There’s nothing’s new about NASCAR’s calendar rolling over to another season. Drivers switch seats, cars change numbers and colors and crew chiefs find new places to park their tool boxes. It’s part of the game.
But this year is different.
When preseason testing opens Monday at Daytona International Speedway, with teams beginning preparations for the historic 50th Daytona 500, things have shifted to an almost Teutonic degree.
The No. 8 Chevrolet team will be among nearly two dozen teams taking part in three days of tests at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. But, for the first time since that team was formed at Dale Earnhardt Inc., Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not a part of it.
Veteran Mark Martin and rookie Aric Almirola, instead, now share that ride.
Earnhardt Jr., meanwhile, will wait for the second session of Cup testing before beginning his new career chapter in No. 88 Chevrolets owned and prepared by Hendrick Motorsports.
His new teammates, two-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time champion Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears, test this week, clearing the stage for Earnhardt Jr.’s unofficial 2008 Hendrick debut a week from Monday.
The family schism behind the most talked-about driver change in a racing generation is not new, either. A year ago, as 2007 testing began, Earnhardt Jr. spoke about his stepmother, DEI chief executive officer Teresa Earnhardt.
“Mine and Teresa’s relationship has always been very black and white, very strict and in your face,” he said.
“It ain’t a bed of roses. ...The relationship that we have today is the same relationship we had when I was 6 years old when I moved into that house with Dad and her. ...The way I felt about her then is the way I feel about her now.”
Earnhardt Jr. and his stepmother have not spoken, he said recently, since a contract negotiating session early last year.
“I don’t think it’s a closed chapter,” Earnhardt Jr. said of his relationship with Teresa. “I don’t want to sound like I’m writing her off for the rest of my life.”
But Earnhardt Jr. said his focus now is has turned to other matters.
“I want to do right by myself,” he said. “What’s important right now is what’s important, and that’s what I’m going to focus on.”
And what’s important, he said, is winning.
Earnhardt Jr. has 17 career victories, but had none in 2007. While only Johnson, Gordon and Tony Stewart have won more races since Earnhardt Jr. made the first of his 291 career starts, Earnhardt Jr. has not won in 62 races.
He has won only twice in 110 starts since his sixth win of 2004 at Phoenix.
“The only memory I have is how badly we ran last year,” Earnhardt Jr. said of his final season at DEI, which saw him officially fall out early nine times – six with engine failures. “I want to get out there and get top-five finishes and feel like that’s where I belong. ...
"I’m ticked off we didn’t win a race. ...That bothers me every day.”
It also spurred his move to what has emerged as NASCAR’s most dominant team. Johnson’s second straight Cup title and 10-win season punctuated a year in which the Rick Hendrick-owned four-car operation amassed 18 wins in 36 Cup races. Hendrick also put three drivers – Johnson, Gordon and the since-departed Kyle Busch – in the top five in the final 2007 standings.
Will anything short of winning the 2008 championship with his new No. 88 team satisfy Earnhardt Jr.’s legion of fans and silence the driver’s critics?
“When Dale Jr. is going to satisfy everybody is a great question,” said Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, his sister and business manager, who negotiated the new deal.
“Following in the footsteps of Dad (seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt), is it winning seven championships or winning a certain number of races? What are we trying to compare him to? I think the expectations will never be able to be managed in terms of what people expect.”
But Elledge said she also believes the move from DEI to Hendrick provides a much better chance to accomplish their goals on the track and in the racing marketplace as well.
“I can’t imagine ...that they can’t get into Hendrick equipment and do 50 percent better than they did,” she said of Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Tony Eury Jr., who made the move along with the driver.
“ ...Knowing what they did with what they were working with and what they’re going to work with now and how it’s all falling together, I expect several wins – three or four at least.
“I wouldn’t be crazy enough to say he’s going to win the championship. But he might.”
What Elledge said she wants most out of 2008 for her brother and his fans is to bring back the kind of excitement that comes with doing what made the Earnhardt name famous in racing.
“There’s this huge legion of people out there who pull for Dale Jr., and what I think they have lost sight of a little bit is the excitement of him winning and being up front,” she said.
“That and not having to worry in the last five laps if something is going to happen every single race. It might still happen. But it isn’t going to be every week when a part is breaking or an engine is blowing or this or that is happening.
