Notes: Darlington claims its victims in Friday practice (cont'd)

Biffle's too busy to talk contract

With Carl Edwards signing a "multi-year" contract extension to remain in Roush Fenway Racing's No. 99 Ford, the talk in the garage area naturally turned to teammate Greg Biffle, whose deal with Jack Roush expires at the end of the season.

But Biffle confessed that his long-term future is not foremost on his mind at the present time.

"I haven't talked to anybody, really," Biffle said. "This week was sort of off the radar for me because we tested and did all that, so this is a busy week and so is next week with the Nationwide testing. I haven't really been paying attention to any of that stuff. I've been worrying about the racecar right now."

Different shade of Green

Jeff Green was in uniform in the garage area Friday as driver of Front Row Motorsports' No. 34 Chevrolet. John Andretti had been running the car this season, making three starts with a best finish of 35th at Fontana. However, Andretti is busy looking for a ride in this year's Indianapolis 500, giving Green the opportunity.

"John's at Indianapolis and is going to be there all month of May," Green said. "I drove a [Nationwide] car at Richmond, the first time I've driven all year other than practicing the No. 21 car at Bristol a little bit.

"I've been sitting on the sideline and [crew chief Scott Eggleston] has been a friend for a while, and he either remembered me or somebody told him about me, so it's a good thing. I hope I can help these guys out and they can help me get back in the seat and have a little fun."

Green was let go by Hass CNC Racing after Martinsville last fall. He finished 38th at Richmond, driving the No. 31 Key Motorsports Chevy.

Deja vu all over again

With five wins and 35 top-10 finishes, Bill Elliott has extensive experience at Darlington, but even he realizes that won't be much of a help when the green flag drops Saturday night.

"It's not the same Darlington," Elliott said. "It's gonna be a little bit harder to race on it because everybody seems to be running closer to the same speed. The new car has probably made that a lot more apparent, but the cars aren't gonna give up as much and the times are not gonna slow down as much. It's just different."

How different?

"I was just thinking that I had to get my act together and get back in the groove because I haven't been here since 2003," Elliott admitted.

Elliott finished 10th in his Darlington debut in 1977, running the family-owned No. 52 Ford. The eventual winner? David Pearson, driving the Wood Brothers No. 21 -- the car that Elliott is driving this weekend.