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mrsmopar12 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-22-2006, 02:31 AM

Behind The Hauler Chat With Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
GM Racing Communications, Press Release

ARE YOU CONCERNED WITH YOUR DROP IN THE POINTS? HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR STRATEGY?

"Ain't much I can do about that. Blown motor. It's just real disappointing. We'll just have to hope and pray that we don't have another blown motor in between now and the Chase. And as a team, I think we'll be all right. We tightened it up a little bit with a blown motor and lost a lot of points. Looking at the competition, I think we're good enough to be in the top 10."

WITH AN INCIDENT LIKE THAT, IS IT JUST A LITTLE BIT OUT OF YOUR HANDS? COULD IT JUST BE FATE?

"No, not really. I don't really get too worried about it. Things like that are going to happen in your career. I try not to really worry about it too much. I've got a whole lot of things I've got to do during the week and worrying about that motor; I've got to leave that at the race track and try to concentrate on this race here and the next one and so on. We've got to work with what you've got - work with the hand you've been dealt."

ARE YOU PLEASED WITH WHERE YOU ARE AT THIS POINT THIS YEAR COMPARED TO WHERE YOU WERE LAST YEAR?

"Yeah, absolutely. I think we're way more excited about what's been going on this year as a company, aside from that engine failure. That motor was a really old motor and I really don't even know why we would be running that motor. Aside from that we've made some gains in the engine department here and that's something I think we'll see a lot more of that DEI needs. As a company man, they need some more power. Once they get that, Martin (Truex Jr) and I will be able to run a lot better. We're gaining there and we've had some good finishes. And my cars are driving good. That motor was really frustrating. It's wore on the team pretty hard. It was very disappointing. It's brought a bunch of the guys' morale and excitement about what we've been able to accomplish so far, down. It really hit us pretty hard so hopefully we'll be able to regroup and bounce back and try to finish out the rest of this deal pretty strong."

HOW WAS PRACTICE?

"It started off real bad. This is the Chicago car. We ran it at Charlotte. We've got top five's with it pretty much every time we've run it. We didn't run it here last time, so I'm really excited that it's here and that we're using it. It's a good car. My confidence is obviously pretty high with the equipment there, so that's good. We started out struggling but we made some big gains. I think I'll be able to qualify okay. Top 10 would be fine with me. Pit road is long and it has plenty of room, so that's no real big issue. Lap times weren't too bad so I think we'll be okay."

TONY STEWART IS ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN RIGHT NOW. HOW MUCH OF AN ADVANTAGE IS THAT FOR YOU AND THE REST OF THE GUYS IF IT STAYED THAT WAY?

"Tony is a super competitor. But whoever is in that top 10 is going to be hard to beat, no matter how it stacks up and who is in it. It's a tough championship to win. You've got to look at everybody as a legitimate contender."

SO IT WOULDN'T BE NICE TO HAVE A PARTICULAR GUY OUT AND NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HIM?

"It would be nice to not have to worry about a few of them. There's some guys who are doing it this year. Jimmie (Johnson) is always strong. You've got to really race Jimmie really hard. Tony (Stewart) knows the equation. He knows what it takes. He knows exactly what he needs to do week in and week out. He's really methodical on how he wins his championships. There are a lot of guys who are going to be tough to beat."

THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF AGGRESSIVE RACING RECENTLY. IS THAT A BY-PRODUCT OF THE CHASE HEATING UP, OR IS THAT JUST RACING?

"It's how the series has gotten more exciting and competitive. The season does grind down. I find myself more aggressive and more on the tach more and sort of not giving as much room and not quite as kind as maybe I would be the first 10 races of the season. So it does get very aggressive out there."

HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE PRESSURE OF THE CHASE AND KEEP IT FROM GETTING TO YOU?

"I just don't think about it. There are a lot worse things you could be going through than trying to make the Chase for a championship. Just imagine somebody dealing with something worse than you are and to be thankful for the opportunity to even have the chance to race for the Chase. It's an honor to be part of this sport and part of this series. I'm grateful to have the chance, so I don't feel a lot of pressure. I know my fans and a lot of people want to see me succeed and we try really hard, but I see people who really make themselves miserable and it's a shame."

COMPARE HOW YOU FEEL AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON COMPARED TO A YEAR AGO?

"Really good. They give me a good race car and it I feel like if you give me a good opportunity that I'll make you proud that you put me in that position. I'm still trying to figure out why, with the team I had last year, we weren't in that position that we are in today. But at the same time, I'm thankful that I'm running as well as I am this year and I'm with the people I'm with. The guys who work on this car are a great group of guys and they all are genuine with their concerns with me and my well-being out on the race track. That's really important to me. You don't always have that with each and every individual. So, it's definitely a different position that I'm in now than I was in last year. But I was learning a lot more last year about myself and about those types of deals. I'd like to still be learning as much, personally. I'm learning a lot on the race track all the time, but I'd still like to be learning as much as I did last year about myself as an individual and how I pair up with my team.

