Notebook: Edwards makes a championship switch (cont'd)

Don't tick off Junior

Only three questions into his media availability, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was asked about a Memphis Motorsports Park promotion in which the track promised Earnhardt a lifetime supply of barbecue ribs if he ran in their Nationwide Series race (read more).

"Who do you work for," Earnhardt said, with a look that was hard to decipher. "Just making sure you don't work for Memphis [provoking much laughter]. Those kind of deals kind of get under your skin a little bit because obviously I haven't raced there since 1999, and I probably won't be going back there any time soon -- they just used my name to try to sell tickets and try to start some gimmick."

Private Ryan

Lying on his stomach behind a sandbag, Ryan Newman is firing away like a trigger-happy character in a video game, Oh yes, David Caraviello writes, the relationship between the Stewart-Haas driver and his new primary sponsor, U.S. Army, is off to a fantastic start.

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Earnhardt's double-edged dismay came from the track not approving its release with him before they sent it, and then, according to him, misrepresenting the location of his favorite Memphis barbecue joint, which he cited on MTV's Cribs.

"I talked about Memphis barbecue and I specifically pulled out the package of barbecue that I liked -- it's called Rendezvous," Earnhardt said. "So [the track] knew that Rendezvous was my favorite, but they mentioned their track sponsored barbecue place, so they got a plug for no damn reason, and Rendezvous, who has been there forever doesn't get a word in. Now they will [more laughter]."

Earnhardt said, in effect, the price of poker, or adding a race to his schedule, had gone up.

"Well, if they give me some Rendezvous ribs and up the ante just a little more than just ribs," Earnhardt said, "we might talk about it."

In the end, Junior was concerned about the truth, and not coming across as a totally bad guy.

"I don't want to sound like a jerk about it because I know that it's tough times right now, and they're definitely in between a rock and a hard place trying to get people to come out there and watch races," Earnhardt said. "But I was really more upset for the guys at Rendezvous that have been around for years, and everybody knows that's the best place in Memphis, hands down. Everybody can read right through that article."

Menard sure about Nationwide schedule

Asked on Saturday if he knew whether or not his No. 98 Yates Racing Ford would have the guaranteed starter status in the Daytona 500 based on owner points accrued last season by one of his new teammates' cars, Paul Menard said "As far as I know we're getting points so we'll be locked in -- I'm not sure if it's [No.] 28 or 38 points, but one of them will slide over."

Menard was more definitive about his plans to run nearly half the Nationwide Series schedule.

"I'm actually going to run, I believe, 16 Nationwide races," said Menard, who won his first series race two years ago at The Milwaukee Mile. "It's going to be through Yates Racing in affiliation with Roush. But it'll be under the Yates banner. I think we're going to announce something this week as far as who the sponsor is, but it's pretty exciting."

Newman not worried

Don't count Ryan Newman among those worried about the physical shortcomings brought about by a lack of testing; or financing from the lack of full-season backing for his No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. The car has only a half-season program from the U.S. Army.

"As far as [the physical demands], I was way more whipped and tired snowmobiling in Idaho for five days than I would ever become in testing anywhere at any time," Newman said before switching to financier mode. "We're taking the approach that we will have sponsorship. I know that the people at Stewart-Haas Racing are actively seeking sponsorship and they have some strong leads.

"Obviously it's not an easy task to fit when you're talking about the U.S. Army to tag team up with another sponsor -- you have to maintain a specific image, there. That's one thing that we're working on.

"Tony Stewart [owner] and the group at SHR have done a great job in my opinion of building competitive race cars in what we've had for an offseason and building a team to go along with that and an organization to go along with that from a personnel standpoint."