NASCAR's newest drivers spent Monday and Tuesday adjusting to their newest rides. Jacques Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier and Dario Franchitti, all Nextel Cup rookies in 2008, participated in the Car of Tomorrow test at Atlanta Motor Speedway and found they have some work left to get them adjusted to stock cars.

Villeneuve, a former Formula One champion, will drive for Bill Davis Racing next season. Franchitti, the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner, replaces David Stremme at Chip Ganassi Racing next year. Carpentier replaces Scott Riggs at Gillett Evernham Motorsports beginning at Phoenix. All three new drivers have open-wheel backgrounds and are from outside the U.S.

This test was Carpentier's first time in the COT on an oval.

"The cars come up to the corners at tremendous speeds," he said. "They've got no downforce and they weigh a ton. It's very hard. You're always moving sideways and pushing and trying to get the car in the right lane. [Monday] morning when I got in it ... the whole morning I thought, man, am I going to figure this out one of these days?"

Carpentier says he's beginning to get more comfortable in the car.

Villeneuve also faced his share of challenges in the test, brushing the wall both days.

"We ended up running the high line and brushed the wall with the rear of the car a few times," he said of Monday's test. "Seemed like it was OK. The car was tighter [Tuesday], went in fast like [Monday] and didn't turn. So used the wall to cushion to turn, which was okay, didn't really do any damage. But that's not the way to go."

Franchitti said he can understand the challenges fellow Indy Racing League driver Sam Hornish is experiencing. Hornish has failed to qualify for a Cup race in six attempts.

"I think he's a really good driver," Franchitti said. "And having now jumped into the COT I can see what he's up against, because it's such an adjustment. I can now see what Sam's up against and it's tough and for him it's going to be tough for us next year as well."

Back for more

The series heads to Texas where Jeff Burton won in the spring. His season since has been easy. Burton has nine top-10 finishes in the 26 races since that victory.

Despite some struggles in the Chase, Burton is eighth in the points after his fifth-place finish last weekend at Atlanta.

He doesn't blame missing a chance at the championship on bad luck, though.

"We broke an engine at Talladega, that wasn't luck," he said. "We did something wrong. We broke a fuel pump, part of the fuel pump cable system the week before that. And I don't consider that luck either. I consider that something that was in our control.

"And then we haven't run as well. That's in our control, too. Sunday ... we finished fifth and if that thing would have gone two more laps who knows where we would have finished. We had tire rub so bad that ... we wouldn't have finished fifth, I can assure you of that. So that worked out for us.

"So we've had some things go for us and we've had some things go against us. At the end of the day, the thing we're not happy about is the way we've run. It hasn't been in the Chase, it was before the Chase. We hadn't run as well as we did the first part of the year. Seemed like when it got away from us we were never able to get it back."

Tight race

While Jeff Gordon leads teammate Jimmie Johnson by nine points for the Nextel Cup title, that's not NASCAR's closest points race.

Ron Hornaday leads Mike Skinner by four points heading into the final three Craftsman Truck Series races. The trucks join the Busch and Cup series this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

Pit stops

Jacques Villeneuve had no comment Tuesday about reports that he or his manager would buy part of Bill Davis Racing. ... A win by a Hendrick Motorsports car at Texas would give the team five Cup victories in a row for the second time this season. ... The city of Houston has proclaimed Thursday Kevin Harvick Day. Harvick's sponsor, Shell Oil Company, is based in Houston. ... Michael McDowell will make his Busch Series debut Saturday at Texas for Michael Waltrip Racing. McDowell is a candidate to take over the No. 00 Cup ride next year when David Reutimann replaces Dale Jarrett after the season's fifth race. ...Jon Wood will make his 100th career Truck Series start this weekend at Texas.