WHAT HURDLES HAVE YOU HAD TO OVERCOME?

"There haven't been any big real hurdles. Everything is better for the most part. The relationship with the crew is on a better, more personal level. I worked with those guys last year and I was really proud to be with them, but it was all new. I felt like the new kid in school, you know, and I didn't know those guys really well and it was difficult for me to get to know them. But it's good to be back on sort of a personal with each individual that works on the car and that's around the car all weekend. You're a family, you know. So it's important that you know them closely. It's just (about) making sure everybody's feelings are cool after everything that went down and wanting everybody to know how much I appreciate them from last year like Steve (Hmiel). I try to make sure he knows that and that everybody knows how thankful I am to have an opportunity to run well again after last year."

ARE YOU SURPRISED WITH HOW CLOSE THE POINTS ARE RIGHT NOW?

"Yeah, I would rather have not had the problem we had last week. I think it's good for the sport to have those question marks coming in during those last few races leading up to the Chase. It's definitely why we have the Chase - to bring a little more drama into the sport. This is where you would usually have a little bit of a lull in the points battle and not a whole lot going on to write about or talk about. This definitely makes it a lot more interesting. I'm concerned and interested to see what their ideas are about changing it next year and I'm sure it'll be exciting."

WHAT PLANS DO YOU HAVE FOR THE WEEK OFF?

"I've got a couple of appearances to make and I think they've got that premier in L.A. and I'm going out for that. That'll be neat. But on the off-weekend, I've got about 15 of my buddies coming into town and we're going to hang out."

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MARTIN TRUEX JR.?

"When you work with Martin like I do, you don't see the development because he's already the package; do you know what I mean? He sort of came into the sport with all the specifics. He don't really come to you with issues or problems. It's almost like you've got a teammate who has been in the sport for five or six years. That's impressive. I mean that. He doesn't show a learning curve. He doesn't really run across any obstacles. He seems to handle everything each week. Whatever the car is doing, he seems to be able to handle it.
"I can't really take credit for bringing him on board. Richie Gilmore deserves 95% of the credit. I just said that it would be okay because it was my Busch car. I watched him a couple of races when he ran his Busch North car before he drove for us. There wasn't a whole lot to see. But after he got in our car and the way he drove and how he attacked the situation..nothing about the situation really intimidated him or overwhelmed him.not the Dale Earnhardt part and obviously not the history of our cars being successful in the Busch Series - none of that intimidated him. That was really cool."

This Press Release and any images that are used,
are used with permission. Do not duplicate or
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DRIV3R # 88 · #2 (**permalink**) 07-23-2006, 01:01 AM

thats a real cool interview

thank you mrsmopar!!!!!

u always find a Jr. tidbit to brighten up my day

moenemdown15 · #3 (**permalink**) 07-23-2006, 11:27 AM

Where do you find all these interviews? I`d like to know.

mrsmopar12 · #4 (**permalink**) 07-23-2006, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRIV3R # 8

thats a real cool interview

thank you mrsmopar!!!!!

u always find a Jr. tidbit to brighten up my day

You are most truly welcome DRIV3R # 8! When I see these interviews with Jr, I really do think of you!

You got to MrsMopars heart with the pictures of my beloved 12 car!

So it is the least I can do for you. I am so glad that they brighten your day!!! That is my goal, and I figure the other Jr fans can enjoy them too! If you run across any more snappy pics of my beloved 12, please post them for me under the thread you started~for mrsmopar~

mrsmopar12 · #5 (**permalink**) 07-23-2006, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moenemdown11

Where do you find all these interviews? I`d like to know.

MUWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

I do have my sources!!!

Actually I spend some time each day surfin' the race sites (guess i'm a Nascar-nerd!

) and get them from a number of places.

I believe that this one came from catchfence.

mrsmopar12 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-25-2006, 09:15 PM

I really do hope and pray that Jr has a better finish next time. Finishing 43rd two weeks in a row has to feel bad! Not to mention what it has done to his chase points!

