Archive for the ‘Dale Earnhardt Jr.’ Category

The good times kept rolling for Dale Earnhardt Jr. during Saturday’s final practice session for Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

One day after admittedly spending most of his practice time in qualifying trim and having that pay off with his first pole since April of 2008 — 68 races ago — Earnhardt remained wicked fast during Happy Hour with a top lap of 185.517 mph at the 1.54-mile track. The only one faster during the final tune-up session was Mark Martin, Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate who posted the fastest lap of the day at 185.524 mph, making the circuit in 29.883 seconds — just .001 quicker than Earnhardt’s top lap.

I bet he was happy he didn’t hit the wall in practice. I’m actually looking forward to a great race tomorrow.

Dale Jr. got the pole? Maybe I should change my mind and make it a point to watch the race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured the pole for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a blistering speed of 192.761 mph.

Earnhardt’s lap on a cool Friday evening was faster than any pole-winning speed for a Sprint Cup race in 2009. Mark Martin was the pole-sitter last year in the spring race with a speed of 187.045 mph.

Who knows, this could be a non-Johnson win race. Hey! Shut up! It could happen!

So far it looks to be an exciting season, in the Sprint Cup as well as the Nationwide series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in a frightening, multi-car accident at Daytona International Speedway, where his car flipped upside down as he skidded along the superstretch during the Nationwide Series opener.

Earnhardt was battered from every direction Saturday as other cars could not avoid hitting the overturned No. 88 Chevrolet. He slid through the grass, and the car finally flipped back onto its wheels before coming to a stop.

We could feel the collective gasp from Daytona here in our living room. We’re glad Jr. is okay.

And congratulations to Tony Stewart.

Kevin Harvick knew his race cars were good enough to get either he or Tony Stewart into Victory Lane.

Once Dale Earnhardt Jr. was out of contention, their path was wide open.

Now I can hardly wait for tomorrow’s race.

Could this be Junior’s year?

Rick Hendrick, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent the last month talking about how those in-house, offseason moves would make a difference.

On Saturday, they may have convinced everyone else.

Martin and Earnhardt posted the top qualifying runs and secured the front row for next week’s Daytona 500. It might not mean as much as Hendrick Motorsports’ 1-2-3 finish in last season’s Sprint Cup standings, but the latest sweep provided some validation to those changes made in hopes of bolstering both teams and getting crew chiefs Alan Gustafson (Martin) and Lance McGrew (Earnhardt) on the same page.

I suppose we’ll find out soon enough, eh?

The headline reads Martinsville coming at a good time for Earnhardt Jr.

Why is this a good time?

All the talk this past week — shoot, the entire Sprint Cup season — of the need to split up Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief/cousin, Tony Eury Jr., obscures two noteworthy facts:

First, Earnhardt is a mere 66 points out 12th place, the final Chase-eligible position, and second, there are 21 races before the field for the Chase is set in September at Richmond.

On Wednesday, team owner Rick Hendrick made it clear on a national teleconference he was not going to split up the two juniors. “I am 100 percent behind this group,” Hendrick said. “I have no intentions of making any changes. I have all intentions of making it better.”

No, really, why is this a better time than any other?

There’s an interesting article up at Speed Weekly about Dale Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. always says he wants to win races, even a championship or two.

But there are words, and then there are actions.

No doubt it would be a huge economic boon to the sport for its most popular driver to have a wildly successful year. It would put fans in the stands, jumpstart merchandise sales, and draw a level of worldwide media attention that would quickly translate to fresh investment dollars.

It’s a good read for anyone who wants to understand what it means to be Dale Jr.

I saw this article today and I just have to say something about it.

NASCAR fans across the nation have once again made a statement about their favorite driver. After tallying more than one million votes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the recipient of the 2008 NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver award.

Throughout the race season, fans voted daily for more than 40 of their favorite drivers online. Earnhardt Jr. was presented with the award Thursday at the National Motorsports Press Association’s Myers Brothers media luncheon in New York. The award is Earnhardt Jr.’s sixth consecutive win since 2003. Only Bill Elliott (1991-2000) has more consecutive wins.

