Last time Said was at Infineon Raceway, last month for the Cup race, he ran three races - and ran himself ragged. This weekend he is only racing in the ALMS race. But it's an unconfirmed rumour that Said was testing Thursday in a SPEED World Challenge car. As test days are unofficial and unregulated, such driver swapping is allowed.
It has been an adjustment in driving a sports car on a road course, but Earnhardt has been taking it in stride. The team tested for two days at Gingerman, and it didn't take long for Earnhardt to come with 15 seconds of Said's time.
"Personally, it's a quest for me to learn as much as I can for my road racing," Earnhardt said, "I'm comfortable in my environment. This is where I'm getting the polishing I need to become a better road course driver."
Earnhardt said he has some stock car habits which will difficult to break for the ALMS race, having to do with acceleration, braking and grip - "I can't believe how fast these cars accelerate out of the corner," he admitted.
Another difference between his Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the Corvette is the cockpit temperature. Inside the temperatures can range from 120-140 degrees in the summer. The Corvette is a lot cooler, because there are a lot of ducts to bring air into the car, and he turns both left and right, bringing in air through the side windows.
In short, Earnhardt said the Corvette is "one of the greatest cars I've ever driven." He further said that he still hasn't found the limits of the car. It was funny listening to him describing the mirror differences. In his Cup car, he has a big rear view mirror. In the Corvette, it's much smaller, but he has side mirrors - the better to watch the prototypes catching him. Earnhardt said he's had long talks with Said on dealing with the traffic in sports car racing, with faster prototypes and slower GT cars. The Corvette team is considering using spotters to watch the prototypes.
