Edwards won't miss races with thumb injury

Carl Edwards is expected to race in Busch and Nextel Cup series events this weekend in Indianapolis after dislocating his right thumb in a wreck racing Sunday in Greenwood, Neb.

Edwards, the Busch Series points leader who is fifth in the Cup standings, was driving in a late model race at I-80 Speedway when his car was involved in a multicar wreck.

Edwards missed a test Monday at Milwaukee Speedway and a Busch Series test in Bristol, Tenn., on Tuesday.

And the wiener is

John Ilowiecki, a member of the race-day crew for Wood Brothers JTG Racing, will miss his first Cup race in 11 years Sunday because he'll be in Kansas City, Kan. _ for the Wiener Dog Nationals.

Ilowiecki and his wife, Roxanne, will accompany their 4-year-old dachshund Bella to the Woodlands Race Track.

The No.21 Ford driven by Bill Elliott will carry a "Good Luck Bella" decal at Indianapolis.

Briefly

Joe Lax, who has been a shock specialist at Bill Davis Racing, will lead Jeremy Mayfield's No.36 Toyota team now that David Hyder has left to be crew chief for the No.49 Dodge at BAM Racing. Garth Finley will work as an engineer with Mayfield's team, swapping places with Dax Gerringer, who moves to Dave Blaney's No.22 team at BDR. Brad Tunny is Mayfield's new car chief.

Former NASCAR drivers Red Byron, Jerry Cook, Cotton Owens, Marvin Panch and Rex White are among this year's finalists for the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala. Also nominated were former NASCAR team owner Carl Kiekhaefer, longtime Petty Enterprises chief mechanic Maurice Petty and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco official and NASCAR promoter Ralph Seagraves.

A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report into the crash of a plane near Sanford, Fla., that killed Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corp. President Lesa France Kennedy, and four others did not speculate on a cause. Inspectors found breaks in the twin-engine Cessna 310's right wing and fuselage control cables, but a spokesman said the cables weren't necessarily a factor.