…

“I think back to [more than] a year ago when I made the decision to go to Hendrick Motorsports, and my biggest concern was whether the fans would support my decision. They did, and I will always be grateful for that.

I don’t want to poop in anyone’s Post Toasties, but I don’t think he has the number of fans that he used too. Why do I think this?

We were in Wal-Mart last night and I commented on the number of #88 cars and toys they had on the shelves. When he was driving the #8 we couldn’t find a car or toy with his name on it to save our lives. Since he moved to Hendrick and the #88, they have a ton of them on the shelves, all the time.

Winning the fan driven contest is awesome and I congratulate him, but either they made a boatload more toys when he moved, or there aren’t quite as many fans of the #88.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. spoke, at length, to the press today.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. went from race car driver to philosopher Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. And in the process, stock car racing’s favorite son likely ruffled quite a few feathers in NASCAR’s front office.

In one of his most poignant interviews ever, Earnhardt confirmed what a lot of people – most notably disenchanted or former NASCAR fans – have been thinking for a long time.

Namely, NASCAR has grown too big, the season is too long and the watered-down result, particularly the Chase for the Sprint Cup, is hurting the sport dramatically, with potentially even more damage to come as the world remains in economic crisis.

I agree with him, 100%. Several years ago, it was fun to follow NASCAR. Just ask my kids. They knew every driver’s number. They knew every manufacturer, and they loved watching the sport.

This year, they were interested for about 10 races, and that’s all she wrote. They haven’t been back. I record the races on DVR just in case I feel like watching them, but I’m with Junior. The season is too long, and the ‘events’ have become too big.

Darrell Waltrip said that winning at Pocono might come down to fuel strategy.

Well, first and second places didn’t come down to fuel, but the rest of the finish did. Several cars ran out of gas on the last lap, including Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

It wasn’t quite the exciting ending anyone would have hoped for (has there been an exciting ending since the Car of Tomorrow debuted?) but it worked.

Congratulations to Carl Edwards for winning, and to Tony Stewart for somehow making it all the way up to second place after mentioning during the rain delay that the car probably wasn’t a top 5 car.

Rookie Joey Logano won the Meijer 300 in Kentucky last Saturday. I must say, he’s a very impressive driver, and one of NASCAR’s rising stars.

Tom Logano had modest goals for son Joey when the 18-year-old prodigy made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut last month in Dover. The elder Logano thought it would take Joey maybe 10 races to reach Victory Lane.

The kid simply couldn’t wait that long.

Joey Logano became the youngest winner in Nationwide Series history Saturday night, cruising to victory in the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway in his third series start. Logano, at 18 years, 21 days old, broke the age record of 18 years, 10 months, 9 days set by Casey Atwood in Milwaukee in 1999.

“Three starts, two poles, one win. He’s OK,” quipped crew chief Dave Rogers.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won at Michigan and I am sure there will be a lot of talk this week about how they went 55 laps without needing fuel.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is enjoying that old winning feel and he doesn’t much care what his detractors have to say about it.

“I can understand how it might look, especially if you’re not Dale Jr. fans,” Little E said Sunday after ending a 76-race winless by stretching his last fuel load beyond the limit at Michigan International Speedway. “I know exactly what they’re going to say Monday.

“I mean, my fans are happy and I’m happy for them. The other half are going to tear this apart on how we won this race. But I got the trophy and I got the points. I got to see my team and my owner and my family tonight as happy as they’ve been in a long time. … It’s a pretty big day for me.”

The most popular driver in NASCAR won this one by gambling, somehow going the last 55 laps on the two-mile oval, including three laps of overtime, without stopping for gas.

Congratulations to both of them. Both races were worth watching this week, one because history was made and the other because of the suspenseful ending. Can NASCAR hold my interest for two weeks in a row? We shall see.

– Powered By Stuffr! –