NASCAR notebook

LOUDON, N.H. - NASCAR's new green-white-checkered rule goes into effect during today's Nextel Cup Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway, and there are backers and detractors.

• Photos

The new procedure will be used in case of a caution period that would in the past have forced the race to end under yellow, with the competitors running slowly to the finish behind the pace car.

Instead, the field will restart under a green flag after NASCAR deems the track ready for competition. They will then get the white flag - signifying one lap to go - the next time around.

In case of another caution during that two-lap sprint to the finish, the race will finish under a yellow flag.

"Nothing good is going to come out of it," said two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte, who will be making his 800th career start in the Siemens 300. "(NASCAR) would have been better off to try and do like they were doing, to try and get the cautions sped up.

Jimmie Johnson, the Cup points leader, has a different opinion.

"If I was paying my hard-earned money to sit in the stands and I saw caution flags (finishes) happen, I would be upset, too," Johnson said. "So I think it's a good move for the sport, a good move for the fans and I don't have a big problem with it.

EARNHARDT TESTS INJURIES: Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove about eight laps in his No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet in a morning practice session.

The plan for today's Siemens 300 is for Earnhardt, second in Nextel Cup points, to start the race and then give way to Martin Truex, Jr. early in the event, most likely during the first caution.

ON THE BUBBLE: Ryan Newman, who will start from the pole, is 10th in the season standings - not the most comfortable position to be in NASCAR's new championship points system.

Only drivers in the top 10 or within 400 points of the leader after the 26th race will be eligible to race for the Cup title over the final 10 events.

MARTIN NOT CONFIDENT: Qualifying left veteran Mark Martin less than thrilled about his chances.

"We're not gonna run very good this weekend," Martin said. "For some reason the car doesn't have it. We'll fight to the bitter end, but I've really been spoiled the last eight weeks or so with really fabulous race cars and this one is not gonna get the job done like those did.

"This car was real good at Martinsville (Va.) and was pretty darn good at Richmond (Va.), but I've been doing this stuff a long time and this is not gonna be good. It's not gonna be what we've been doing the last few weeks."