AP Photo/Joel Page

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in a grumpy mood Friday, but not because the elephant races were called off.

LOUDON, N.H. -- The much-anticipated elephant race is off.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway GM Jerry Gappens hoped to make a big splash in his first NASCAR weekend at the 1-mile oval with a lumbering elephant race as part of the prerace festivities Sunday.

But the circus act will have to wait for another day.

"We didn't know until late [Thursday] that pachyderm permits were required to move an elephant across state lines," Gappens said. "We're disappointed. We don't have time to comply properly with federal procedures."

Fans at NHMS Sunday still will see a concert by Kansas and a motorcycle stunt show.

Junior to media: Leave me alone

Dale Earnhardt Jr. got a little testy Friday when asked again about future plans to move his Nationwide Series team up to Sprint Cup.

"I shouldn't have said anything about that, man," Earnhardt said. "I should have kept it to myself, because I don't want to talk about it in the press. That's personal to me, what I do with my business, and I'm damn sure ain't going to air my timeline out over the media.

"If we feel like we want to do that, we'll do it. We'll let you know and that will be that. I don't want to answer questions about it every week. My [Nationwide] team is doing great. I'd be foolish to make too many changes right now."

Kenseth surging back into Chase picture

Matt Kenseth has moved up 10 spots in the standings in the past six races. The No. 17 Ford ranks 12th, the first time Kenseth has been inside the Chase cutoff since the fifth race of the year.

Kenseth said he has worked hard on improving his chemistry with new crew chief Chip Bolen.

"I think Chip and I have been able to communicate a little bit better," Kenseth said. "And hopefully, I've been able to give them a little better information to get our cars running better.

"Honestly, it's been a little bit of everything. It's been improving in every area. We've been able to try and fine-tune the whole program. I think everybody is working better together right now as a unit. We're getting better on pit road. And the car is getting prepared better."