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PREVIEW: DALE EARNHARDT JR.
(NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET)
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VENUE: TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY (2.66-MILE TRI-OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 30 OF 36)
DATE: OCT. 5, 2008 (188 LAPS, 500 MILES)
*****
THAT'S A WRAP: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet will have a different look this weekend, thanks to the "Ride with Dale Jr." promotion from AMP Energy. More than 70,000 names in 13-point font adorn the No. 88 Chevy for this weekend's AMP Energy 500. Hendrick Motorsports graphics director Jim Gravlin spent almost 80 hours developing a stencil for the wrap by hand and then used his computer to place the names. The entire project, which required five test trials, took roughly 200 hours to complete.
FIND YOUR NAME: All fans who signed up to "Ride with Dale Jr." by registering at www.AMPEnergy.com can log back onto the site on Oct. 2 to find where their names will appear on the No. 88 Chevy. By entering the same e-mail address used during registration, fans can search a grid on the car to see where their names are located.
TALLADEGA STATS: In 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Talladega Superspeedway, Earnhardt Jr. has recorded five wins, seven top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. He has led 616 laps and averages a finish of 14.1, most recently taking 10th at the superspeedway in April.
ELITE COMPANY: Earnhardt Jr.'s five wins at Talladega are the most for him at any one track and rank him third all-time among drivers at the 2.66-mile oval. Earnhardt Jr.'s father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., scored 10 wins at the track, while his teammate, Jeff Gordon, has recorded six.
TRACKSIDE LIVE: Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy "Ride with Dale Jr."/National Guard Chevrolet, will be a guest on SPEED Channel's airing of "Trackside Live" on Friday at 10 p.m. ET.
SUPER ON SPEEDWAYS: In his nine full Sprint Cup seasons, Earnhardt Jr. has demonstrated a knack for restrictor-plate racing. In 35 races at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Talladega, he has recorded seven wins, 13 top-five finishes and 21 top-10s. Earnhardt Jr. has led a combined 998 laps at both tracks.
HENDRICK AT TALLADEGA: Casey Mears (seventh place) and Earnhardt Jr. (10th) were the top finishers for Hendrick Motorsports in April at Talladega. Rick Hendrick's teams have won 10 events and led 1,842 laps there, both of which rank as the most for any Sprint Cup owner. Additionally, Hendrick drivers have scored 40 top-five finishes and 57 top-10s at the track.
CHASSIS FOR TALLADEGA: Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and the No. 88 engineers have chosen Chassis No. 88-478 for this weekend's race at Talladega. It is the same car that Earnhardt Jr. drove to lead 47 of the 70 laps in the Budweiser Shootout en route to a victory at Daytona International Speedway in February. Chassis 88-478 also performed well at Talladega in April, when Earnhardt Jr. finished 10th after leading 46 laps. The team also raced this chassis at Daytona in July, leading 51 laps before finishing eighth.
TESTING 1, 2: Hendrick Motorsports regularly sends its fleet of Impala SS Chevrolets to the wind tunnel, particularly when it comes to preparing for superspeedways like the 2.66-mile racetrack at Talladega. Kurt Romberg, chief aerodynamicist for Hendrick Motorsports, has spearheaded the effort since 2001.
CITIZEN SOLDIER: The band 3 Doors Down wrote the song "Citizen Soldier" as a tribute to the 350,000 people who serve in the National Guard. The song, which debuted in 2007, was used as the soundtrack for a National Guard promotional spot that ran in movie theaters across the country. The band will play a private concert this week at Talladega for contest winners.
SIGNING ON: Dewayne Bennett claims to be Earnhardt Jr.'s biggest fan. Earnhardt Jr. selected the Pickens, S.C., native after viewing Bennett's personal video in the AMP Energy "Fuel Your Passion" contest. In his clip, Bennett used the energizing drink to depict his fanaticism and describe why he should get to autograph Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevy. For his unconventional efforts, Bennett will sign his name on Saturday at Talladega. Visit www.AMPEnergy.com to see Bennett's winning video.
JOIN THE CREW: Earnhardt Jr. fans can join the JR Nation Crew for an exclusive opportunity to see their favorite driver at Talladega. By becoming a member, fans also have the chance to win free tickets to the 3 Doors Down concert and meet the band members. Additionally, these super fans receive a Crew Kit, which grants access to behind-the scenes photos and discounts at www.shopjrnation.com. When the Sprint Cup Series comes to Lowe's Motor Speedway, Earnhardt will visit a small group of JR Nation Crew members on Oct. 10 in the Bank of America Champions Club. Visit www.jrnation.com for more information.
