Posted on Fri, May. 09, 2008
NASCAR
Back at the Lady in Black
Earnhardt on Darlington: It's remarkable
By Kurt Knapek - kknapek@thesunnews.com
PHOTOS: Darlington 2008
Kurt's blog: Pit PassesDale Earnhardt Jr. got a firsthand look at two of the biggest changes in the Palmetto State this year.
He started Thursday with an appearance at the new Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach. He made a quick stop at Myrtle Beach Speedway, where he started his racing career in Late Model stock cars in the 1990s.
"The ol' racetrack looked pretty lonely," Earnhardt said.
Then Earnhardt Jr. got to turn laps at the freshly paved Darlington Raceway in preparation for Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Dodge Challenger 500.
"Oh, it's remarkable," Earnhardt said after the first of two practice sessions. "The track's great. The speeds are pretty insane. It's going to be very physical just driving that hard and that fast.
"It's different. It's pretty neat, though."
Earnhardt is no stranger to change these days. He's making his first appearance at "The Lady in Black" with his new number (88), team (Hendrick Motorsports) and sponsors (AMP energy drink and the National Guard).
And Earnhardt is hoping Darlington can be a cure for his recent bad luck. He has gone 71 races without a victory dating back to 2006.
Earnhardt has two top-five and six top-10 finishes in 13 career starts at Darlington. His new teammates - Jimmie Johnson (2) and Jeff Gordon (7) - have a combined nine victories here, which adds to his optimism.
"I would love to win here because the track has a lot of history," Earnhardt said. "A lot of great names have been in victory lane though. And when you've won here, you're considered one of the tougher guys in the sport when you can conquer this race and conquer what the track throws at you."
Earnhardt Jr. was three laps from winning last week's race in Richmond, Va., until an incident with Kyle Busch dashed those hopes.
"It was hard racing," Earnhardt said. "I'm not going to let it get under my skin. I can see where a lot of people think it was intentional. I don't think it was. I'm pretty sure it wasn't."
Earnhardt was third quickest during the first practice session Thursday and eighth in the second. Kyle Busch was quickest in the first practice and AJ Allmendinger in the second.
The words heard most from drivers were "It's fast."
"It's not the same Darlington," Bill Elliott said. "It's going to be a little bit harder to race on because everybody seems to be running closer to the same speed."
Today's 5:15 p.m. qualifying session is expected to be vital. Historically, cars that qualify well here, finish at or near the front. Eighteen races at Darlington have been won from the pole, but the last to do so was Dale Jarrett in 1997
Ward Burton's track qualifying record of 173.797 in 1996 will undoubtedly fall. Allmendinger paced the second practice with a speed of 178.679 mph. In all, 31 drivers bested Burton's track record in the practice.
When | 7:20 p.m. Saturday
Where | Darlington Raceway
TV | Fox
Contact KURT KNAPEK at 843-626-0258.
