Truex unhappy with timing of Menard's decision

TALLADEGA, Ala.

Martin Truex Jr. is only concerned that Paul Menard waited until last week to announce he'll leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. after this season as opposed to being worried about losing Menard as a teammate.

Menard announced that he'll join Yates Racing next season. He will be the third driver since last year to depart DEI. Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined Hendrick Motorsports for this season, and Mark Martin will join Hendrick after this year.

While Truex and his sponsor are back, things are not as certain for the rest of DEI. Aric Almirola does not have a sponsor with the U.S. Army set to move to Ryan Newman's team at Stewart Haas Racing next season. Regan Smith has struggled as the team continues to look for a fulltime sponsor. There's no driver or sponsor for Menard's former ride.

Truex admits he's not thrilled with the timing of Menard's announcement.

"I don't think it's fair for them to wait until seven races left to go in the season and say all of a sudden we're not going to come back," Truex said.

"They left us hanging for a few months waiting on an answer, so I don't think that was fair. It is what it is. Paul hasn't had the results that he's wanted or we've wanted out of him for a few years now."

So, what if DEI scales back to two or three cars next year? How might that impact Truex and his team considering all teams in the Chase are from four-car operations?

"I don't think it changes things a whole lot," Truex said. "Right now we have two cars that run really good and two cars that don't perform like they need to so we're basically a two-car team anyway.

"We work together really well as a four-car team but there's just times when those guys aren't running well, you can't rely on their information, nothing against them. It's just the way it goes."

Questions remain in the garage if Dale Earnhardt Inc. will bounce back.

"This is a tough business," Jeff Gordon said. "It takes really good management and people leading from the top all the way to every level of that team. They've lost some good opportunities to really grow the organization and stay up with the Hendricks and Childresses and the other Chevy teams. I think they're very fortunate to have Martin Truex. I think that's really their savior and, hopefully, they can build on that."

Said Kevin Harvick about DEI's struggles: "For God's sake, they let Dale Earnhardt Jr. go. That's a tough deal to recover from when you let the most popular driver in the sport go from your organization. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I think you're just seeing the repercussion of that particular move and it just keeps spiraling."

FIRST POLE

Travis Kvapil earned his first career Cup pole with a lap of 187.364 mph Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway. Casey Mears (187.295 mph) starts second with Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates Almirola (187.265), rookie Smith (187.181) and Menard (187.141) completing the top five.

Series points leader Jimmie Johnson qualified 20th with Carl Edwards 12th and Greg Biffle 22nd. Earnhardt and David Ragan both will start at the rear of the field because their teams made engine changes before qualifying.

Mears has Brad Keselowski on standby in case Mears' pregnant girlfriend gives birth. Mears says he thinks he'll be OK for today's race, but added, "The last thing I want to do is miss the birth of my child."

PIT STOPS

Former driver Donnie Allison and former car owner Bud Moore are among the five men who will be inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2009. Joining them will be promoter J.C. Agajanian, modified champ Jerry Cook and Raymond Parks.... The Drive for Diversity combine will be Oct. 13-14 at South Boston Speedway. Among the 26 invited to tryout for rides in the Camping World Series or in Late Model cars are Michael Cherry, who finished fourth in the Late Model standings at Motor Mile Speedway, and Jessica Wood of Newport News.