STUFF TO DO: Fans can sign up for the ultimate tailgating machine -- a tricked-out AMP Energy bus --by visiting AMP Energy's area in the Talladega infield. While there, fans also can locate their name on Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Chevy, sample the energy drink and have a chance to win tickets to the 3 Doors Down concert on Saturday night.
GOING GREEN: Anyone who has ever been to Talladega Superspeedway knows the spot to hang out the night before the big race is Talladega Boulevard in the track's infield. This weekend, AMP Energy will be joining the celebration by opening up the Green Light District. Fans can come by to sample AMP Energy, get cool AMP Energy 500 items and party with JR Nation.
NEW LOOK: The Hendrick Motorsports museum will have a slightly different look in October. With the Oct. 11 Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway approaching, the Hendrick Motorsports museum has new Chevrolets, trophies and other memorabilia on display to chronicle the team's history at the 1.5-mile racetrack. In 49 races at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has posted 15 wins, 45 top-five finishes and 67 top-10s.
AUCTION FOR A GOOD CAUSE: The Dale Jr. Celebrity Sports Auction is scheduled for Oct. 13 at the Concord (N.C.) Convention Center/Embassy Suites. Proceeds from the event will benefit The Dale Jr. Foundation, Make-A-Wish and Victory Junction Gang Camp. There also will be a charity concert, featuring country artist Gary Allan and a special performance by Kyle Petty, at Whisky River in Charlotte, N.C., on Oct. 12. Visit www.thedalejrfoundation.org for more information.
WARRIOR VIDEO: Fans can visit www.NationalGuardWarrior.com to see Kid Rock's new "Warrior" music video and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage featuring Earnhardt Jr., National Guard citizen soldiers and the No. 88 team. The two-minute video is now airing before movies in select AMC Theatres and includes the song "Warrior," which Kid Rock wrote specifically for the Army National Guard. During the next two months, the video will appear in more than 3,000 theaters and on more than 27,000 movie screens around the country.
*****
DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY "RIDE WITH DALE JR."/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS (ON RACING IN THE AMP ENERGY 500.): "Having your sponsor headline the race does add a little pressure because they're anticipating for you to do well. I don't really know how the sponsors look at it, but I assume they take note to where their car is at the finish of that race. I'm assuming that's why they picked that racetrack and picked that particular even to sponsor. It adds a little pressure. Every time people add pressure it always helps me. It's good for me -- people pushing me. It motivates a little bit."
EARNHARDT (ON HIS FAN BASE IN TALLADEGA.): "You just try to get in the lead as soon as you can because that's what they came for. Try to be in the lead as much as you can -- they want you out front; they want you leading every lap -- so you just work really hard to do that. I think they understand the odds of winning versus losing, but they want you to be in the mix at the end. If I'm in the mix and feel like if I would have done one thing differently and I might have won, then I kind of feel like I paid my dues. But if I'm not in the mix, and I don't have a shot to win, and I'm nowhere near the front near the end, then I feel like I've let everybody down."
EARNHARDT (ON WHAT HE LEARNED LAST TIME IN TALLADEGA.): "Well, we were sort of having a good old time. It gets a little crazy in the middle of the pack there. The best place for me to be is ahead of the field. In the top five is the best and safest place to be. We kind of slid back and got scrambling around back there around 15th and banged around with a couple guys and that really hurt our chances. It's tough. The cars are more equal now. The COT makes it much more of a level playing field."
EARNHARDT (ON THE "RIDE WITH DALE JR." PAINT SCHEME.): "We are giving fans the opportunity to be involved in the event and what we do. It's a pretty unique looking race car so hopefully the fans will enjoy it. I think I will. Also, my fire suit is going to be cool -- it's all white. A change of pace is always fun."
TONY EURY JR., CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY "RIDE WITH DALE JR."/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS (ON GOING TO TALLADEGA.): "I love Talladega. It's a great place, but you have to have a guy who's a great drafter. You have to have a really good car with a lot of horsepower and teammates to help you out. Teammates are going to play a big, big role down there. In the first race (at Talladega) we were really good. We got into an accident with 15 to go, went to 32nd and came back to the 10th in three laps. I'm really looking forward to getting down there and seeing what we've got."
