Kidney-stone trouble sends Truex to hospital

HAMPTON, GA.

Martin Truex Jr. spent part of Saturday at a hospital being treated for kidney stones, according to a NASCAR official.

Truex was taken to an emergency room after he drove in both NASCAR Sprint Cup practice sessions Saturday afternoon. He was 15th-fastest in the final practice session.

Truex is scheduled to start today's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway 23rd.

 ____

Junior's not happy

Dale Earnhardt Jr. blames the car more than the tires for challenging driving conditions at Atlanta.

"This is a hell of an excuse for a race car," Earnhardt said Saturday. "It is hard to drive. It makes everybody's job harder, even Goodyear's.

Earnhardt added: Three years ago, we had a better handle on the tire, I felt like, and the track and how things were going. The cars drove better. Everybody loved coming here. Just in a matter of a year or two, we seem to have confused ourselves."

 ____

Smith speaks

Track owner Bruton Smith again said this weekend that NASCAR needs to move its season finale from Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"Why would you have the last race of the year in some Godforsaken area that is north of Cuba?" Smith said. "Why would you do that? I don't understand that. Why don't you pick a place that can accommodate the final race of the year with seats and parking and somewhere that appreciates it."

Also, Smith and officials of tracks he owns said in the preseason that drivers need to do more to promote the sport. Three races in, Smith said he sees some change.

"Some of them are doing this," Smith said. "We've had drivers at Vegas that came out and for a couple of hours signed autographs. I know one driver that signed 1,000 times. Now, wouldn't it be great if we had 20 or 30 of them doing that?... That's what it is all about."

Meanwhile, Smith, who once hosted former President George W. Bush at Texas Motor Speedway - one of the tracks Smith owns - when Bush was the governor of the state, hinted that he has no plans to invite President Barack Obama to a race at any of his tracks.

 ____

PIT STOPS

Carl Edwards was the fastest in the final practice session with a lap of 179.522 mph. He was followed by Kasey Kahne (178.793 mph), Denny Hamlin (178.700), Kurt Busch (178.660) and Jamie McMurray (178.459).