CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK: RAIN KEEPS PRACTICE TIME LIMITED.

Byline: LOUIS BREWSTER

Staff Writer

FONTANA -- Mark Martin, defending champion of tonight's Craftsman Truck Series San Bernardino County 200, was the fastest in a Thursday practice session cut short by rain.

Driving a Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford, Martin sped the 2-mile oval at 176.795 mph on the first of 13 laps in the later afternoon session. The time was 40.795 seconds, an improvement of nearly a half-second from the opening practice.

Jack Sprague was second to Martin by 0.089 seconds at 176.108, with Mike Skinner third at 41.019. Sprague was second fastest to Kraig Kinser in the session. Kinser lost nearly a second in the later practice.

Truck qualifying is set for 1:10 p.m. today, preceeded by a pair of Busch Series practices (8 and 10:30 a.m.) and a Nextel Cup practice at 11:30 a.m.

Aaron Fike was the fastest of the five rookies in the field, posting the ninth-fastest time.

"I think our Toyota Tundra is pretty fast," said Fike, competing for Red Bull. "We were in the top-10 in both practice. All the other guys in front of me have got a billion laps around here.

"The rain hurt me because we didn't get to run. We only got to make a qualifying run so I think it hurt us a little bit."

Citizen soldier: Staff Sgt. Quinton D. Martin of the Mississippi National Guard will make NASCAR history Sunday by becoming the first non- celebrity to have his image on the hood of a Cup car.

Martin was selected as the grand-prize winner in the "Heroes of the Year" campaign created by Jackson Hewitt at this race a year ago. Martin has been with the Mississippi Army National Guard 24 years, deployed in Germany, South Korea, Panama, Honduras, and Costa Rica besides his home state. He volunteered for duty in Kuwait shortly after helping with the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

He was nominated by his wife, Pat.

"The National Guard has done a lot for me," said Martin. "I appreciate everyone who voted for me."

Sponsor news: Reed Sorenson will sport a Energizer e2 Lithium scheme at Fontana for his Chip Ganassi. ...

Racing Dodge and will be accompanied by the Energizer Bunny during prerace ceremonies and in the pits. ...

Dale Jarrett's UPS Toyota will carry a paint scheme in conjunction with the 133rd Kentucky Derby.