get a baseline setup and say, 'this is what it's supposed to feel like; now go and make it work.'"

Another degree of difficulty is the fact that Atlanta is much harder on tires than is Charlotte.

"Atlanta now is your Darlington, because Darlington was so hard on tires," Lane said. "To me, Atlanta is now the place that's hard on tires. How you're going to get that car to be consistent over a whole run as the tires start to fade away ... that's the one thing we've got to get across to him is, it's a big momentum racetrack, it's very fast, but you can't go out there and burn the tires off it first thing.

"We've got to get him in a mode of, 'hey, this is a 500-mile race as opposed to what you're used to running 200 or 250 miles.'"

“

He's got a whole different racecar than what he's used to.

”

STEVEN LANE, on Bryan Clauson

Lane hasn't worked with Clauson much this season, just over the test at Charlotte a few weeks ago, so communication is going to be key.

"We're going to have to rely on our teammates here," Lane said of the setup. "Once we finally get something we know is pretty close, even though it may not be 100 percent, it's 'OK, Bryan, here's your bat and ball, now you've got to learn to play with it like that. I know it doesn't feel like your Nationwide car, but this is what these things feel like.'

"The ball's back in our court to say, 'hey, this is pretty close. I know it doesn't feel like it, but this is pretty close. Go out there and run fast lap times, keep your momentum up and don't burn the tires off of it.'"

Atlanta is also tough on engines, and Lane said the team will bring a new engine package to Atlanta for testing.

"It's really hard on the engines, and it's a good thing for this team to go out and help the others because we have a new engine package," Lane said. "It's important to make the race and then get this thing to live all day, because if it does, then this is our test for the next two cars so that when they show up at Texas or Homestead, they can use this package."

Given that he has a rookie driver, pit road becomes a bigger story than it would be with a veteran at the wheel.

"I don't think you're going to call the race any different than you normally would, no matter who is driving the car," Lane said. "The race is going to play out, you're going to get dealt a hand and you play that hand. What we're going to look at is, the Nationwide field is not as aggressive getting on and off pit road as these guys are.

"Let's just say that you lose a quarter of a second in and a quarter of a second off, there's a half a second that you're never going to get back on the track. We've got to get him in a rhythm and we have to go ahead and be ready for when he loses some to those veterans on pit road, ready for how we can make that up some way. He's going to lose some to them, because that's what this is, a learning experience. These cars are so close now, all the little things are going to make a big difference."