His first season as a full-time driver in the cutthroat NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has been a learning experience for Kerry Earnhardt, and the driver of the No. 13 Pork Chevrolet Silverado accelerated his education on Monday with assistance from teammate Matt Crafton.

Under the watchful eye of short track master Crafton, Earnhardt tested at Jennerstown Speedway in Pennsylvania on Monday in preparation for Friday’s Power Stroke Diesel 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, home of the demanding .686 mile oval.  Earnhardt, a relative short-track rookie who has struggled at such tracks this season, valued the on-track class time.

“I feel like I went to Matt Crafton Driving School 101”, Earnhardt chuckled.  “I’ve kind of struggled on short tracks this year, and Matt took time out of his schedule to come up to Pennsylvania to work with me.  He helped me a whole lot as far as figuring out some of the things I was doing wrong, and how to correct them.  I always had a problem being tight in the center, and Matt helped me learn how to drive the truck better going into the corner.  It’s made me more excited about racing at short tracks, and I’m looking forward to applying what I learned from him.”

The testing tutelage was only part of what Earnhardt describes as a concerted effort to improve communication between the teammates.  “We really haven’t communicated very much until now, and that’s mostly been my fault,” Earnhardt said.  “I’m not much of a talker, and I’m working on opening up more and talking to Matt and asking him questions.  He’s had a lot of success at short tracks over the years, and there are many things I can learn from him.”

Earnhardt is 24^th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings.  Friday’s race will be his first in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and second overall at ORP.  He started a Busch Series race there in ’01.