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Q&A: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series #8 Budweiser Chevrolet driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL-2/20/05 ©Dorsey Patrick
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Q&A: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Thursday, 2nd February 2006

The Las Vegas test was important for every Nextel Cup team, not least for the #8 DEI squad and driver Dale Earnhardt Jr, who will be working frantically over the two days to re-acclimatise himself with returning crew chief Tony Eury Jr and get his championship ambitions back on-track.

You know, I think that you'll have that opportunity here with the front straightaway. The back straightaway is a little flat, and if you're just going to pile a bunch of dirt up in the corner, nobody is going to drive up a hill to go into the top groove. You'll just go right to the bottom. But if you look at a lot of the tracks like Dover and other places where there's multiple grooves, the bottom of the corner is the lower altitude than the straightaway itself. So it makes sense that you might try different ways around the corner.

I think that I like driving on racetracks with more banking so I'm excited about the changes. I can't wait until they are finished and we can get out here and give it a try. I think if it's anything like you've seen in the past with places like Homestead, you'll have a lot of success with it.

Q.
For you on the mile-and-a-half tracks, can you come out of this test and know that you guys need to improve?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.
I think that, I mean, yeah, definitely, however you run here in a test is a good kind of a good way of being able to tell what kind of car or team you're going to be when you come back. I'd like to be faster, we're sort of right in the middle of the charts right now and I think that we can definitely approve. We definitely need a couple of tenths, but I feel confident in Tony Junior and the guys that between our communication and everything, we'll get the cars dialled in.

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I was really happy with how we ran at a lot of tracks last year. The car that I had at Chicago, you know, if we had not have gambled on two tyres to win the race, we would have still, we were still racing right outside of the top-5 and had been moving up all day. The car was very competitive all day.
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Related Images
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series #8 Budweiser Chevrolet driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL-2/20/05 ©Dorsey Patrick
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series #8 Budweiser Chevrolet driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL-2/20/05 ©Dorsey Patrick
Dale Earnhardt Jr puts the 2006 Chevrolet through its paces at Daytona
Jimmie Johnson (Lowe`s Chevrolet) celebrates victory at Las Vegas  [pic credit: GM media]
Jimmie Johnson (Lowe`s Chevrolet) celebrates victory at Las Vegas  [pic credit: GM media]
Aric Almirola (left) will make his Nextel Cup debut with Joe Gibbs Racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2007   [pic credit: GM media]
Aric Almirola will make his Nextel Cup debut with Joe Gibbs Racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2007   [pic credit: GM media]
Construction crews work on tearing up the Las Vegas Motor Speedway ahead of its revamp in 2007.
Tony Stewart addresses the media in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images]
Tony Stewart addresses the media in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images]
Reed Sorensen leads Kurt Busch in testing at Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images]
Jamie McMurray talks to new crew chief Jimmy Fennig in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images]
Robbie Loomis and Bobby Labonte discuss testing in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Todd Warshaw/Getty Images]
Travis Kvapil gets to grips with the #32 PPI Motorsport Chevrolet during testing in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images]
Jimmie Johnson addresses the media in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Todd Warshaw/Getty Images]
Jimmie Johnson addresses the media in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Todd Warshaw/Getty Images]
Jeff Gordon addresses the media in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images]
Dale Earnhardt Jr talks to crew chief Tony Eury Jr in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Todd Warshaw/Getty Images]
Kyle Busch tests his Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolet in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images]
Hendrick teammates Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson chat in Las Vegas. [Pic Credit Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images]
03/13/05 Las Vegas. Matt Kenseth finished the day in the 8th position. Photo Credit: Autostock
03/13/05 Las Vegas. Mark Martin leads Dale Jarrett into turn 1. Martin finished  30th with Jarrett 18th. Photo Credit: Autostock
03/13/05 Las Vegas. Greg Biffle battles with fellow Ford driver Hermie Sadler in turn 2 at Las Vegas. Biffle finished 6th with Sadler 33rd. Photo Credit: Autostock
03/11/05 Las Vegas. Matt Kenseth will start the DeWalt Ford Taurus from the 8th position on Sunday. Photo Credit: Autostock
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