“At the track, if he falls out half the people go home, or his fans turn off the television. All of those people will have a reason to sit there and watch, and when that rush comes back to them the whole rush of everything will come back.”
Rating The Contemporaries
Eight drivers who had their Cup rookie seasons between 1999 and 2003 have won at least 10 races. Here's how that group's career numbers stand up to each other:
Driver Rookie season Starts Wins Top 10s Avg. finish Titles
Jimmie Johnson 2002 219 33 134 11.9 2
Tony Stewart 1999 320 32 191 12.5 2
Kurt Busch 2001 256 17 105 17.4 1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2000 291 17 121 16.4 0
Matt Kenseth 2000 292 16 142 14.8 1
Greg Biffle 2003 186 12 61 18.0 0
Ryan Newman 2002 224 12 98 16.9 0
Kevin Harvick 2001 250 11 101 15.7 0
More valuable?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 17 Cup victories, and since he moved into the series in 1999 Dale Earnhardt Inc. had 24. Here's how that compares with drivers who've won 16 or more races since 1999:
Wins
Driver Ind. Team Pct.
Earnhardt Jr. 17 24 70.8
T.Stewart 32 49 65.3
J.Johnson 33 64 51.6
J. Gordon 39 76 51.3
Kurt Busch 17 50 34.0
M. Kenseth 16 60 26.7
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FRESH START
Tony Eury Jr. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. Keyed For Hendrick Motorsports Debut
CSD Staff,January 16
(Daytona Beach Fla.)- Tony Eury Jr. said he could hardly wait for this week to get here.
Following his early exit from Dale Earnhardt Inc. last season, Eury says he was especially eager to get started on his new venture as crew chief for the No. 88 Mountain Dew AMP/National Guard Chevrolet with Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports.
“It’s good to be back at the track and working on these cars and being around these guys,” said Eury during Tuesday’s lunch break at Daytona International Speedway. “The guys are getting pumped up. That’s what this week is about – getting the atmosphere of your team and getting them in the right frame of mind.”
For Eury that means putting those long hours since the close of the 2007 season to good use.
“It’s been full bore to make sure everything’s in line,” Eury said. “We’ve got one shot at this 500 and you’ve got to start the first weekend of December to make that happen.”
This year’s Daytona 500 takes on added significance. Not only is it the 50th running of “The Great American Race,” it’s the first for Earnhardt and Eury with a new race team. Earnhardt also parted ways with DEI following the 2007 season and begins his first season with Hendrick Motorsports.
NASCAR Preseason Thunder, which begins the lead-up to the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17, is the first superspeedway test for Earnhardt with his new team.
“It’s been pretty nice to be able to concentrate on the things that are important right now – testing and working and getting to know the guys,” Earnhardt said Tuesday during a visit to the infield media center at Daytona International Speedway. “I’ve got a really good owner that makes me feel comfortable and so that eases a lot of other pressures – talking to him and listening to his thoughts on what we’re doing. It takes away some pressure from that side of it.
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Earnhardt feeling the pressure of new Hendrick ride
Earnhardt feeling the pressure of new Hendrick ride
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer
January 15, 2008
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is already feeling the pressure, and the season hasn't even started.
As his winless streak nears two years, NASCAR's most popular driver knows he must produce in his new Hendrick Motorsports ride.
Anxious about the new job and the pressure of driving for the elite team, Earnhardt showed up a week early at preseason testing just to talk to his new teammates.
Back this week to actually drive his No. 88 Chevrolet, Earnhardt went right to work. His single lap speed of 185.820 mph on Tuesday morning easily bettered the mark of 184.782 mph set by teammate Jimmie Johnson in last week's session, and Earnhardt was 10th fastest when drafting began in the afternoon.
``I just like running up front every week,'' he said. ``I like going to the racetrack and being ... toward the top of the chart, at least on the left side of the page in practices.''
It's a good start to a fresh season, one without the drama that engulfed him last year when he publicly sparred with stepmother Teresa. His unhappiness was painfully evident this time last year, when he used his media availability session at testing to reveal their relationship ``ain't no bed of roses'' and said contract negotiations with Dale Earnhardt Inc. were tense.
Four months later, he decided to leave his late father's company and embarked on the most frenzied free agency in NASCAR history. Courted by just about every car owner in the industry, he settled on Hendrick in June and anxiously awaited switching teams.
