Dale Jr. Quotes
“Charlotte is always good for us, because everyone can sleep in their own beds for awhile. Plus, this team has always been really fast here, so I expect to be up front again this weekend and maybe enjoy a few Budweiser's in Victory Lane.
“The car we crashed at Kansas (last Sunday) was the one we wanted to bring here to race, but we have a decent back-up car that should be almost as good. That was a hard hit, but I'm alright, and so is Wilson (the volleyball that rides alongside Dale Jr.). Before we blew that tire (last Sunday), we were really good – the car almost drove itself – so I’m looking for a bit of a repeat.”
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Charlotte
Winston Cup Starts: 4
Best Start: 1st (May, 2000)
Best Finish*: 4th (May, 2000)
*Not including a victory in the non-points, all-star race, The Winston in 2000.
The home track for most Winston Cup teams has been a good one for Dale Jr. and the Bud boys. They began their Cup career together at this track in 1999, and then became the first rookie team and rookie driver to win The Winston in 2000. Dale Jr. still holds the Winston Cup one-lap track record of 186.034mph.
What: UAW-GM 500 / 333 Laps, 501 miles
1.5-mile oval / Race # 29 of 36
Where: Lowe’s Motor Speedway / Concord, NC
When: Sunday,Oct. 7 1:00pm
Watch: NBC / Pre-race: 12:30 pm (All Times: Eastern)
Bud Pole Qualifying: As usual, the Charlotte scheduleis different than most “usual” race weekends. Bud Pole qualifying is scheduled to take place Thursday evening at 7:00 pm, and can be seen live on the TNT cable network or on radio with the Performance Racing Network (PRN).
What to Watch
Like playing a home game in college sports, this is the home track for most Winston Cup teams. Perhaps because of that, it seems like the races at Charlotte are the ones that every driver and team wants to win a little more than usual, giving them some sort of bragging rights for awhile. The Charlotte track seems to nearly always produce multi-grooved,side-by-side battles from start to finish, which are a delight to watch.
“Kurt is My Co-Pilot” Selected for Anthology
An article about Dale Jr. that first appeared in Rolling Stone magazine has been selected for an upcoming book called “The Best American Sports Writing, 2001.” “Kurt is My Co-Pilot” by Touré will appear in the book edited by legendary tennis writer Bud Collins. The annual compilation, to be released October 10 by Houghton-Mifflin books, is considered one of the best sports anthologies in print.
“Coming into Carolina that first time, I had no idea what I was flying into,” said Touré. “I didn't know if Junior would feel comfortable with a big-fro'ed black guy from NY askin’ him a bunch of basic questions about a world I knew nothing about. I mean, I didn't know anything about NASCAR. When Rolling Stone first called me, I'd never heard of Junior. I didn't even realize his Dad was a legend until midway through reporting the story! But Junior was an incredible gentleman and opened his world up to me and patiently explained everything and in just a weekend I became a fan. I'll watch a race, mostly rooting for Junior, but also appreciating everything it takes for anyone to win. And Junior's a friend, apart from everything else. I could call him any day and say hey, I wanna come to Carolina and hang out with you for a couple days and I know the guest room would be mine. He's a great guy. The sport is lucky to have him.”
Thanks to Jade from BudPR for this information. Jim 8-)
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