Second Consecutive Rough Weekend for Bud Team
Hamlin Sweeps Pocono Again

Fingerprint, Inc., For Budweiser Racing, Press Release

Denny Hamlin took everything possible this year at Pocono Raceway, winning two Bud Pole Awards, then leading the most laps to win both races at the 2.5-mile triangle track. Hamlin's victory Sunday afternoon launches him to eighth place in the Nextel Cup point standings. Kurt Busch was second while Jeff Gordon finished in third-place. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team saw what started as a promising run go sour on lap 88 when they were hit from behind and crashed into the wall before turn two. The team made repairs and sent Dale Jr. back on track, but an overheating engine eventually expired after completing 116 laps. It is only the sixth 43rd-place finish of the team's Cup career, and the second in two weeks. After starting the race last week in 3rd place in points, the two last-place finishes have dropped Dale Jr. four spots each week, and is now 11th in Nextel Cup point standings with six races remaining before the Chase for the Cup begins. Dale Jr. is 15 points behind Tony Stewart, who is 10th in points.

Key Moments:

Dale Jr., starting 26th, methodically moved forward through the field, taking the first 62 laps to move into the top-10. The Bud car seemed to be improving until a lap 67 yellow flag period. After the pit stop on lap 68, Dale Jr. restarted mid-pack and began struggling with the handling of the car, not able to turn coming off each of Pocono's three unique turns. The struggles became much worse on lap 88, when he was hit from behind coming off of the first corner, sending him into the wall. The Bud team was able to repair much of the damage - but returned to the track 46 laps behind the leaders. The engine began overheating after returning to the track, and following a pit stop to replace a flat right front tire, the engine finally decided enough was enough and expired after completing 116 laps.

Dale Jr. Quotes:

“I don't know what happened on the crash. I got hit on the straightway, but the car was really pushing - it just wouldn't turn - so I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed in the way the car performed and how we were running at the time. We were getting better and better and then all of a sudden, it got worse and worse. It's a shame. We need to focus on these next six races and do what we can to get into the Chase. We're a good team, and if we do what we're capable of doing, we'll be alright.”

Best Radio Chatter:

Dale Jr. likes to know what's happening with other cars and drivers around the track. Here was an exchange during a yellow flag period that began on lap 67.

Steve Hmiel: (spotter): “Junior, the 99 (C. Edwards) is being penalized. They're gonna hold him a lap. He was in that deal earlier with the 20 (T. Stewart), so he spun him out on pit lane.”
Dale Jr: “WOW!”
Hmiel: “Yeah, you miss a lot being behind the wheel.”
Dale Jr: “Hah. Thanks for tellin' me. That's pretty cool…. Ya heard that the 99 went up to the 20 after the race a few races back. Said he was gonna kick his ass.”
Hmiel: “If physical conditioning means anything, I'd have to go with Carl.”
Dale Jr: “Hah. Yeah if it gets to the seventh or eighth round. But it'd be interesting for the first few rounds.”

After hitting the wall on lap 88.

Dale Jr.: “We got crashed.”
Tony Eury Jr. (crew chief): “Crank it up. Can you get it back here to the pits?”
Dale Jr.: “I got hit way down the straightaway. I got crashed. It won't crank.”
Tony Jr: “I was watching it on your in-car (camera). It looked like you had the death wobble, so you did a good job there to keep it off the wall as long as you did.”

Today's Stats

Started: 26th
Finished: 43rd place
Points: 11th place (lost four positions)
Best Pit Stop: Stop 2 / lap 33 / 13.29 seconds / 4 tires and fuel
Budweiser. This is Beer.

This Press Release and any images that are used,
are used with permission. Do not duplicate or
redistribute in any form without permission or credit

DRIV3R # 88 · #7 (**permalink**) 07-25-2006, 10:38 PM

aww...thank u
i've actually read that radio chatter on "The Dale Earnhardt Jr. Pit Stop" website

thought that counts though

and yea, 43rd is so horrible, i mean, as if enough wasnt enough already....he's finished behind Michael Waltrip for 2 consecutive weeks

mrsmopar12 · #8 (**permalink**) 08-03-2006, 09:07 PM

Thursday, August 3, 2006

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE

Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent his final off weekend at Will Ferrell's movie premiere, judged a Miss Hooters pageant in Las Vegas, then returned home to be the host for a get-together for his online racing league.

Now it's back to work, with little time to play over the next six weeks.

Earnhardt, a lock to make the Chase for the Championship three races ago, is now in danger of missing the playoffs for the second straight season. Consecutive last-place finishes have dropped Earnhardt from third to 11th in the standings, where the competition is extremely tight to make the race for the Nextel Cup title.

Earnhardt needs six mistake-free races to get in and is battling Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch for the final positions.

It won't be easy, but Earnhardt isn't stressing out about the task at hand.

"There are a lot worse things you could be going through than trying to make the Chase for the Championship," he said. "It's an honor to be part of this sport and part of this series. I'm grateful to have the chance, so I don't feel a lot of pressure.

