Q&A: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Saturday, 11th February 2006

After missing last year’s Chase for the Championship, Dale Earnhardt Jr has a more familiar back-up crew for the 2006 season, a season in which Earnhardt Jr says he will definitely be a contender.

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He won't be quite as hands-on with Tony, Jr.. but obviously Tony, Jr. will be like he was last year, his team will be like it was last year.

Q.
Do you want to win a championship in the No. 3 car?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:
I mean, I could do it. We could do it now, but that would be just kind -- that would be a phoney tribute if we did it now. It just wouldn't feel right. I think it's something we can do whenever we want. I really seriously got to take my career -- I got to take my career seriously right now. I can't be fooling around with tributes and feel-good stories all the time. You know, we got to get down to business and race. When that opportunity comes to have that chance, we'll do that.

I think -- I don't think a lot of people are ready for it. It's not even than a option. When the time comes, we want to do it, we'll do it, have a little fun with it. No, I just want to be -- I want to win a race with Budweiser as my sponsor, with that 8 on the side, with Tony, Jr. as my crew chief.

Q.
Were you humbled by not making the Chase?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:
Well, I just thought that -- I don't know. It was humbling, but it was inevitable at one point. Wasn't too bad of a deal. Gave us an opportunity, me and Tony, Jr., to work together. I talked to the powers that be, they said that we didn't have to go to New York, so I didn't have to make that trip. Then we got through under the bus with Hunter. He pulled the Dale Earnhardt card on us. Said we should have been there. But they're the same people who told us we didn't have to go.

I just looked at it as during the off-season I'd have a little more time off. I had a lot of things I was wanting to do with the teams and the shows and whatnot, give me the time to be able to do that, focus on some other things, be close to Tony, Jr. and them.

Q.
Is the season too long and too gruelling?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:
The season is not too long. What I think they should do is, this is my personal opinion, they should make the cars in the sport more consistent to where the off-season you don't have to reskin everything, you don't have to cut every car in half and rebuild it.