EURY (ON WHY RESTRICTOR-PLATE RACING SUITS EARNHARDT.): "He's very smart as far as anticipating things happening. He watches the cars, and he knows where the momentum is going just because of the other drivers' reactions. He has a very good way of carrying that momentum once he gets it. If he gets a draft and he gets to do a 'slingshot,' he'll carry that for several laps because he knows what to do with it. It's a pleasure to watch him race because he's probably one of the best out there. But because these cars are so equal, it's going to come down to teammates helping teammates, and that's the only way this Hendrick bunch is going to win."
EURY (ON RESTRICTOR-PLATE TRACKS.): "I've had a lot of success at Talladega, but it takes three times the work to have that car perform nowadays. We log lots of hours in the wind tunnel. There are all kinds of things that you have to have that car do. That car takes a special attention, and it takes three times as long to build as any other car. Restrictor-plate racing, used to be that was all you lived for, but now it's like there's four races there and it pays the same amount of points but you don't want to spend too much time on it because it's still four races and you've got 32 of the other ones, and we'd like to spend our time and be more competitive on them. It's one of those deals where it takes a big part of your calendar, because you've got to sacrifice so much."
EURY (ON WHAT IT MEANS TO SEE THE NO. 88 CAR WITH 70,000 NAMES ON IT.): "It's pretty overwhelming. We know that Junior's fan base is huge and to see that many people who have their name on his car, it's awesome. You'd love to have a Victory Lane with all those people in it. It's cool. For them to show their support for our team shows a lot of pride."
EURY (ON COMPETING AGAINST HENDRICK DRIVERS IN THE CHASE.): "You can't let it get too involved. Everybody here is going after the same goal, and you've got three teams that want to win the championship, but you can't let it break up your team. We're still Hendrick Motorsports, and we've got to work together. You're not going to do anything to jeopardize that. You're going to work with these guys at the beginning of next year. It's what I told Chad (Knaus, No. 48 crew chief) and Steve (Letarte, No. 24 crew chief) both -- it's my job to build the best team possible. I've got the same amount of tools they've got, and their job is to build the best team possible. Whichever one performs the best on race day and on pit road is going to be the one that's going to walk away with the ring. But company-wide it would be a big celebration if we could have them one-two-three."
EURY (ON HOW THREE CHASE TEAMS CAN COEXIST.): "It's great. Our information is an open book, and we learn so much from each other every week. One might understand it a little more than the other, but it comes down to performance."
KURT ROMBERG, CHIEF AERODYNAMICIST FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS (ON HOW THE WIND TUNNEL WORKS.): "The wind tunnel is a tool. It's a large building that we can put a full-sized car -- a regular race car -- into, and we can blow air over the car and measure the forces that the air produces on the car. One of the things that makes a car go around a racetrack faster is grip in the tires, and we can increase grip in the tires by using air to push down on the car, thereby making the car go around the corners faster."
ROMBERG (ON HOW HELPFUL THE WIND TUNNEL IS.): "It's less helpful now because the Car of Tomorrow is such a smaller box. There's a lot less latitude to change the body on the Car of Tomorrow, but there's still some competitive advantages to be had. It's important because the car goes nominally 180 mph, and there are tremendous aerodynamic forces pushing on the car at that speed. If you've ever stuck your hand out the window of a car going 60 mph and felt that force pushing your hand back, well at 180, that force is 10 times what you feel at 60 mph. It's a tremendous force on the car -- a car going to the middle of the corner is like a car on ice. It's right on the edge of adhesion. If you could magically stand out there and push on the back of the car just a little bit with five or 10 pounds of force, you could spin the car out because it's right on the edge of adhesion. Well, you can imagine that if we can take the air and push on it to the tune of 50 or 100 pounds, what kind of effect that might have."
ROMBERG (ON WHY HENDRICK TESTS THE SPEEDWAY CARS IN PARTICULAR.): "In speedway mode, when we're dealing with 400 horsepower rather than 800 horsepower, we need to reduce the drag as much as possible so we take the cars in the tunnel, and we work in very, very fine increments. If we can realize a one-percent change in drag, that equates to about a tenth of a second qualifying at Daytona or Talladega. Which if you look at some of the qualifying results, a tenth of a second is easily 10 spots on the grid. That one-percent change is very significant and very difficult to find sometimes. We have had many times we'll take a car to the tunnel for nine or 10 hours and literally find nothing. It's a game of very small numbers. When I say one percent, we're talking about portions of one percent. But we'll work real hard at finding those itty bitty things because if you can find two or three of them, it's a very significant difference, particularly during qualifying."
*****
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Official Site - www.dalejr.com
Thanks to Amy Walsh for the race reports and recaps.
Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports.
Media Relations | No. 88 AMP Energy / National Guard Racing
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