ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- The early departure of his crew chief frustrated Ricky Rudd and had the driver wondering Friday if his team will suffer through the final three races of the season.

"I think there's no way we can finish in the top 10 now,'' said Rudd, who has a slim hold on the 10th spot in the points. "I guess this season is just a write-off, now.''

Rudd is leaving Robert Yates Racing at the end of the season, but crew chief Michael "Fatback'' McSwain was supposed to stay on and work with driver Elliott Sadler next year.

Instead, McSwain left RYR this week to become Bobby Labonte's new crew chief. Rudd wasn't thrilled with the decision to let McSwain go and said he heard about it when car chief Raymond Fox III called him Thursday night to tell him he would be running the team for the final three races.

"Nobody consulted me on this at all,'' Rudd said. "What a way to finish the year, huh?''

Yates said he didn't force McSwain to stay because at this stage, all the planning being done is for next year with Sadler as the driver.

"In this situation, this is all about futures and go ahead and get on it,'' Yates said. "If his heart left, take the rest of his body with it.''

Meanwhile, both Yates and McSwain denied a report that McSwain left because Sadler was so slow at a recent test that the crew chief feared next year would be a struggle.

"The reason we hired him (Sadler) was probably 90 percent because of Fatback's push to get him,'' Yates said.

Sadler said he was disappointed, but there didn't appear to be any hard feelings -- he stopped McSwain in the garage and gave him a hug when he arrived for morning practice.

"I'm not going to get mad for a guy that thinks he's bettering himself or bettering his situation, we're still friends," Sadler said.

Atwood in trouble?
Car owner Ray Evernham remained quiet Friday about the future of driver Casey Atwood, who is believed to be on his way out of the No. 7 Dodge.

Evernham bought a part of Ultra Motorsports last year so that he could move Atwood out of the No. 19 and put Jeremy Mayfield in it. By partnering with Ultra owner Jim Smith, he was able to keep Atwood under his umbrella.

But Atwood has had a disappointing second season -- he's 33rd in points and his best finish was an 11th-place run at Pocono Raceway in June.

So there were reports earlier this week that he had been fired and Kevin Lepage hired to replace him in the car for the rest of the season, but that Atwood was rehired when contract issues couldn't be resolved.

Atwood needed a provisional to make Sunday's race at North Carolina Speedway -- he'll start 42nd -- and said all the speculation over his future did not factor in.

"I hate that all that's going on out there, but I try my hardest every week,'' Atwood said.

Under the lights
NASCAR is spicing up its 2003 schedule by moving the Budweiser Shootout to a night race.

The Shootout, a non-points race that has kicked off the season since 1979, will be run under the lights at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. Qualifying for the Daytona 500, which is normally held that day, will now be on Sunday.

"I feel like it just makes things quite a bit more exciting to race under the lights,'' Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's a lot of fun and it will bring a little more prestige and notoriety to the event by running it on Saturday night.''

The Pepsi 400, Daytona's July race, is run under the lights on a Saturday night. Earnhardt won that event in 2001.

Only past winners of the event and drivers who win a qualifying pole during the 2002 season are eligible for the Shootout.

The 18 currently eligible are: Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Bill Elliott, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman, Ward Burton, Matt Kenseth, Ricky Craven, Ricky Rudd, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Geoffrey Bodine, Ken Schrader, Todd Bodine and Terry Labonte.

2003 Truck schedule
NASCAR is expanding the schedule for its Truck Series by three races, giving it 25 events in 2003.

New to the schedule next year are races at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, the first time the track will host trucks. The series also is returning to Bristol Motor Speedway and Mesa Marin Raceway in California, two charter tracks when the trucks debuted in 1995.

Martinsville Speedway was awarded a second date in 2003, increasing to 12 the number of races held in conjunction with either Winston Cup or Busch series races.

Spotter injured
Earl Barban, a mechanic and chief spotter for Rusty Wallace, was injured in a motorcycle accident on his way to the track on Thursday night.

Barban, who said Friday he wrecked his bike when he went around a corner too fast, broke three ribs, punctured a lung, suffered a lacerated spleen and other cuts and bruises.

"I ended up in a ditch,'' he said from his hospital room in Rockingham. "But there was a car with a camper driving behind me and the guy stopped and stayed with me. Even though he didn't have a cell phone, he stopped the next car that came along and asked them to call 911.

"All I can say is I'm pretty lucky. It could have been much, much worse.''