DARLINGTON, S.C. -- America's Team won't go racing with Andy Petree after all.

After months of talks -- Petree says he actually signed an agreement -- the car owner says the Dallas Cowboys won't be part of his team for 2003.

"We worked on this thing a long time,'' Petree said Friday at Darlington Raceway. "Don't know exactly why we're not doing it. But we're not going forward.''

Petree says he first talked with the Cowboys in February. Discussions continued ever since.

"Negotiations didn't really break down,'' Petree said. "We did agree on everything, got all the agreements done, signed the agreements. I guess they decided they didn't want to do it.''

Plans called for Petree to run a silver-and-blue car with large Cowboys stars on it.

Petree wasn't angry with the Cowboys. In fact, he enjoyed dealing with Dallas owner Jerry Jones.

"I actually kind of liked him,'' Petree said. "He's a very dynamic person, and I like people like that.''

Petree has other questions besides his sponsor heading into 2003. Whether Bobby Hamilton will continue to drive the car is uncertain.

"Right now, I don't know where he's at with his deals,'' Petree said.

The biggest frustration, Petree says, was the time lost in seeking a sponsor while he courted the Cowboys.

"This is a struggle from week to week to keep things going in the right direction,'' he said.

Rainy Darlington
The best news for a parched South Carolina is a visit from NASCAR.

Storms rained out Winston Cup and Busch qualifying Friday. And it's far from the first time racers have been put out by the weather at Darlington Raceway.

Jeff Burton swept the two races here in 1999, both shortened by rain.

Bobby Labonte took the Southern 500 in 2000 after several weather stoppages. He accepted the trophy in the garage area as heavy rain pelted the metal roof.

Qualifying for the Dodge Dealers 400 here the next year was fogged out.

The oddest part of the track's recent weather pattern was that the state is in the midst of a five-year drought.

"Every race we have had there the past few years has been affected by rain in some form or fashion,'' said Kyle Petty, who'll start 24th in Sunday's Southern 500.

Greg Biffle, who gained the Busch pole as points leader, says he was headed to Wal-Mart to track down a PlayStation game system.

"It's awful boring in the trailer,'' he said. "I've watched about every channel there is.''

Jason Keller, second in the Busch line, put it bluntly to reporters: "You're all going at it in front of computers. What are you writing today?'' he said. "Race car drivers on a rain day don't do nothing.''

Pit stops
Carl Long was the only driver not to make the Southern 500 field after the qualifying rainout. ... The problems of ownership: Jeff Gordon says he had to speak with his driver, rookie Jimmie Johnson, about controlling emotions. Johnson flipped Robby Gordon a gesture after tangling with Robby Gordon. ... Mark Martin, 95 points behind in the points race, likes his chances of catching leader Sterling Marlin the last 12 races. About half the remaining schedule "is my strong suit, 25 percent of it is my weakness and 25 percent is in between.'' ... Terry Labonte will start 19th in his 25th Southern 500. His only victory here came in 1980. ... Busch driver Scott Riggs says he hit the wall about six times in the spring race here. "They need to move the wall over about two more feet for me, and I would have been just fine,'' said Riggs, who's starting sixth for Saturday's Gatorade 200.