FORT WORTH, Texas -- The best thing about Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s rally to a fourth-place finish in a beat-up car missing part of its bumper last week at Martinsville Speedway might have been walking through the Texas Motor Speedway garage this weekend.

"What is cool is to ... have people come up to you and tell you what a good job you did and what a good effort it was,'' said Earnhardt, who starts today's Samsung/Radio Shack 500 in 15th. "That means the most when your peers are noticing what you do and are appreciating what you do even though they race against you.

"After Martinsville, I have never been complimented more on my driving.''

Earnhardt overcame a lap-2 incident that damaged the right front of his car and later was forced into the inside wall in another accident before the top-five result. That finish helped Earnhardt maintain his sixth-place spot in the season standings. He was 16th a year ago.

"We are showing a lot of upswing,'' Earnhardt said. "We are making a lot of strides with several of our departments at [Dale Earnhardt Inc.].''

New bumper at Talladega

Teams will have a new bumper configuration for the Talladega race later this month that is intended to reduce the amount of bump drafting.

Drivers complained about bump drafting at Daytona. Bump drafting is where the trailing car rams the rear end of the leading car to help them push forward. It's an accepted practice in the straightaways, but when done in the corners it can lead to an accident.

While the new rule reduces the strength of the bumpers, opinion is mixed if the rule change will make a difference. The new rule forces teams to remove steel plates underneath the bumper. NASCAR wanted to maintain the bumper strength for safety but not make it so strong that drivers used it to constantly bump draft.

"It's just something to talk about on television because it's not going to be any different than it was before,'' said Scott Miller, crew chief for Jeff Burton. "It didn't change ours very much at all.''

Jeff Gordon differs.

"I hope we see less bump drafting because we just really need to get away from it,'' he said. "I'm excited that NASCAR is doing something. I was hoping for something like that a while ago."

Tire change for Lowe's races

Dale Jarrett says the tire Goodyear brought for a second test earlier this week at Lowe's Motor Speedway slows the car and lasts longer.

Jarrett and Kevin Harvick participated in the tire test. Goodyear decided to have a second tire test after seeing high speeds and wear in a test the week before with Jimmie Johnson, Scott Riggs, Bobby Labonte and Harvick.

"Obviously, the speed will pick back up as we get some more time on it and everybody else gets that time on it and as the track gets a little more time on it,'' Jarrett said. "I really don't anticipate seeing any tire problems when we get there in May.''

More changes

NASCAR announced that it will require teams to use a 14-gallon fuel cell instead of the 22-gallon fuel cell at Lowe's Motor Speedway for both the all-star race weekend and the Coca-Cola 600.

The change reduces the number of laps between pit stops. Although Goodyear is bringing a new tire to the repaved track, a smaller fuel cell means teams don't have to run tires as long. The smaller fuel cell should make the pit window between 36-40 laps instead of 60-65.

New deal close for Martin

Mark Martin says he's close to signing a contract to drive full time in the Craftsman Truck series for Roush Racing in 2007 and 2008. Martin said he would consider running a Cup race but only on the same weekend and at the same track as a truck event.

Pit stops

Rookie J.J. Yeley was the fastest in Saturday's final practice session with a lap of 187.624 mph. He was followed by Tony Stewart (186.832 mph), Kurt Busch (186.574) and Denny Hamlin (186.239). Yeley, Stewart and Hamlin all are teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, which has never won a Cup race at this track. ... Texas Motor Speedway has never had the same Cup winner in 10 previous races.