Now that he's officially a Hendrick driver, he knows the expectations are immense. Hendrick drivers won 18 of 36 races last season, and Johnson is the two-time defending Cup champion.
Earnhardt, meanwhile, hasn't won since May 6, 2006, in Richmond, a span of 62 races.
``There's a little bit less pressure in certain areas and more pressure in other areas,'' he said. ``I didn't have to worry about job security when I was over at my other job, but I've got to worry about that now. I think if I do what I've been doing, I should be fine. But with being the son of the guy who built the place, you can get away with a few more things than most guys could.
``But I've got a really good owner that makes me feel comfortable, and so that eases a lot of other pressures, talking to him and hearing from him and listening to his thoughts on what we're doing. It takes away some pressure from that side of it.''
The expectations clearly exist, though, and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. did his part to pile on by predicting Monday the team will win four races this season. He didn't back off the number when pressed Tuesday, either.
``You try to find a realistic number because too many people try to get you to make predictions and want you to say `We're gonna win 11, or we can for sure get 10,' `` Eury said. ``But four should be simple. I mean, I look at how competitive we ran last year -- and things happened -- and if we close out them deals this year, we should be able to win four races easily.
``I'm not guaranteeing anything. But I'm going to be disappointed if we don't win at least four. I know what kind of equipment we've got around here, know what kind of people we've got around us. I don't see any reason why that shouldn't be our goal and it should be a reachable goal.''
Earnhardt refused to play the prediction game.
``I don't want to sit here and guess how many races we'll win,'' he said. ``We'll win some races, and I expect to win soon. I'm a good driver with a good team, and if we don't make mistakes on a Sunday we should have great finishes and win some races.''
All of that has allowed Earnhardt and Eury to relax a bit after a stressful 2007 that saw them fighting to stay focused amid all the drama that surrounded their exit from DEI. The team failed to make the Chase, which ultimately freed Eury to go to Hendrick before the season ended but still led to a disappointing departure.
Now, with a clean slate, both driver and crew chief are excited for the season to start next month.
``I am 10 times happier,'' Eury said. ``And you can see it on Dale Jr.'s face. He's more pumped up than ever. He's pumped up to be down here, and the main sign was he showed up last week at the test. He used to never want to be at the race track, and this year he's down here hanging out with the guys and his teammates.
``We really just can't wait to get rolling.''
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It's different, but transitiongoing well, Earnhardt Jr. says
DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had the fastest lap in Tuesday morning’s single-car runs during testing at Daytona International Speedway, is not ready to get into the forecasting business.
“I don’t want to sit here and guess how many races we’ll win,” Earnhardt Jr. said of his new No. 88 team at Hendrick Motorsports.
“I just like running up front every week. ...That's really all I wanted out of driving race cars. I want to be up front and be toward the front and challenging, and when I show up to the race track I want people to expect me to run well.
“We'll win some races, and I expect to win soon. I'm a good driver with a good team, and if we don't make mistakes on a Sunday we should have great finishes and win some races.”
Earnhardt Jr., who left Dale Earnhardt Inc. following the 2007 season, said so far he is enjoying his transition to a new Sprint Cup team.
“It has been pretty nice to be able to concentrate on the things that are important right now and testing and working and getting to know the guys,” he said. “There's a little bit less pressure in certain areas and more pressure in other areas.
“I didn't have to worry about job security when I was over at my other job, but I've got to worry about that now. I think if I do what I've been doing, I should be fine.
"But with being the son of the guy who built the place, you can get away with a few more things than most guys could.
“I've got a really good owner that makes me feel comfortable, and so that eases a lot of other pressures, talking to him and hearing from him and listening to his thoughts on what we're doing. It takes away some pressure from that side of it. But I don't know the guys that well, so I'm just nervous in getting to know them and hoping that they like me and like the kind of driver I am and they're happy that they have me as their driver.
“Everybody at Hendrick is really pumped up and giving me a good vote of confidence going into the test and going into the season, so it really makes it exciting to face all the challenges we're going to face.”
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This thread is for the articles and press releases about Dale Earnhardt Jr. I am sticking to the tradition of dedicating this thread to one of our awesome members and my personal favorite #88 fan, this is year #3 for this tradition!
