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Allmendinger, Mayfield, Riggs and Regan Smith earned spots in the season-opening race in Thursday’s Gatorade Duels.

“It feels absolutely awesome. It’s like we just won the race,” said Riggs, who finished eighth in the first qualifier.

None of the four drivers had rides a month ago, piecing together any opportunity they could to get them to Daytona International Speedway. Allmendinger was let go from Red Bull Racing late last year, and is clinging to an eight-race deal with Richard Petty Motorsports.
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Truex, now driving for the organization born from the merger between sponsor-strapped Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing, earned the pole for the Feb. 15 showcase event. With a lap of 188.001 mph in a Chevrolet, he showed Earnhardt Ganassi Racing will go on — perhaps stronger than the individual teams ever were.

“It was a tough winter for most of us in the community,” said Ganassi, the front man for the new race team.
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Above all the pomp of Sunday’s season-finale hung an air of uncertainty and, in some cases, sheer panic. Team members quietly passed around resumes, looking to latch on at stable organizations. Others worried that the checkered flag at the end of the race would also signify the end of a steady paycheck.

Mass layoffs are expected throughout NASCAR this week, as team owners from all three national series adjust to the economic crisis.

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“It would improve my overall awesomeness,” Earnhardt declared.

Awesomeness?

“Yeah. I worked on greatness for a while,” he explained, “but I tapped it out.”

The quest for “awesomeness” begins Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway, where Earnhardt starts the Chase for the championship seeded fourth in the 12-driver field.

After a one-year absence, he’s back in the title hunt and couldn’t be more thrilled to be among the contenders.

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The hype surrounding Earnhardt’s move to Hendrick Motorsports is in high gear, and only figures to grow when he takes his new ride down South later this week to prepare for the season-opening Daytona 500. NASCAR’s biggest star will make his debut with NASCAR’s best team, and the pressure is on everyone to make sure it’s a resounding success.

Considered by some to be an overrated driver who inherited his late father’s fan base, Earnhardt knows he has an opportunity to prove his talent level warrants his superstar status.

(More in ‘Earnhardt still under pressure’…)

It’s official — Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the No. 88 car next season in the NASCAR Nextel Cup.

Earnhardt confirmed the number during a news conference in Dallas on Wednesday.

“I’m really happy with that. It’s a great choice,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “This was a number we actually didn’t think we’d have a chance to get.”

Earnhardt, who is leaving his late father’s company, Dale Earnhardt Inc., after this season to move to Hendrick Motorsports, had been driving the No.

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CONCORD, N.C. — Sterling Marlin, Joe Nemechek and two crew chiefs have filed breach of contract suits against Ginn Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc.

All four lost their jobs when the two teams merged in late July, and in separate lawsuits filed last week in Cabarrus County they claim they are owed their salaries.

(More in ‘Drivers Marlin, Nemechek sue for lost jobs’…)