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PREVIEW: DALE EARNHARDT JR.
(NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET)
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VENUE: DARLINGTON RACEWAY (1.336-MILE EGG-SHAPED OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 11 OF 36)
DATE: MAY 10, 2008 (367 LAPS, 500 MILES)
*****
EARNHARDT AT DARLINGTON: In 13 starts at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has recorded two top-five finishes and six top-10s. He has led 135 laps and completed 4,268 of 4,365 laps.
GOING OLD SCHOOL: This weekend, Earnhardt will go retro with his No. 88 Chevrolet by running a Mountain Dew paint scheme similar to the one that Darrell Waltrip raced during 1981 and 1982. The green and white car, and even Earnhardt's white helmet, mirror those used by Waltrip when he raced with Mountain Dew sponsorship.
D.W. AND DEW: Waltrip drove the Mountain Dew Buick to championships in 1981 and 1982. During that time he recorded a combined 24 wins, 18 pole positions, 38 top-five finishes and 35 top-10s. Waltrip won once at Darlington running the paint scheme, visiting Victory Lane on April 12, 1981. He was the runner-up at "The Lady in Black" later that year on Sept. 7, 1981.
TRACKSIDE LIVE: Earnhardt, driver of the No. 88 Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet, will be a guest on the SPEED Channel's airing of "Trackside Live" on Friday at 10 p.m. ET. Earnhardt will join Waltrip as a guest on the show.
HENDRICK AT DARLINGTON: Hendrick Motorsports has posted 12 wins, 33 top-five finishes and 56 top-10s in the 48 Cup races the team has started at Darlington Raceway.
STREAK INTACT: Hendrick Motorsports' streak of top-10 finishes improved to 75 Sprint Cup races after last week's event at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway when Jeff Gordon took ninth. The last time a Hendrick driver wasn't in the top 10 was April 9, 2006. Finishing 11th, Jimmie Johnson was Hendrick's top performer that day at Texas Motor Speedway.
RETRO-FEST: Later this month, the No. 88 Chevrolet will sport another popular paint scheme that ran in the early 1980s. At the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge, Earnhardt's No. 88 will resemble the "Gray Ghost" car that Buddy Baker drove to win the 1980 Daytona 500.
TESTING AT LOWES: Earnhardt tested at the 1.5-mile Lowe's Motor Speedway Monday and Tuesday to prepare for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge and the annual 600-mile Memorial Day weekend Sprint Cup event.
CHASSIS FOR DARLINGTON: Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and the No. 88 engineers chose Chassis No. 88-443 for Saturday's race. This is the car that Earnhardt drove to a third-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this season.
OLD SCHOOL, NEW SCHOOL: AMP Energy will unveil its "Old School New School" promotion this weekend, coinciding with Earnhardt's retro paint scheme. The promotion, which runs from May 19 through Aug. 11, gives consumers the chance to win "Cars, Kicks and More" and then choose their old school or new school prize, like a 2009 Corvette or a vintage one. To play, fans must enter the code found on the bottom of their AMP Energy, Mountain Dew or Sobe drink purchase. Consumers can learn more about the challenge by visiting www.oldschoolornew.com .
BUY AN AMP, 'RIDE WITH DALE JR.': If Earnhardt goes to Victory Lane in the Oct. 5 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega, he will bring the names of more than 70,000 members of JR Nation with him. Beginning April 22, Earnhardt fans can simply take the code found on the bottom of any AMP Energy can, log onto www.AMPEnergy.com and register. The first 70,000 will have their names featured on the special No. 88 AMP Energy "Ride with Dale Jr."/National Guard Chevrolet paint scheme. AMP Energy also will include each and every person who signs up to "Ride with Dale Jr." by the July 1 deadline by featuring additional names on Earnhardt's pit wall banner, car cover and other areas around Talladega Superspeedway during the AMP Energy 500 weekend.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF AMP: Earnhardt and his No. 88 Chevrolet currently are featured on cans of AMP Energy, which is launching three new types of energy drinks this month. The line will include AMP Energy Elevate (mixed berry flavor), AMP Energy Relaunch (citrus flavor) and AMP Energy Traction (grape flavor). Visit www.AMPEnergy.com for more information.
*****
DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER OF THE NO. 88 MOUNTAIN DEW/ NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS (ON RACING AN OLD SCHOOL PAINT SCHEME.): "I think the Mountain Dew retro paint scheme is very fitting for the history at Darlington. The car itself is an old paint scheme on a new car, and we've got an old racetrack with a new surface. It's going to be very interesting. It's going to be fun to see how to get around that track and where the fast grooves are -- where to find the grip and speed. It's a real good-looking race car so I can't wait to get some good photos -- old school type photos -- when I get out there."
