Dale Jr: I said in the <I>Playboy</I> interview...
Dale Jr was caught out after making some less than complimentary remarks about the surface of the Darlington Raceway in Playboy magazine - resulting in him being awarded an unusual trophy, and ticket sales for the event soaring...
"I said in the Playboy interview that the Darlington track surface was made up of nothing but sharp chunks of seashells since all the asphalt had been worn away. Then, I went down there to the track to promote the race, and they gave me a hard time about that comment," admitted Earnhardt with a smile.
Dale Jr was caught out after making some less than complimentary remarks about the surface of the Darlington Raceway in Playboy magazine - resulting in him being awarded an unusual trophy, and ticket sales for the event soaring...
"I said in the Playboy interview that the Darlington track surface was made up of nothing but sharp chunks of seashells since all the asphalt had been worn away. Then, I went down there to the track to promote the race, and they gave me a hard time about that comment," admitted Earnhardt with a smile.
"The new president, Andrew Gurtis, even gave me an award, "The Shelly," which was a big seashell mounted on a wooden base," he added. "It was pretty cool. I told them I was surprised there were any seashells left! But, their ticket sales have been going up in the same time frame that the interview has been on sale, so..."
Back to racing, and Earnhardt Jr, doesn't take on Darlington lightly - in fact he admits to spending most of the race praying!
"It is a tough track," The Bud driver began. "You have good grip in the tyres for maybe five laps, and then you spend the rest of the run - whether it's 30 laps or 60 laps - just holding on, trying not to crash, and praying that the yellow flag comes out and you can come in and get new tires. I think I spend most of the race praying, in fact..."
