Dale Jr. Quotes
NASCAR has responded to the tragedy that has struck the United States by altering the weekend schedule at Loudon. There will be no Winston Cup practice or Bud Pole qualifying Friday. The starting lineup will be set according to the current Winston Cup team owners point standings. This will place the No. 8 Budweiser team in the eighth starting position for Sunday’s race.
“First of all, it’s hard to look ahead to Sunday’s race after all that has happened (Tuesday). Everyone on our Budweiser team sends our best wishes to the injured and the families and friends of everyone that has been killed by this unbelievable attack. We were testing at the new Kansas Speedway, and once we learned about the closure of all airports, we packed everybody into a couple of rental vans and hit the road. We got back to Charlotte 15 hours later at about 3 in the morning.
“A lot of the talk about Loudon is that you aren’t able to pass, but we got a top 10 finish (ninth) after starting 29th, moving into the top 10 in about 80 laps, and then dropping back in the field with an overheating car. It seemed like we passed everybody three or four times. We have never started this far forward at Loudon, so going to the green in eighth should help us avoid those kind of problems.”
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser Team History at Loudon
Winston Cup Races: 4
Best Start: 13th (Summer, 1999)
Best Finish: 9th (Summer, 2001)
No Music Video
The terrorist attacks also made it impossible for Dale Jr. to fly to Vancouver as scheduled to co-star in a new music video with the Matthew Good Band. Good, a former history professor, cancelled all work on the video for the time being.
What: New Hampshire 300 / 300 Laps, 317.4 miles
1.058-mile oval / Race # 27 of 36
Where: New Hampshire International Speedway / Loudon,NH
When: Sunday, Sept. 16, 1:00pm
Watch: NBC Pre-race: 12:30 pm (All Times: Eastern)
Bud Pole Qualifying:
Bud Pole qualifying will not be held this weekend in response to the terrorist activities that have struck the eastern United States. The Saturday and Sunday practice and race schedules remain the same as before, as of Wednesday morning. The first practice session on Saturday was scheduled to be televised in CNN/SI, and is likely to still be seen beginning at 11 am.
What to Watch
With the starting field determined by points, all of the heavy hitters in the chase for a top 10 spot in the point standings will be starting up front. Dale Jr. is seventh in the drivers points tally, trailing third place by slightly more than 130 points, but less than 20 points ahead of ninth place.
Thanks to Jade from BudPR for this information. Jim 8-)
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