DARRELL WALTRIP, NASCAR CHAMPION AND FORMER DRIVER OF THE MOUNTAIN DEW CAR (ON EARNHARDT DRIVING THE RETRO SCHEME.): "Dale Jr. has always been one to look back and honor the history of NASCAR. For him to want to run my old Mountain Dew paint scheme at Darlington means a lot. It might not mean a thing to anyone else, but to me it means the world."
TONY EURY JR., CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 88 MOUNTAIN DEW/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS (ON DARLINGTON.): "Darlington is very unique. It's been a driver's racetrack for a long time. It takes a certain rhythm to get into Darlington. It's not just a place where you can go jump in a car and be fast. Turn 1 is really tight. You have to go to the bottom, and for the last couple of years it has been really slick getting up to the wall. They've repaved the track since then. Me and Dale Jr. went down there and checked it out during tire testing. The track has got a ton of grip. It's super smooth. The tire they brought there was actually too fast for the track so they're going back and trying to chill it out a bit."
EURY (ABOUT THE TIRE SPEED ON THE REPAVED TRACK.): "When you repave a track, I think from NASCAR's standpoint and Goodyears', they like to see it where, 'OK, if I've got a track that's a half a second faster I really don't mind that.' But at Darlington, for those guys to be going into Turn 1 as tight as it is, I think they were looking at 198 mph is what they were going into Darlington, and that's probably a little too fast for Darlington. Before you're sitting 182, so you've increased it by 15 mph going in there so it's going to cause a whole lot of circumstances. They'll back it down, which is a very smart deal. They can do some small things to take some time out of the cars."
EURY (ON EARLY DARLINGTON MEMORIES.): "That was probably one of my first wins with Big E, Dale (Earnhardt) Sr. We were working on the Busch team and actually won a Busch race there. I went down there for years with my grandfather, Robert Gee. That was probably some of the first real Busch races I go to go to -- went down there with Geoff Bodine. Those are the times you remember when you're real small and you get to the go to the racetrack for the first time. Darlington has always been a really special place, and just to see the names of the people that have won there and it being such a driver's track, special people win there. You've got to really have your act together. It's a long day, and you've just got to have things go right."
EURY (ON WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO WIN THERE.): "It's on his (Earnhardt Jr.'s) list. Just like we've got Martinsville, we've got some older tracks that he's really looking forward to trying to win there because that puts you in an elite group. I think that's what he's kind of looking at. It'd be kind of special. Everybody goes to Martinsville and it's like, 'I forgot what time it is. I need one of those grandfather clocks.' Same thing for Darlington. If you can say you've won there, it would be really special."
EURY (ON THE RETRO PAINT SCHEME.): "It's really cool. It probably looks more like the original deal than most people expect just because it's got two eights on it so it almost looks like two 11s. But that was a pretty special car that Darrell Waltrip drove there for a long time. Me and the guys are kicking around whether we should wear our white pants or not. There's no telling what we'll show up with. Dale Jr. is telling us it will be cool, but we told him he has to wear a white driving suit if we did. Dale Jr. is really into the retro paint schemes and the history of NASCAR so it's a real privilege to be able to do things like that and have sponsors working with us. It kind of shows off the heritage."
EURY (ON OLD SCHOOL VS. NEW SCHOOL.): "Junior is real old school. He loves old stuff. And I do, too. I admire the people that have put the sport out there for us. Probably one of my biggest heroes in the garage is Leonard Wood. He's a very intelligent man. I talk to him at least twice a weekend. Those guys, the experiences that they've had, the things that they've done in the past. It's overwhelming. With so little, they've done so much. Me and Dale Jr. talk a lot about it. We really respect the old guys. I was lucky enough to be in there long enough that I did get to see the Harry Gants drive -- the Darrell Waltrips in their prime. I got to see those guys race, and there's a lot of guys in the garage that never got to see that. When you see legends like Terry Labonte and Dale Jarrett leave the sport -- it's kind of telling you you're getting a little old I think (LAUGHS). The sport has deep roots. There ain't no other way to describe it. Everybody knows this is a unique sport and not everybody can do it. It's a challenge, and I think everybody is pulling the same rope to get it going as long as we can."
*****
Thanks to Amy Walsh for the race recap. Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports.
Media Relations | No. 88 AMP Energy / National Guard Racing
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