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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR Testing, Sprint Cup, IRL, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Daytona 500 pole-winning Chevy was involved in a crash Wednesday afternoon and sustained enough damage that the team had to go to a back-up car and will now have to start both Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifying race and Sunday's Daytona 500 from the back of the field instead of from the front.

Earnhardt's No. 88 AMP Energy Chevy was riding second in a two-car draft behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson when they slowed to avoid traffic. The two cars behind them -- Martin Truex Jr. and Brian Vickers --- didn't react quickly enough and Truex hit Earnhardt from behind, sending both cars into the inside wall.

Because of the unique qualifying format for the Daytona 500, only the two fastest cars officially "qualified" for the 500 during Sunday's time trials -- polewinner Earnhardt and second fastest Jeff Gordon. NASCAR rules state that if a driver has to switch from the car he qualified in, then he must drop to the rear of the field for the green flag. When that happens, the third place starter -- which will be determined in Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying race -- will move up into the first position alongside Gordon for the start of the Daytona 500.

Earnhardt, who had won his first career superspeedway pole, said he had a bad feeling about even running in the rain-delayed practice Wednesday.

"We've got the pole-sitting race car, we didn't need practice,'' an obviously frustrated Earnhardt said, 'I had a fast car and I didn't want to practice it.

"I had a bad feeling about it and we come running up on some guys that didn't have their heads on straight and got into an accident.''

And now, "Get the next one ready,'' he said shaking his head.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, Daytona Int'l Speedway, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

NASCAR is asking 200,000 fans to honor Dale Earnhardt this coming Sunday. On the third lap, everyone at the Daytona 500 will be asked to extend three fingers.

The announcer might as well say, "Everyone who thinks Dale's son will win, please raise your hand."

The smart money is on Junior. So is the dumb money, the Confederate money and every other bit of currency. Ten years after Dale Sr. died at the track, who doesn't think the Earnhardt stars are aligning?

"I don't really get into that hypothetical, fairy-tale ending stuff," Junior said.

He would like to earn his way into victory lane. Others suspect Earnhardt will do it the old-fashioned way - by relying on the script writers NASCAR hired from Disney.

I normally dismiss conspiracy theorists as having moon rocks for brains, but this isn't Dealey Plaza or Area 51. This is Daytona International, where a second gunman always seems ready to shoot out the tires of Earnhardt's competition.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, Daytona Int'l Speedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The roar from the Daytona International Speedway crowd confirmed it. On a brisk but sunny afternoon, all seemed right with NASCAR nation. Let the 2011 season begin.

The sport's favorite son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start his No. 88 AMP Energy Chevrolet from the pole position for the Feb. 20 Daytona 500 after posting the fastest lap of qualifying (186.089 mph) Sunday on the newly-paved 2.5-mile track. It is Earnhardt's first superspeedway pole and comes 10 years after his father, the legendary seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt, was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500 -- a fact not lost on a largely sentimental crowd cheering him on Sunday.

Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon completes the other half of one of the most popular starting front rows in recent 500 memory. Rookie Trevor Bayne was a surprise third-place qualifier for the iconic Woods Brothers Racing team. Richard Childress Racing teammates Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five fastest speeds.

Only the front row is set for the race. The remaining portion of the 43-car field will be filled out according to the finishing order in Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying races. Each of the Duels starting lineups will be assigned according to the qualifying results.

The last driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole was Dale Jarrett in 2000.

"We're fired up,'' said Earnhardt, who started second and finished second in last year's 500. "I had a great car today. I didn't have a whole lot to do about it (winning the pole), just held on. The power and the body does all the work.

"It obviously gives you the idea you've got a great car. But anybody can win the race. The main thing for me is it takes the pressure off the (Gatorade Duel) qualifier, I don't have to worry about where I finish and I can just go out there and have fun.''

As for the timing of his first pole at the track coming on the 10-mark of his father's tragic death, Earnhardt deferred the irony.

"I'm here to race,'' Earnhardt said. "I understand the situation and I look forward to seeing how people remember and honor my father. But I don't really get into the hypothetical, fairy-tale ending stuff. I just need to focus on my job and what gets me closer to victory lane on Sunday.''

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Petty Enterprises, Daytona Int'l Speedway

Why is Richard Petty the King? Let us count the ways.

