Dale Jr: It’s The Brickyard Baby!

We have a brand new car built from scratch by Lance McGrew - Chassis No. 88-556. Is it a plus or a minus that it’s never been raced or tested?

Hopefully it’s been in the wind tunnel and 7 post shaker and all that good stuff. PLEASE let it be a great running car with no eeeeevil characteristics of bouncing and getting tight, loose and not turning in the corners all in one run!!!

Dale Jr’s thoughts about Indy “Flat tracks are always the toughest for me. At the flat tracks, the middle is the toughest part. The corners at Indy are like 90-degree corners. We don’t run on any other track that’s like this, so it’s a real challenge knowing what you need your car to be doing to go fast.
It’s fun. It’s a great racetrack. I like it. I enjoy it. But it can be frustrating. It’s really, really hard to pass.”

No more frustration Jr. Just push them out of the way if they won’t move. Time to get a bit more aggressive!

Dale Sr. never kissed the bricks in 1995 because DJ started the tradition in 1996. Therefore, the Earnhardt family still needs a smooch from those bricks. It’s up to you Dale Jr - no pressure :) If not this year, then next year.

He also knows his history here and his thoughts about what it would be like to win at the Brickyard - “It’s really hard to put it into words what it would feel like,” he said. “This is one of the most prestigious races in our series. I think about all the drivers that were here, drivers like [Mario]
Andretti and [A.J.] Foyt and the guys even before them.”.

“I think about this track and how it survived the war, closed down and opened back up and everything that it’s been through,” he said. “And I remember when we first brought stock cars here.”

“It was a realization for a lot of people, including myself, being an aspiring driver at the time, that I may have a chance one day to race at Indianapolis.”

Jr has eight wins at tracks greater than two miles in length which ranks him sixth overall among active drivers.

I’m hoping we get an early qualifying draw. As luck would have it we usually get early when we need late and vice versa. Time for all that to change, let ’s draw top 5. [crosses fingers] All good luck charms should be on full throttle warp speed ahead this week. Last year we held our own starting 11th and finishing 12th. Not bad for a race filled with severe tire issues. Many top drivers had a very bad day - cues song “So You Had a Bad Day” Harvick, Kenseth whose entire right rear quarter panel blew out with the tire, Waltrip on lap 4, Ku Busch, Montoya and Edwards. Dale Jr managed to pit with his bad tire before it completely blew.

Click here to view video - Brickyard: Goodyear~Bad-Day 2008

Tires started falling apart during practice, so the powers that be decided to haul in tires made for Pocono the following week. The Pocono tire was an even softer compound than the Indy tire, which was wearing to the cords in as little as 8 laps. The longest green flag lap of the race was a whopping
12 laps and the final 6 lap “shootout” was a follow the leader JJ to the checkers. Let’s hope all the tire testing Goodyear has done at Indy will pay off and give us a good race this weekend.

There even was a petition website where fans were asking for their money back - “I paid good money to see a “race” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27, 2008, but was denied that due to the quality or lack of quality of the tires provided by Goodyear to the drivers of NASCAR.”

So, Jr Nation 88 fans let’s enter the hallowed tunnels of Indy with positive thoughts, with our brand new car and kick everyone’s butt. Let’s wake up all the Nascar fans some of whom have dozed off even with the double file restarts which were implemented to re-fire our attention span and attendance.

And, finally please let us have a great race with no rain and no bad tire issues. Most of all, may all the drivers have a safe race.

Go Jr!