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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I'm telling you, I'm really proud of Richey Gilmore. Over the off-season, we sit down and we decided that only way this is going to work, we truly and genuinely had to come together.

Q.
Would it have been any easier being Dale Earnhardt, Jr., if you had not been the Earnhardt these last several years? Would it have been just as hard either way?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:
I don't know what you mean.

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Q.
If he kept driving.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:
It was hard to be Dale Jr. when dad was around. Still tough. A lot of advantages. I had a lot of fun. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

I don't really know how different that would have been. When he was around, man, you knew he was there (laughter). That was tough. But, you know, I miss him a lot. Obviously, you know, he was -- he could be a huge assist in a lot of things that happened to me personally over the last five years, so...

Q.
Is fame been more of a burden over the past couple years?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:
No, fame is never a burden. Fame is a lot of fun. Fame gets you to boxing matches, football games and cool stuff. Yeah, I mean, you get to do pretty much a lot of cool stuff, meet a lot of cool people.

Obviously, I don't take advantage of my fame as much as some drivers do. But I do enjoy it.

Q.
Your dad seemed to be the voice of the drivers when it came to communicating with NASCAR. Has anybody assumed that role? If so, who is it?

DALE EARNHARDT, JR.:
Well, we don't really have a voice as far as the drivers goes. There's a lot of drivers I respect and a lot of drivers that know exactly what they're talk about, but they don't necessarily get the type-- they don't get that ear from NASCAR that dad got.