He won 200 races. He's signed at least a million autographs. He's 73 years old.

As impressive as those feats are, what makes Petty the greatest driver in NASCAR history isn't numbers. The King was good enough to win, but wise enough to know you don't win at all costs.

That's the big difference between Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. Sure, we could point to about total victories, win percentage and other arithmetic. But statistics can make any point you want.

Petty and Earnhardt each won seven NASCAR championships, but Petty won 137 more races. He did it pre-NASCAR boom, so Earnhardt fans will argue that it was easier to rack up checkered flags.

There's some truth to that, but it's also like saying Babe Ruth wouldn't have been Babe Ruth if baseball had been integrated and he'd had to play night games.

Petty won 27 of 48 races he entered in 1967, including 10 in a row. I don't care if he was racing against Danica Patrick's grandmother, that's astounding.

The King's critics will even say that 200th win wasn't legit. It was a premiere event, the Firecracker 400. Ronald Reagan was in the press box, making him the first sitting president to attend a NASCAR race.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, NASCAR Crashes, Sprint Cup, Richard Childress Racing, NASCAR

In 10 days it will be the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s death.

The Intimidator was struck down on the final lap at the 2001 Daytona 500 when his car slammed into the wall at turn four. After nearly three decades of racing, the impact didn't look that serious compared to some of his past wrecks. But, as Earnhardt well knew, angles matter, inches matter, milliseconds matter. And Earnhardt's wreck hit the wall at the precise angle at the precise inch and at the precise millisecond that was most disastrous. One-hundred and sixty miles an hour, life to death in an instant. The impact of Earnhardt's crash fractured the base of his skull and left all of NASCAR in mourning.

Now, 10 years after his death, it's easier to consider Earnhardt's own legacy in racing. And that legacy is undisputed, Dale Earnhardt is the greatest race car driver in the history of the sport. We can run down a roster of accomplishments -- his seven championships, tied for the most all-time -- his 76 racing wins in 677 races, and his legacy that continues to this day through his son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who owes much of his popularity to a latent love affair of racing fans to his daddy. But what stands out the most is this fact, Earnhardt brought racing to the masses.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Testing, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. spent a portion of his lunch break Thursday visiting with reporters at Daytona International Speedway, where his No. 88 AMP Energy Chevrolet was a respectable 11th fastest in the first morning session of a three-day test for the Feb. 20 Daytona 500.

This year's 53rd running of the Daytona 500 marks 10 years since his father, NASCAR's seven-time champ Dale Earnhardt, was killed on the last lap of NASCAR's biggest race. And while fans and the racing media are paying special attention to the sad milestone, Earnhardt said he thinks about his dad every day anyway.

"You think about your parents all the time,'' Earnhardt said, alternately bowing his head and then looking off in the distance, as he endured the inevitable questions. "I think about him and my mother all the time, especially getting back to racing.''

Earnhardt said his father would approve of the new $20 million pavement job gracing Daytona's 2.5-mile high banks. This week's test is the first time the majority of teams have tried the new surface. But Earnhardt didn't appear as concerned about the challenges of a new race surface as much as his desire to get out of a competition rut.

Earnhardt hasn't won a race in two and a half years and his 21st place finish in the 2010 standings was the second-worst of his career. The worst was a 25th-place ranking in 2009. Earnhardt will break in his third crew chief in as many years with NASCAR powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports. Steve Letarte -- formerly Jeff Gordon's crew chief -- will now lead Earnhardt's No. 88 team, which will share a shop with teammate and five-time reigning Sprint Cup Series champ Jimmie Johnson.

"I feel good about the position I'm in now and I feel pretty confident about it and I'm looking forward to going into the season and working hard for it,'' Earnhardt said. "We'll just see how it goes.

"When you're running good you can put up with about anything. It's not fun being on the radar when you're running like crap. But last year we sort of fell off the radar altogether.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Petty Enterprises, Sprint Cup, FanHouse Exclusive, NASCAR

EDITORS NOTE: When you start talking about Richard Petty's rightful place in NASCAR history vs. Dale Earnhardt vs. Jeff Gordon, you're going to get in an argument.

