Earnhardt Jr. Dominates Again at
Talladega Superspeedway_4/21
 No. 8 Budweiser Team Leads 133 Laps, Takes Second Straight Win at
Talladega
Dale Earnhardt Jr. added to his already impressive resume at the largest and fastest
NASCAR superspeedways with a win Sunday in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega (Al.)
Superspeedway. The Budweiser team grabbed their second straight win at the 2.66-mile track
with a dominating performance, leading the race 10 different times for 133 (of 188 total)
laps. Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Michael Waltrip finished second, which is the third
time in the last five superspeedway races that the teammates have finished in the top two
positions. Kurt Busch was third. The victory - coupled with the bonus points for leading
the most laps - launches Dale Jr. into fifth position in Winston Cup points. It is their
highest points position since the first race of the 2001 season. The victory is the team's
sixth in 84 races, and it marks the first time that the team has won a second time at a
particular track. Today's win also marks the first victory of the season for Chevrolet.
 The Key Moment:
Dale Jr., starting fourth, was caught in the outside line on the first lap and was
shuffled back to eighth place. From that point on, Dale Jr. went forward and stayed there
for the remainder of the race. He first took the lead on lap nine, with drafting help from
his teammate Michael Waltrip. The two DEI drivers led a combined total of 147 laps. The
duo ran at or near the front with the help of blazing pits stops, especially from the
Budweiser team. In four stops, the Bud pit crew never failed to send Dale Jr. back into
action ahead of the field. Dale Jr. was ahead of the field when a huge multi-car accident
slowed the field on lap 165, and he stayed in the lead until a late-race red flag on lap
181 stopped the action completely for more than 15 minutes to clean the track of debris
and fluids. The red flag did nothing to stop the momentum, as Dale Jr. kept the red Bud
car ahead of the pack for the remaining laps, crossing the finish line .060 of a second
ahead of Waltrip.
Dale Jr's Quotes: "I wanna thank all of the guys who worked on this car.
This is the same car that we won with at Daytona and here last year, but we banged it up a
bit at Daytona in February. We put a new body on it but we didn't get to take it to the
wind tunnel, so it was kind of an unknown. But - it worked great. The guys who do the
engines and the fabricating on these things did their job - and all I had to do today was
to keep it ahead of the pack. And I owe so much to my teammate Michael. As excited as I
was when I crossed the finish line, I was disappointed for him because I know the feeling
of running second when you really want and need a win. Michael and I work well together at
these restrictor-plate tracks, and when we work together, we're hard to beat."
 "I led a lot - and
sometimes it seemed almost effortless. I always had somebody good behind me - pushing me
and holding off the rest of the guys. I really worried when the red flag came out. You sit
there and you have a lot of time to thing and worry. It seemed like no one else wanted to
lead the race early on - so I worried that maybe they were holding back until the last few
laps. The leader is the most vulnerable out there - everyone else can gang up on ya, and I
was worried it was gonna get crazy."
"I put a lot of emphasis on Daytona and Talladega. They are my favorite tracks, and I
love racing at 'em. I learned a lot watching my dad. When I first got to Daytona, I
thought I was gonna pull out all his moves and be better than everyone else, but I found
out I was wasn't any better than the rest of them. Daddy and I never talked about it, but
I began to learn a lot of things that he did, and I feel like that helps me. But, I will
say, you can't learn to run up front until you have a car that can do it. I know that if I
was out there today in just about any other car, I wouldn't be sitting here right now
talking about a win."
"I ran a really high line in the middle section of the race just because I enjoy it
up there. There's not as much grip and you can really drive the car. It's just fun. I
wanted to go up there and see who would follow me - and the whole field did. I wanted to
dictate where they were running and spread the field out a bit. I was watching close to
see who would try to run on the bottom - and they'd pull out and just drop back. Finally
Michael and a few guys got together to run the low line, and I was kinda forced to move
down to block their momentum. Then I knew I had a teammate behind me at the end - and
that's the best hand to be holding at the end."
"Right now, I'm having a blast. I want to be a part of this sport for a long time, so
it's important to me to get wins and good, consistent finishes. I mean, I want to be known
as one of the greatest drivers in the sport when I'm done. I think we're in position now
to challenge for a championship."
 Best Radio
Conversations
Leading for much of the day, Dale Jr. would often talk to the team while (in his words)
"chillin'" at 185 mph.
Dale Jr: "I'm getting nervous here. I mean, when you're up front ridin,'
you have time to worry about what can go wrong…"
Ty Norris (spotter): "Michael (Waltrip) wants to know how the
view is up there in the catbird seat while he's right behind you fighting off the
field."
Dale Jr. "It's good. I've been havin' some fun watching him battle. Tell him
if he wants to pass me, go ahead!"