"I know my fans and a lot of people want to see me succeed, and we try really hard, but I see people who really make themselves miserable and it's a shame."

His attitude is a tremendous change in Earnhardt, who just one month ago was confident about his championship hopes. His Dale Earnhardt Inc. team had fully bounced back from the 2005 season - when he finished a career-worst 19th in the standings - and had proved itself to be a contender for his first Nextel Cup title.

Then he blew the engine on his No. 8 Chevrolet at New Hampshire and wrecked a week later at Pocono Raceway. That produced consecutive 43rd-place finishes for the first time in his career and cost him seven spots in the standings.

"We've had two terrible results, but you can't dwell on it," he said. "What can you do? You have to put it behind you and look forward. We can't afford any more mistakes or finishes like that, but I have a team that's capable of coming back."

But it won't be easy for Earnhardt, who has his work cut out for him beginning with Sunday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His best finish at the Brickyard was a 10th in 2001, and he has never mastered the track in his six previous races. He was 43rd there last year after an early crash.

From there it's on to the road course at Watkins Glen, where Earnhardt's average finish is a mediocre 17.5. That's followed by a trip to Michigan Speedway, where he has also struggled.

But Earnhardt is buoyed by a successful test at Indy in early July and a career-best third-place finish at Michigan in June. Both are proof to him how far his DEI team has come since last season and give him confidence that the road ahead is not all uphill.

"We had the quickest car on our test day at Indy, so we feel pretty confident we're going in there with a setup that can run up front," he said. "We've been pretty strong at some tracks this year where we haven't shown much in the past. I have a feeling we're going to do the same at Indy."

Earnhardt proved last year that missing the Chase isn't the end of the world for NASCAR.

Although he's one of the sport's biggest stars, the Chase went on with Earnhardt and Gordon watching from the sidelines as 10 other drivers raced for the title. NASCAR wasn't thrilled, but that's the way sport goes sometimes - the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees don't always win it all.

The one difference, though, is that last year Earnhardt didn't deserve to make the Chase. This year he probably does.

He has been consistent all season and has one win and eight top-10 finishes. His team showed no hangover from 2005, and he and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. have weathered the first 20 races without incident. That's a far cry from two seasons ago, when the cousins bickered so much they could no longer work together.

But their time apart made them realize what a good team they were and both had matured to finally work their way into championship contention.

Now two weeks of bad luck is threatening to sabotage all their hard work. Still, Earnhardt isn't giving up.

"They give me a good race car, and I feel like if you give me a good opportunity that I'll make you proud that you put me in that position," he said

DRIV3R # 88 · #9 (**permalink**) 08-03-2006, 10:02 PM

yay!!!
my buddy mrsmopar coming through with more Jr news for me

i sure hope he has a good solid 6 races and gets into the chase
it'd be a shame if his good season was ruined by a blown motor and Dave Blaney's ignorance.

mrsmopar12 · #10 (**permalink**) 08-14-2006, 11:20 PM

Behind The Hauler Chat With Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
GM Racing Communications, Press Release

HOW IS YOUR TEAM?

"We're fast. The car's fast. I'm fast. I just got to make sure I don't screw it up. It's real easy to wheel hop and spin out and get off the corner too hard and get in the sand trap. I've seen other guys do it. I see guys do it all the time. You just don't want to be one of them guys. You don't want to be making those mistakes but it's hard. You can only drive harder and harder and try to get quicker and run faster laps."

ON THE DRIVERS IN THE TOP 10 NOT BEING THAT GOOD AT WATKINS GLEN:

"Great."

ON THE FIRING OF HIS BUSCH CAR DRIVER, MARK MCFARLAND:

"Mark has got a lot of talent as a driver. This is a case of where his personality and his mentality didn't match well with what we were looking for. I talked to him several times about what he could do different, how he could be more emotional, project his personality better to the media. Those are things obviously that you just don't learn overnight. I tried my best to prolong that decision and we had pushed it back probably four or five times to give Mark time and to help Mark because Mark's got what it takes under the right circumstances. He obviously has a lot of drive and determination but you've got to show that, you know. You've got to show that emotion to see it, (to) believe it. I believe it but not everybody else is that close to him so do they believe it? Do they see it? No.
So everybody has got this big question mark over Mark and he's got to really sit down and ask himself what he's got to do to prove how driven he is because that's the question on Mark McFarland. That's the unknown. I hope that he understands that we tried our best with him. I gave him the opportunity to continue to work in the shop and go to the race track to sort of give the perception that he's still interested and wants an opportunity if anybody is willing to give that to him. With that said, this weekend Martin (Truex Jr.) is going to drive the car for us which I appreciate DEI and everybody being on board with that and allowing that to happen. That's not just a phone call to Martin.