In his first book, Trading Paint: 101 Great NASCAR Debates, recently published by John Wiley & Sons Inc., motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski tackles these questions and provides his unique viewpoint. Prior to joining FanHouse over a year ago as an editor, Jerry Bonkowski was National NASCAR Columnist for Yahoo! Sports and ESPN.com and wrote for USA Today.

Here are several excerpts from Bonkowski's book, which is available at Barnes & Noble, Borders and other book stores, as well as online at Amazon.com.

WHO'S THE GREATEST NASCAR DRIVER EVER?

This debate always gets passionate fans going, with typically mild-mannered individuals turning into raving, obsessed fanatics if someone dares to challenge the superiority of the guy they so proudly call "their" driver. Think of a 140-pound, Woody Allen-looking dweeb who lives and breathes Kasey Kahne suddenly getting a surge of testosterone, puffing out his chest while forgetting common sense, and stupidly trying to take on a hulking, 300-pound redneck who takes great offense if you say anything bad about Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Then watch the punched-out Woody Allen-esque fan suddenly wind up doing a frightening, almost cartoonlike barrel roll through the air like the great Rusty Wallace did more than a few times during his career at places like Talladega Superspeedway.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR

LAS VEGAS -- The only suspense in Thursday's announcement of NASCAR's 2010 Most Popular Driver Award rested with the winner. For the eighth consecutive year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed the honor -- tops among the 1.5 million fan votes -- once again proving his popularity is soaring even if his on-track efforts have fallen flat.

"Oh yeah, I was surprised,'' Earnhardt claimed moments after accepting the award during NASCAR Champion's Week. "You just never know. There's the performance factor we've suffered from on the race track, there's the new guys coming into the sport all the time. You never take it for granted.''

The same could be said for winning.

Earnhardt hasn't won a race in nearly three seasons and hasn't even been consistently competitive in the No. 88 National Guard-Amp Energy Chevrolet, while his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson will be crowned champion for the fifth consecutive year in Friday night's lavish NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Banquet at the Wynn Las Vegas.

The juxtaposition isn't lost on the third-generation driver, son of the late seven-time champion, Dale Earnhardt. The 2004 Daytona 500 champ and 18-race winner is hoping a three-way crew chief swap at Hendrick will infuse new life into his career. And it can't happen soon enough.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Crew Chiefs, Pit Crews, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR

Although Dale Earnhardt Jr., winner of 18 career Sprint Cup races, has now stretched his winless streak at Hendrick Motorsports to 101 races, that's only part of the reason for the massive shakeup announced Tuesday, team owner Rick Hendrick said Wednesday.

"This was not a Dale Earnhardt ... this was not a move that we made -- this major a move -- because of Dale or his situation," Hendrick said Wednesday in a teleconference. "I'm excited about making all four teams better. We need to be better across the board. It was a move to make all four better."

It's hard to think that a racing juggernaut like Hendrick Motorsports, with five straight Sprint Cup championships in the history books and gunning for six in a row next year, might be going downhill.

But Hendrick said as much Wednesday in describing why he shuffled the drivers and crew chiefs among three of his teams and switched driver partners in the twin pairing arrangement he has for the four teams at the organization's sprawling Concord, N.C. complex.

"I think we just kind of got complacent and other teams were getting stronger and stronger, and we were just not where we needed to be," Hendrick said. "We just were off this year. The 48 was off. And we needed to make a lot of things better.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR Fans, Sprint Cup, Danica Patrick, NASCAR

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- The legions of fans of Junior Nation rose as one on lap 285 of the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway Sunday, waving the little green flags passed out by the race sponsor and screaming their lungs out against the din of the more than three dozen race cars circling the half-mile track here.

Their man, Dale Earnhardt Jr., had clawed his way to the front and taken the lead from Jeff Gordon during a green flag run at the midpoint of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

And he led 90 of the next 93 laps -- more than his total for the entire year before Sunday's race. Coming into Martinsville -- where Earnhardt has never won -- he had led a total of 71 laps in five races.

But after more than doubling his laps led total Sunday, Earnhardt was only partially satisfied. He faded during the long green flag run over the final 98 laps and finished seventh.

"Well, this isn't quite good enough," Earnhardt said. "We have to run way better than this. I can come in here and get a top-10 unless we have a major, major issue in the setup."

 

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