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Last edited by mrsmopar12 : 01-16-2008 at 07:53 PM.
Transcript of Tuesday's question-and-answer session during peseason testing at Daytona International Speedway with Dale Earnhardt Jr.:
HERB BRANHAM: Dale, if you can just start off and tell us how your first day and a half and gone testing with your new team.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: It's been great. We've had great speed in the car. We've had Casey's car from last year and a car that we built this year, and we're real happy with both of them, happy with the guys and their work ethic and their attitude, and it's went great, it really has. We've been pretty happy with the speeds and the things we've seen the car do and how it's reacted to the changes we've been trying, so it's been really fun.
HERB BRANHAM: You have one Daytona 500 victory. This year is the 50th running of the great American race. Talk about what it would mean to win on the 50th anniversary.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Yeah, just to get a win here any time, no matter what it is, whether it's a Shootout or 125s at the Daytona 500, it's a great feeling to go to victory lane at Daytona, and I really appreciate it every time it happens to me. It's going to be – you know, it's going to be quite a spectacle with it being the 50th, so it'll be a pretty big deal. Whoever wins it will get a lot of fanfare and whatnot. I think it'll be great for our team, great for our season to start off like that, and I'm sure we want to win as bad as anybody right now.
Hopefully we're preparing well, and I think we are. I think the cars are – I haven't drafted yet, so I can't really comment. I don't really know how it's going to be, but I assume it'll be all right, probably about like it used to be.
If my car drives around the track and handles the same, characteristics are the same as far as how the car goes around the racetrack it feels like to me, but I heard some things from last week's test that I should be aware of and whatnot, so I don't know, might be a little bit more of a handful than we're used to. But the characteristics of the cars – the problems and issues the guys were having last week were sort of the same old problems, just a little worse, so we'll just have to see over the next day and a half.
Q. Can you talk about your frame of mind and the only contract you're worried about now is when Whiskey River is going to be done as opposed to what you faced coming into last year?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Yeah, it's been pretty nice to be able to concentrate on the things that are important right now and testing and working and getting to know the guys. It's definitely – there's a little bit less pressure in certain areas and more pressure in other areas. I didn't have to worry about job security when I was over at my other job, but I've got to worry about that now.
I think if I do what I've been doing, I should be fine. But with being the son of the guy who built the place, you can get away with a few more things than most guys could.
You know, I've got a really good owner that makes me feel comfortable, and so that eases a lot of other pressures, talking to him and hearing from him and listening to his thoughts on what we're doing. It takes away some pressure from that side of it.
But I don't know the guys that well, so I'm just nervous in getting to know them and hoping that they like me and like the kind of driver I am and they're happy that they have me as their driver. That's what you want from the guys working on your cars is for them to be glad you're there and that you're the one that's driving it.
So it's kind of neat. It's really fun to be going through this for me, and I'm enjoying those parts, and even the difficult things or the challenging parts are fun because of the atmosphere and because of the attitude that everybody there has. Everybody at Hendrick is really pumped up and giving me a good vote of confidence going into the test and going into the season, so it really makes it exciting to face all the challenges we're going to face.
Q. The TV ratings have gone down the last couple seasons, and at the same time, maybe not coincidentally, you haven't had a lot of success on the track. Now that it looks like you might be getting into top form again and have a chance to win races again, do you think that will bring some fans back in and that maybe your fans are more traditional fans that maybe have been tuning out?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: I don't know. We should probably have some online polls or something to figure that out. Those seem to work pretty good.
I can't tell you whether that's why the television ratings are down. It would be nice to think you had that kind of influence, but at the same time, I don't want to be the downfall or the reason for it. If I can get back into victory lane I know my fans will be excited about that, and if they're not tuning in they'll be turning up personally to see it.
Any time I run a Busch race I know my fans get excited about it and they might buy a ticket to see it on Saturday or they might set up a camper outside the racetrack regardless, whereas if we had been in the field – it's just hard to say. I know those comments were made by Brian and taken out of context a little bit, but he referred to it – them two things happening at the same time maybe did have something to do with each other. But it's not – I don't feel comfortable really taking any credit one way or the other.
