No fan of road-course racing, Earnhardt Jr. has two on weekend schedule
By SceneDaily Staff
Thursday, August 07, 2008
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John Harrelson / Getty Images for NASCAR
Dale Earnhardt Jr. may not be a fan of road-course racing, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver will be competing in two events on the winding Watkins Glen International track this weekend.
Earnhardt Jr. is racing in both Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Centurion Boats at The Glen and Saturday's Nationwide Series Zippo 200 at the track. It's a lot of road-course work for a driver who claims not to be fond of this style of racing.
"It's no secret that I really don't like road courses," he said. "Watkins Glen is a little faster and flatter than Infineon Raceway, but I grew up watching racing on ovals and not road courses. I've had a good run or two at The Glen, and I'm running the Nationwide race there to get some extra seat time, but I just generally don't like road-course racing. We just want to run well, get through it and get on with oval-track racing at Michigan."
Still, Earnhardt Jr. has managed to turn in some top finishes at the track. In eight Cup starts at Watkins Glen, he has two top-five and three top-10 finishes. On the Nationwide side, he has a win and two top-10 finishes in three starts at the track.
Ron Fellows, who won with JR Motorsports' No. 5 team last week in Montreal, joked that he lobbied to get the ride this weekend, but Earnhardt Jr. will be the one behind the wheel.
"Running the Nationwide car is really the best way to get acclimated with the track and get back up to speed," Earnhardt Jr. said. "When you just run the Cup car all weekend like we do at Sonoma, you spend the first day just learning the track again - at least I do. I feel like sometimes that puts me a little bit behind the eight ball. So I thought when they allowed me to pick and choose a couple races in the Nationwide Series, that would be a good reason to run Watkins Glen.
"I would be able to go in there and get a couple hours on the race track before I got in my Cup car. I thought maybe I could help my Cup guys by running better laps and getting better feedback to them for the car. It should be fun. I have a pretty good memory of winning there against Ron Fellows in '98. That really meant a lot to me to beat him there. I really respect him as a road racer."
Off the track, Earnhardt Jr. is being featured in several places. A preview featuring Earnhardt Jr., his No. 88 team and recording artist Kid Rock will begin airing in movie theaters nationwide during Labor Day weekend. The commercials are geared toward generating interest among young adults in the National Guard. The clip features the song "Warrior" by Kid Rock and was directed by James Mangold, who also directed films "3:10 to Yuma" and "Walk the Line." Starting today, behind-the-scenes footage of the video can be viewed at www.NationalGuardWarrior.com.
In addition, sponsor Amp Energy has a line of "Dale Jr. Limited Edition Series" cans this summer.
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Comments
4 responses to "No fan of road-course racing, Earnhardt Jr. has two on weekend schedule"
bob parent said:
Aug 7, 2008 at 2:13 PMgo junner
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» Confirm Abuse ReportMark Ernst said:
Aug 7, 2008 at 3:23 PMJr should be able to turn his luck around by driving both races. He has to get a win and stay in the top ten until the chase starts. Carl and JJ are hot and unless he can finish above Kyle,Carl and JJ,he can stay where he is and that should give him all the confidence he needs.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportSusan Coley said:
Aug 8, 2008 at 9:35 PMDale Earnhardt Jr. is a man on a mission!! That's smart to run the Nationwide race to get himself kinda where he wants to be Sunday at The Glen. He can let Tony Jr. and the team know more of what goes and what don't go, know what I mean? He's awesome and I wish him 2 great races this weekend and stay safe!!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportMark Ernst said:
Aug 9, 2008 at 8:48 AMVery well said Susan. Now lets get the cup car smokin!!!!
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