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PREVIEW: DALE EARNHARDT JR. (NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET) VENUE: DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (2.5-MILE TRI-OVAL) CIRCUIT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 1 OF 36) DATE: FEB. 15, 2009 (200 LAPS, 500 MILES) ***** AT DAYTONA: In 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has recorded two wins, six top-five finishes, 11 top-10s and has led 382 laps. He averages a starting position of 10.9 and a finish of 13.6. SHOOTOUT SENSATION: Earnhardt made his Hendrick Motorsports debut at Daytona last season, winning his first two events -- the Budweiser Shootout and a Gatorade Duel 150. He led 47 laps en route to winning the Shootout, an event he also won in 2003. In eight Shootout races, Earnhardt has gone to Victory Lane twice and was the runner-up three times (2002, 2004 and 2006). He has finished outside the top 10 just once (2007). Earnhardt will drive a No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet in the 2009 Budweiser Shootout on Feb. 7. EARNHARDT IN THE 500: Earnhardt has scored one win, three top-five finishes and five top-10s during nine appearances in the Daytona 500. Earnhardt, who will drive a No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet in the 2009 Great American Race, led 59 laps during his Feb. 15, 2004, victory, when he bested Tony Stewart by 0.273 seconds. He has led a total of 140 laps during the prestigious 500-mile event. WINNING WAYS: Earnhardt has 12 NASCAR wins at Daytona -- two in the Sprint Cup Series, five in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, three during qualifying events and two during exhibition events. He has won the 2004 Daytona 500, the 2001 Pepsi 400, plus two Budweiser Shootouts (2003 and 2008) and three Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races (2003, 2004 and 2008). The two-time Nationwide Series champion won four straight Nationwide events there between 2002 and 2004. AMP ENERGY COMMERCIAL TO DEBUT: Earnhardt spent two days in January filming a documentary-style commercial for sponsor AMP Energy. Earnhardt collaborated with Sundance Film Festival award-winning director Stacy Peralta on creating the spot, which will debut during FOX's airing of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. Fans can visit www.AMPEnergy.com to see additional behind-the-scenes footage of Earnhardt and his friends from the shoots. NO MORE ROOKIE STRIPE: Earnhardt wrapped up his first season with Hendrick Motorsports by earning one win (Michigan International Speedway in June), one pole position (Texas Motor Speedway in April), 10 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s. He made the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the third time in his career and finished 12th in the final standings. CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard engineers have chosen Chassis No. 88-459 for Saturday's Budweiser Shootout. This chassis served as a backup last season and last was raced at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in 2007. The team will run Chassis No. 88-475 during the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. The team used the car last October at Talladega, where Earnhardt led 19 laps before being collected in a late-race accident. 800 MILES IN A WEEKEND: In addition to his Sprint Cup duties, Earnhardt will drive the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet during the 300-mile Nationwide Series event on Feb. 14 at Daytona. The 1998 and 1999 Nationwide Series champion has scored five wins, eight top-five finishes and nine top-10s in 15 starts at the racetrack. DAYTONA MAGIC: Hendrick Motorsports made history at Daytona in 1997 when its three drivers finished in the top three spots. Jeff Gordon won the 1997 Daytona 500, followed by teammates Terry Labonte (the No. 5 Chevy) and Ricky Craven (No. 25 Chevy). For Gordon, who led 40 laps in the No. 24 Chevy, it was his first Daytona 500 win. DAYTONA DOUBLE: 1997 marked the second time that all of Hendrick's drivers finished in the top five of the Daytona 500. On Feb. 19, 1989, Darrell Waltrip drove the No. 17 Chevy to take the checkered flag, leading teammates Ken Schrader (second/No. 25 Chevy) and Geoff Bodine (fourth/No. 5 Chevy). Waltrip (25 laps), Schrader (114 laps) and Bodine (nine laps) combined to lead 148 of the event's 200 laps. HENDRICK AT DAYTONA: Bodine earned Hendrick's first win in the Great American Race when he drove the No. 5 Chevrolet to Victory Lane in 1986 after leading 101 laps. In 25 years of running the Daytona 500, Hendrick drivers have tallied six wins, 19 top-five finishes, 34 top-10s and six pole positions. Hendrick drivers have finished inside the top 10 in all but three events. GET IN GEAR: AMP Energy is kicking off the first 10 weeks of the 2009 racing season by giving fans a chance to win unique Earnhardt merchandise and VIP trips to the AMP Energy 500, which will be held in October at Talladega Superspeedway. To play, fans should enter the code found on the bottom of their AMP Energy beverage can. Visit www.AMPEnergy.com for more information. ***** EARNHARDT AT UNIVERSAL: After the Gatorade Duels on Feb. 8, Earnhardt will join roughly 300 current members and potential new recruits of the Florida National Guard at Universal Orlando Resorts. Earnhardt will appear at 4:40 p.m. local time at the Plaza Stage area of CityWalk to unveil his No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet and conduct a question-and-answer session with the public. The Guard will have information on its 200-plus careers on its display near the NASCAR Café Sports Grill. Visit www.NATIONALGUARD.com for more information. ***** DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS (ON HIS EXPECTATIONS FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS THIS SEASON.): "You just hope to have all four cars running well each week. It's a challenge to be able to do that. Everybody is going to have off weeks here and there. I think Mark (Martin, No. 5 Chevrolet) is definitely not going to be a slouch. I'm expecting him to be as competitive as Jimmie (Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet) and Jeff (Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet). I just hope to go out there and be able to match what they are doing on the racetrack." EARNHARDT (ON HIS EXPECTATIONS FOR HIMSELF.): "I want to go out there and run up front and try to win some races and be in the Chase. We did good last year for the first half of the season, first 55 percent of the season. We need to show up in the summer time, around July and August, and continue to be competitive. I feel we will come out of the box just like we did last year and do well and get everyone excited. We just need to maintain that. When we get to the Chase, we've got to be ready mentally and physically as a team. The cars, me, the team -- everybody's got to be ready to go. It seemed like when the Chase started, we stumbled and tripped all over ourselves. We've got to figure out what's going on there and how to fix it." EARNHARDT (ON THE IMPORTANCE OF WINNING THE SHOOTOUT.): "Winning the first race of the year -- whether it's for points or no points -- is always pretty special. There's no better way to start a season than by winning the first one right out of the gate. Being that it's an exhibition, it's more cool than it is important. It doesn't necessarily determine how the rest of your Speedweeks will go because we run different cars for the Daytona 500. But it's the opening act of a new season, and everyone wants to start off with a bang. I guess it's more important for bragging rights." TONY EURY JR., CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS (ON IF THE LACK OF TESTING WILL AFFECT COMPETITION THIS SEASON.): "I think you'll see a lot of what you saw at the end of the year. Nobody's really going to get far off from what they had at Homestead (Fla.) and Atlanta and places like that at the end of the year. There's just no way. You might use the first practices when you get to the racetrack to try and develop something, but pretty much you're going to see the same racing you saw toward the end of the year. I don't think anybody's going to venture off too far from that." EURY (ON THE BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT.): "I think there is more pressure coming in as the (2008) Shootout winner. It's the first race of the season, and you've had the whole offseason to get this car right. You've had time to really look at the details. You want to come out of the box strong. So yeah, there's more pressure." ***** Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports. Media Relations | No. 88 AMP Energy / National Guard Racing ***** Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Official Site - www.dalejr.com |
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