Q. You used to be the restrictor plate king, now it seems it's shifted over to Hendrick. Do you think this Daytona 500 is the best chance of your career to capture this second victory?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: It's hard to say. I haven't drafted with my car yet, but I know it's going to be pretty good, I'm pretty sure. I'll have a great shot. You know, I think I had some pretty good cars down here in the past, and it's hard to say – hard to really rank them as to which was better than the other. We had some pretty good cars.
The Daytona 500 is – that race, so many things happen in that race. It's like a little mini-series. It reminds me a lot of a season in itself because of the – there's so many ups and downs and you still can find yourself with a shot to win, and if you look back at several things that happened to you during the event, you can't imagine that all that would happen in one race. But it does.
It's a special race, and it carries a lot of weight with me and how I feel about the event. I feel very strong about it and very dedicated to it and very dedicated to winning it every time I show up. I think I've got a great shot and I think I know what I need to do to get the job done.
If I have a car that's merely capable, I think I should have a shot to win every time I show up.
Q. I know you've been in Cup obviously a long time and racing at Daytona a long time, but I'm wondering if it has you feeling any more jitters than normal, or you sort of alluded to a little pressure in some new ways. And if so, is it like any kind of feeling you can compare to any big steps or big leaps that you've taken in your life, whether that has to do with late models or Busch?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: The worst I ever was was trying to qualify for my first race in Charlotte. I was so scared and I wanted to get out of the car but it was too late. I already told them I'd drive it.
We were sitting right there at the – we were like two minutes away from going out to qualify, and I just couldn't – I was so nervous it was painful. It was painful to be that nervous. We ended up qualifying Top 10, and there were other times where I was as nervous or close to that.
Nowadays – I've been doing this for a while, like you said, and I sort of understand what's around the next corner. When we made this decision I knew what to expect and what it would be like coming back to Daytona and what it would be like coming back to – facing the fans, the press and the NASCAR community, and I knew what the expectations would be.
So I guess that sort of prepares you mentally to be able to deal with it one way or another because you've got to focus on driving and trying to do right by your team, and if they see that people's expectations are affecting your ability to make decisions on the racetrack, then you're not a good race car driver.
When I was a rookie and I was scared to go out and qualify for my first race, my fear and my nervousness was affecting my ability to go out there and run good, and somehow or another, we still did okay. But as you get – as things happen to you in life that prioritize everything for you, you know, you go through – you have like some real bad things happen to you and some really, really good things happen to you over the course of seven or eight years and that prioritizes everything in your life.
Right now I'm pretty much set on what I know I need to do. Although this is a high-profile race team and I'm a high-profile driver, I can handle it. With how I've grown up in the sport, I think I'm as prepared as anybody could be for this certain situation.
Q. Certainly there are people that have chased Hendrick here for a little bit. You've been in that role and now are inside the fences there at Hendrick. From your experience and just from what you're seeing now, what do you see that is so different or what's kind of opened your eyes about being at Hendrick that maybe you kind of wondered about when you were chasing them?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: It's hard to say what I see that's different. They have more stuff as far as if it's a CNC machine or whatever. They have more of everything. They're able to mass-produce more, and they have the ability to cover all the bases easier with the amount of personnel and the talent in each individual. I see that.
Otherwise it's about the same. I mean, I really was proud of where I came from and proud of the team that I had last year, and it's hard for me to really put into words without – I'd rather – I choose really not to discuss it that often because I don't want anyone that I've worked with in the past to get the impression that I am in a much better place and much more happier and I've got better people, because it really just comes down to the tools and how you use them.
Now, Rick has built – Rick's deal is bigger, like I said. He's got more stuff, and he's had a lot of the same employees for a long time. When I first started winning races and running good in the Cup Series, the one thing that I started to understand that I should worry about was loyalty, and I see that they have that there. They have a lot of loyalty and there's a lot of pride in being loyal and being dedicated to that team, and there's a lot of pride in people doing it for Rick. You work with people for years and years and you see where some people are – some people concentrate and focus on how to improve their position and improve their – whether it be their way or their title or whatever. I see a lot of people at Hendrick that sacrifice – sort of the opposite, they sacrifice for the good of the company or for Rick or whatever makes that car go faster.
I know I'm just seeing things for the first time, but that's really the initial thing that popped up to me that I saw. You get to know things more and better and deeper and you start to understand it more, and I'm sure there will be more evident things that I didn't – other tools or people or whatever that I didn't realize I had before or didn't use before or that wasn't around at DEI or whatever.