You've got to ask Teresa (Earnhardt) and Richie (Gilmore) and everybody else if they can do it so that was cool of them. We're talking to Robby Gordon about driving it at Michigan and California because Shane Huffman is not cleared to race those two tracks and Shane will drive the remainder of the races. We were planning on doing a two-car team next year with Mark and Shane. Obviously now that plan has got to be revamped and thought about and worked out. I talked to Budweiser and they've given me the opportunity to run seven races if I want to next year. I'd like to run every one of those in my own car so maybe that's the second team we're talking about. Maybe Mark can run it four or five races, run about 12 races with a second team and continue to see if Shane can be productive in the 88 car with Navy.

So that's really where it stands whether you want to hear it or not. Shane won't be racing the Hooters Cup races. He'll run a few but he won't race that five race championship deal at the end of the season so we're going to look for somebody that can fill in for us like Johnny Rumley or somebody like that. I've got a boy that races late models that I'm going to move up into the car probably next year if continues to be productive as well."

WHAT DOES THE TEAM DO WITH THE DRIVER TO TURN THINGS AROUND WHEN THEY'RE AT A LOW LEVEL (IN REFERENCE TO HIS CUP TEAM)?

"We're at the level now where I know what I can do, they know what they can do and we both see that in each other. When things don't work out you really don't get too upset about it and go 'What have we got to change? What have we got to do?' It's just circumstantial. Things happen. Maybe you didn't put a right spring and shock combination under the car to get it to handle or maybe the driver hit the fence and screwed it up or whatever. You just go to the next week and hope that there was a lesson learned and you don't repeat those mistakes."

DO THE ROAD COURSE REGULARS WORRY YOU AT ALL?

"No, not at all. I like most of these guys. Even though (Scott) Pruett took me out at Infineon, I still think he's a pretty good guy. Boris (Said) is one of my best friends, not just in racing but in general in life itself; he's one of my best friends. Ron (Fellows) is almost like an uncle to me in a way. He's taken care of me a lot of times and done a lot of things for me. He shows he genuinely cares about me personally and he's a great person, almost like family. It's fun when these guys come around and race, and they enjoy driving stock cars and I enjoy racing with them and watching them drive. They really show us what these things are capable of when they get out there."

IS THERE A FINE LINE BETWEEN BEING CAUTIOUS AND TOO AGGRESSIVE WITH ALL THAT'S ON THE LINE BEFORE THE CHASE?

"Absolutely, especially here. With so many corners and so many opportunities to screw up you definitely gotta be. you're more erring on the side of caution than recklessness - not recklessness but aggressiveness."

IS THERE MORE PRESSURE ON YOUR BUSCH TEMA BECAUSE OF THE NAME ON THE CAR AND WHAT KIND OF A RACER DO YOU WANT IN IT?

"Mark was a good driver but if he run 10th or 43rd, his mentality and attitude didn't change. I don't know whether it's because this was a high-pressure situation for him. Maybe it's asking too much of a driver to get in there and go 'hey, god dang, I don't like this! We gotta change this, I want to run better than this.' That's what I want. I want somebody to put there foot down and go 'I screwed up. I'm mad,' or "we can't get the car to handle.' I need to see that - that shows how much they want it. True champions are never satisfied. People that are successful don't get satisfied or they level off. You need to have a guy that continues to strive. Mark's been racing for a long, long time and he knows the ins and outs of this sport. I just expected him to have more of a killer instinct or killer mentality to him. He's had a few opportunities in the sport already driving for Ray Evernham and driving Trucks and stuff, you know. You gotta seize these opportunities. I feel like he's well capable behind the wheel but that doesn't always cut it. Shane, he's red-faced and out of control and fast and furious about his opportunities. He's really seizing this moment; very thankful and knows he's gotta get the job done and we're gonna put him in there and see if he's telling the truth. He knows the deal know, everyone knows the deal."

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CUP RACE IN CANADA NEXT YEAR?

"I'm all for it. I like Canada. I'm a big Matthew Good fan (one of Canada's most successful alternative rock bands in the 1990's). You ever hear of Matthew Good?"

HOW ABOUT JACQUES VILLENEUVE?

"I don't know. Has he got a ride yet?"

HE'S THINKING ABOUT IT.

"Well, he's gotta do more than think. Somebody's gotta hire him first. You can't say 'hey, I want to drive Cup cars' and snap your fingers and there you are. You got to come over here and see who wants to hire you. Less he's going to build his own cars. He could do that."

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