NASCAR Truex pinch-hits for Earnhardt for today's Siemen's 300

The team's top driver is recovering from last weekend's fiery crash.
LOUDON, N.H. (AP) -- Like many youngsters, Martin Truex Jr. fantasized about stepping up to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the bases loaded.
Today, he'll be a pinch-hitter of sorts, replacing Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 8 car at some point during the first NASCAR Nextel Cup race of Truex's career.
Recovering from a fiery crash last weekend, Earnhardt plans to drive only a handful of laps during the Siemen's 300 before handing off to Truex, who will attempt to give his boss and friend a victory.
"That's a big task," Truex said. "But I don't think it's out of the question."
Truex, 24, was supposed to get his first Cup ride on New Hampshire International Speedway's flat, 1.058-mile oval in September, driving a car fielded by Earnhardt's Chance 2 Motorsports, the team for which Truex drives in the Busch Series.
Truex tested here this month because of that plan, having no idea that practice would become so vital so soon.
Second-degree burns
Earnhardt spent one night in the hospital and came away from his frightening crash with second-degree burns on the insides of his legs, his neck and chin. His wounds and pain led the Dale Earnhardt Inc. team to enlist Truex to practice and qualify Earnhardt's car on Friday and stand by today as a relief driver.
So far, so good.
Earnhardt and Truex shared the car Saturday, with Earnhardt running eight laps and quickly getting up to speed during the first of two practices.
Team spokesman Jade Gurss said that was enough for Earnhardt, who felt comfortable in the car after the first couple of laps and also "learned some things about how he wants to wrap the dressings on his legs [today]."
Although Earnhardt will have to start at the rear of the field because of the driver change, Truex qualified the car in third, earning the team a very good pit position for the race.
In the bullpen
The rest of the plan is for Earnhardt to start the 300-lap, 317.4-mile race -- the driver who starts the race earns the championship points -- and for Truex to relieve him at the first opportunity, perhaps the first caution period.
"There's no pressure on me at all," said Truex, who went into Saturday's Busch race at NHIS leading the series points. "The team told me -- unless they were lying to make me feel easier -- that they were in this to get last-place points and that whatever we did better than that was a bonus."
Earnhardt goes into the race second in the standings, 105 points behind Jimmie Johnson, who will go after his third straight New Hampshire win. Johnson will start next to pole winner Ryan Newman on the front row.
Crew chief Tony Eury Sr. said Truex is the right man for the job, despite his lack of Cup experience.
"I think we made the best choice on the guy we're going to put in the car," Eury said. "He's shown last year and this year that he's definitely got some talent, and he's ours. He belongs to DEI and we're going to use him and we're going to get the best out of this we can get."