But it's hard to get real specific. DEI builds race cars just like Hendrick does. They build good race cars. I drove them. We won. We ran up front.
I just think you look at the track record that Hendrick has and they're doing something different and they're doing it better. It's hard to say really where it is other than just how large a program it is. They have 20-some CNC machines cranking stuff out all the time, and DEI has nine. Or they had nine. I don't know how many they have now. That's an instance in maybe 150, 200 instances where that makes a difference when you add all that up. That's how Hendrick is so consistently dominant.
Q. I want to ask you, when you made this move you obviously anticipated your life changing to some degree. Now that you've been through it, what has changed? Is it busier? Are there more sponsors, more responsibilities, less time, and is maybe the greatest change a peace of mind?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: There is a peace of mind. I think one of the changes, like I said, has been not being the son of the boss anymore, going to somewhere – me and Tony, Jr., both experienced sort of a little bit of a growth or maturity about just going from one door to the other overnight. You know, like I said, I got away – I grew up over the years, but when I first started you could get away with saying things and get being quoted certain ways and be able to get away with it working for my daddy. I wouldn't be able – my job now is to stay out of Rick's office as much as I can.
We have a great relationship, and he seems to – I mean, he's known me for a long time like everybody else here, and I think everybody gets the kind of person I am. And I think he made the choice to hire me as much as I made the choice to go there, and I feel like it's going to work out and be fine. But it's sort of refreshing to not have that safety net, you know?
I've always talked about trying to get credibility and people to respect you and whatnot, and by putting yourself out on a limb here, it's definitely hopefully going to get me some of that, especially if we can perform and get the job done that everybody thinks we should get done, and I think we will.
Peace of mind, I think the peace of mind comes from probably the same thing, just knowing that I'm taking the risk and it took a lot of guts to do it, so I'm pretty proud of being able to just do it, just to do that. I could have popped out or went another direction, but I went in the best direction and I took the risk to put my career and my credibility on the line to work with a company that has won a lot of races. So that should – hopefully if we win some races, it'll all work out.
Q. Fans are IM'ing, what did he wear today, did he get here early, did he get here late, is he smiling, not smiling, but one of the things that hasn't been addressed is Kyle Busch, whether people can compare you and him or if he does better or you do better early on and are you rivals, and can you sort of address that? Is that a story line that we might see? Is that fair?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: It's up to y'all what y'all write, but I told Rick – when you were talking about what time I got up, I told him I don't like to stay at the hotels right next to the track because these race cars wake me up first thing in the morning. I thought that was funny.
But anyways, getting back to your question, I think that I've got a lot of respect for Kyle's ability, and it's been a little bit of a challenge to not let – for me not to get under his skin and for him not to get under mine, I suppose, to end the season last year, especially after I wrecked him at Kansas.
But I think that we both understand we need to be successful where we're at, where he is and where I am, and that's what our priority should be, and getting to know our teammates and getting to work well and being an asset to the company.
Joe is an amazing man regardless of his involvement in motorsports, but I think Kyle, if he doesn't know that already, he'll understand that and realize how important that is that he does well and represents the company well and is an asset to Gibbs. And for me, too, it's probably the same thing.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. meets the press at Daytona (continued)
Q. A lot of people talked about your relationship with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, but not much is talked about in your relationship with Casey Mears, and since you guys are going to be – your cars are going to be built in the same shop, how is your relationship with him and how do you guys interact?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Me and Casey, you know, I goof off with him because we've hung out before at the racetrack and we were pretty good buddies. You know, he drove for – he drove with Jimmy who was married to my sister, so we became pretty good friends through that. I've known Jimmy for a longer period of time and I've known Jeff for even longer than that, but I've never really spent time around them away from the racetrack. I know how they are as race car drivers and what their work ethic is, and I think we'll be able to work together and be pretty happy that we're teammates.
But me and Casey will probably do more goofing off and take it – I mean, he takes it pretty serious because he wants to do good. Me and him, we'll spend time together away from the racetrack where I might not do that so much with Jimmy and whatnot.
Q. A lot of people are already making predictions about how you'll do this year. Tony, Jr., said yesterday you'd win at least four. What are your expectations for the year, goals, and what would be a successful first season for you at Hendrick Motorsports?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: I just like running up front every week. I like going to the racetrack and being in the – being toward the top of the chart, at least on the left side of the page in practices and whatnot.
