Drivers look forward to Easter break

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- There is a formula used to determine when Easter Sunday falls each year, but many of us aren't smart enough to figure it out without looking at the calendar.

Whatever the algorithm may be, Easter weekend couldn't come soon enough for the NASCAR Sprint Cup competitors.

Factoring in preseason testing at Daytona in January, followed by preseason tests at California and Las Vegas before heading to Daytona Beach for SpeedWeeks, there's really no offseason in this sport.

And after the biggest race of the season -- the Daytona 500 -- the beastly nature of the 2008 Sprint Cup schedule sent the teams to California and Las Vegas in consecutive weeks before returning to the Southeast for races at Atlanta and Bristol .

During the weeks between, teams have run private tests at tracks not on the Sprint Cup schedule, in constant search for an edge on the competition.

So it's easy to understand how this weekend will give the drivers and crews a much-needed chance to rejuvenate before heading to Martinsville in two weeks followed by an April 6 trip to Texas and an April 12 night race in Phoenix .

But this weekend won't be devoid of racing as the Nationwide Series heads to Nashville for a Saturday race where some of the Cup drivers -- such as Carl Edwards -- can still get their racing fix.

One driver who won't be there is Kevin Harvick , who will turn the reins of his Nationwide team to his crew while enjoying a weekend off.

"They will keep us informed as to what going on," Harvick said. "We will be at home, relaxing and just kind of taking it all in.

"This year on the Cup side, we have had so much work to do as far as testing and other things, this off week is timed at a really good point. Before, the third week of the season, you weren't really ready for an off week. With all the stuff we have had going on this year, it comes at a perfect time."