Within seconds, Waltrip made a bold move and took the lead…
Dale Jr.: (laughing while in a three-wide scramble for second place)
"Damn, it got busy pretty fast there…"
Ty Norris: "Yeah, Michael said he thought you were yawning…"
Later in the race, Dale Jr. decided to move from the bottom of the track to a much
higher line through the turns. In response, almost the entire field of cars moved up to
the higher line to follow.
Dale Jr. " Whhhoooooooooooo! That's bad-ass right there. Look at 'em!"
Ty Norris: "Yeah! You're playing with 'em man. They'll follow you. They'll go
wherever you want them to go… Kenny (Wallace, who was running in second behind Jr)
says he's not as comfortable behind ya in the high line."
Dale Jr: "Tell Kenny I'm gonna keep running high cuz' you can really drive the
car. The car slides around up here. I can see Sterling (Marlin) and Rusty (Wallace)
really wanna run at the bottom."
As the race neared an end, Dale Jr. continued to lead, but worried that his pursuers
were saving their best for the end of the day.
Dale Jr. "Hey guys (talking to the team) I just want the points today.
I mean, I wanna win. But, don't y'all want the points too? I want to win here - but I
don't wanna end up on my roof, ya know? This car means too much to me. We're in this for a
good finish OK - so y'all can get relaxed. Be happy with what we got here so far. I mean -
y'all could be somewhere else right now - you could be a plumber or something. (laughs)
A great car and great pit stops today. But we're having fun here. Hang on, and we'll see
what happens."
Today's Stats
Started:
4th
Finished:
1st
Money Won: $184,830
Points Position: 5th
Laps Led:
10 times / 133 laps
Best Pit Stop: Lap 105 / 4 tires and
Fuel / 13.86 seconds / Second stop of the day-Budweiser
Race Photos: (AP)
2nd-to-last lap | Infield
donuts | Victory lane
Last lap | Climbs out | Pit stop | w/ Waltrip during qualifying
Talladega: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Preview_4/15
Dale Jr. Quotes for the Talladega 500
"I'm always in a good mood at Talladega because I love the track and we
always seem to run really well here. It's neck-and-neck between Talladega and Daytona for
my favorite track. A lot of the racing here (with the restrictor plates) is about
attitude. Some guys come in with a bad attitude about the race - they're just ridin'
around out there. I want to be aggressive and be up front all I can. Even if these new
rules (NASCAR's aerodynamic rules this season at restrictor-plate tracks) make it harder
to pass, I know I have the car that can put me in a position to win."
"I learned a lot as a rookie at the restrictor plate
tracks. No one would draft with a rookie - and it was hard to do much. So, I knew that I
wanted to be a driver that everybody wants to draft with. It's like my dad - no matter how
good he was or how good his cars were - other drivers would draft with him and follow him
just because they knew he was the one that would make it happen, and that seemed to always
help him get to the front. We have been really strong on restrictor plate tracks and we've
won at Daytona and Talladega, so we've proven that we're someone that will go to the
front, and I think the other drivers know that.
"I feel like I have that attitude where I can
out-think guys. I mean, you kind of bounce around and go forward and backwards all
afternoon - but when those last 10 laps get there, the driver makes the difference. You
have to be able to put yourself in the position to win the race. At most tracks, you can
try to "out-handle" a guy if your car is working well, but here, everyone has
their foot to the floor, so you have to out-drive everyone else when the race is on the
line."
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser Team at Talladega
Winston Cup Starts: 4
Best Start: 3rd (Fall, 2000)
Best Finish: 1st (Fall, 2001)
This Race, Last Year:
St: 19th
Fin: 8th
Led 31 laps.
The Budweiser team won the Winston No Bull million-dollar
bonus at Talladega last fall when they won the Winston 500. The team has led 28 laps or
more in each of their last three Talladega starts.
What:
Aaron's 499
188 laps, 500 miles / 2.66-mile oval / Race #9 of 36
Where:
Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, AL
When:
Sunday, April 21st / 1:00 pm
Watch: (All Times: Eastern)
Fox / Pre-race: 12:30 pm
You can also listen to the race live on the Motor Racing
Network (MRN) on a radio station near you.
Bud Pole Qualifying:
Live coverage of Friday's Bud Pole qualifying session can be seen on the Fox Sports
Network at 3:00 pm.
What to Watch:
It's back to the hold-your-breathe-for-500-miles of restrictor plate racing, an area where
the Budweiser team and Dale Jr. have excelled. They come in to the weekend on a hot
streak: scoring four top-five finishes in the last five races. They are ninth in points
right now, 10 positions better than where they sat at this point in the season last year
and 14 positions better than their rookie season in 2000. They have scored career-best
finishes at Darlington, Bristol and Martinsville in that string of races.
-Budweiser |