And in the race I like to run up front. We did that a lot last year, and when I look at – when I take a look at all my seasons, I was better last year at showing up and being there every weekend. We weren't there every weekend, but I had a better car the majority of the season than I had had in seasons past.
That's really all I wanted out of driving race cars. I want to be up front and be toward the front and challenging, and when I show up to the racetrack I want people to expect me to run well, not just at particular tracks everywhere. It was good to go and to do that at some tracks last year that I typically hadn't been able to do that at.
I was hoping that with some of the extra ability that Hendrick has in winning championships and races on a regular basis that that could even improve my finishing. I don't want to sit here and guess how many races we'll win. We'll win some races, and I expect to win soon. I'm a good driver with a good team, and if we don't make mistakes on a Sunday we should have great finishes and win some races.
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Hendrick Motorsports held a function for sponsors Tuesday night, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the only driver who showed up with his shirt hanging out, and the only driver who wore jeans.
But when Junior met the media Wednesday his white Rick Hendrick Motorsports shirt was tucked into his dark pants, his hair carefully gelled and his black shoes shined.
"I got a boss just like you," Junior says. "Me and Rick are keeping score and it’s tied up right now."
Junior likes to wear T-shirts and jeans and a baseball cap. Does it matter? Although there are occasions in which we have to take one for the team – Wednesday was one of them for Earnhardt – clothes shouldn’t matter to anybody but the people that wear them. You reach a certain age and you get to pick out your own clothes all by yourself no matter how you make your living.
It’s 2008 in NASCAR, too.
It will be interesting to watch the Hendrick drivers interact. Who defers? Who takes over? Jimmie Johnson is a star and Jeff Gordon is a star and the new guy, Junior, is a star.
"Working around here, doing things around here, I just try to keep my mouth shut," Junior says Wednesday. "I don’t want to give them the impression I’m trying to steal the limelight when those guys are well-deserving of it."
He says Johnson’s run for a third straight title is the story the media should latch onto. He says that’s a much bigger story than he is. He just wants to fit.
"I want them to be glad I’m here," Junior says. "I want them to be happy to have me as a teammate."
Of course they’re happy. It means there are fewer reporters hovering around them.
Each of the four Hendrick drivers spoke at the same time at the Hendricks complex Tuesday.
At 2:20 p.m., there were six members of the media around Casey Mears, 20 around Johnson, 29 around Gordon and 46 around Junior.
Fifteen minutes later, the numbers were Mears three, Gordon 11, Johnson 16 and Junior 37.
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Missing memorabilia creates hurt feelings for Junior
January 28, 2008
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A mix-up over memorabilia has created hurt feelings with Dale Earnhardt Jr., while his former team claims it's all a misunderstanding.
Earnhardt said Monday he's upset that all signs of his stint at Dale Earnhardt Inc. had allegedly been removed from the shop. First told of the absence of his memorabilia last week, he originally said he didn't care.
But at the first day of testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Earnhardt said time to think about it had made him mad. He said the team members that were part of his Daytona 500 victory and two Busch Series championships should be recognized at the shop.
``It sort of hurt my feelings that it's sort of a hack at even the guys that are still there and have worked on that car,'' Earnhardt said. ``To not see the accolades or any sort of appreciation for the work that they did, and they're still there.''
The absence of Earnhardt-related items was noticed by media who attended a luncheon at DEI last Wednesday. The driver left his late father's company at the end of last season, and he'll drive for Hendrick Motorsports this year.
But Max Siegel, president of DEI, said Monday that the team has Earnhardt memorabilia on display and ``about nine of his old cars'' had been moved off the showroom floor to make room for the luncheon.
``There seems to be some confusion over memorabilia and merchandise,'' Siegel said. ``We no longer have a relationship with Dale Jr. or Budweiser, so we have no license, agreement or business reason to sell any of that merchandise in our gift shop. But as far as memorabilia, more than half of the showroom floor is dedicated to Dale Jr.'s history here.''
__________________ Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports... the rest are just games........ Earnest Hemmingway
Earnhardt feeling the pressure of new Hendrick ride
Shirt tucked, Earnhardt just trying to fit in
