Drivers struggled to adapt to a new racing surface at Lowe's Motor Speedway and a new tire Tuesday, as eight drivers either crashed or spun in the in the first six hours of testing. No one was injured.

The track is open for testing today. Every full-time Cup team tested Tuesday except Kasey Kahne's team because he had not been cleared to drive after his accident Monday at Talladega. He's expected to be cleared today and test.

Those who crashed Tuesday were Kurt Busch, Joe Nemechek, rookie Brent Sherman and Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard. Brian Vickers, Dave Blaney and rookie Denny Hamlin each spun in separate incidents without hitting anything. Tires were not a factor in those incidents except Menard's crash. A team official said a tire rub cut the tire and caused the wreck.

This is one of six NASCAR-sanctioned tests at tracks that host Nextel Cup races. The track hosts the all-star race and the Coca-Cola 600 later this month. Those will be the first races at this track since it was repaved.

Track officials smoothed the racing surface last year but that led to numerous wrecks. The Coca-Cola 600 featured a NASCAR record 22 cautions and lasted more than five hours. More work was done to the track after that race but the fall event had 15 cautions.

Jimmie Johnson crashed during a Goodyear tire test earlier this spring. Goodyear held a second test with a harder compound tire, and NASCAR announced that teams will use a smaller, 14-gallon fuel cell to shorten the fuel window to allow teams to change tires more often.

Drivers said Tuesday that the tire Goodyear brought is so hard that it doesn't wear much and drivers predicted teams would do more two-tire and even some no-tire stops during the races.

"Literally, I swear we could run 600 miles on this tire, I don't think we're going to need pit stops, the tires are going to be that durable,'' Kyle Busch said.

Said Matt Kenseth: "The tire is probably a little bit harder than the race track, so I don't think we're going to need the small fuel cells, which I guess is a good thing. I don't think we're going to blow any tires. The track is really nice and I think the racing is going to be fine on it.''

Close (again)

Tony Stewart's runner-up finish Monday to Jimmie Johnson was the sixth time Stewart has finished second at Talladega in 15 starts. He remains winless at the track.

"It's still better than finishing third,'' Stewart said. "There are 41 guys who wish they had run as good as I did.''

Stewart led with nine laps left when Jeff Gordon took the lead after a restart. Stewart complained on his radio about how Gordon hung back on the restart to use the draft to pass. NASCAR attempts to keep the field close on restarts so no one can get an advantage. Asked about that restart after the race, Stewart had calmed down.

"It seemed pretty obvious what was going on there,'' Stewart said.

Penalty

NASCAR fined David Hyder, crew chief for Ken Schrader, $5,000 and placed Hyder on probation until Dec. 31 for a rule violation last month at Phoenix. Officials discovered the team used a portable heater to warm tires.

Pit stop

Richard Childress Racing has scheduled a press conference Friday at Richmond where the team is expected to announce that it has signed Kevin Harvick to a contract extension.