Dale Jr
Dale Jr
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr., known professionally as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jr., or just Junior, is an American professional stock car racing driver and champion team owner. He is the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Sr. He is also the grandson of both NASCAR driver Ralph Earnhardt and stock car fabricator Robert Gee, the brother of Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, the half-brother of former driver Kerry Earnhardt, the uncle of driver Jeffrey Earnhardt, the stepson of Teresa Earnhardt, and...
aspect best builds chiefs comfort cousin crew easier expect family good great last optimistic race though uncertain whereas year
I was pretty optimistic last year going into the season. The only thing different this year is I have my cousin working with me again. So, there is that comfort aspect and familiarity. It is easier to know what to expect this year, whereas last year, we were optimistic but uncertain about how well we were going to do. He (Tony) is really good at what he does. We are family and just communicate well, even though we don't always get that right either. For the most part, he is one of the best crew chiefs in the garage. He builds a great race car.
assumed bound coming deal determined everybody final glad good last motions next people proud races remind saw start tony weekend win
I think everybody saw it coming, and I'm glad he's back. Last weekend was a good start for us. I was real proud of my team. People assumed that we'd just go through the motions in these final 10 races, but honestly, Tony Jr. coming back has kind of put a jolt in our enthusiasm. He's bound and determined to win some of these races and remind everybody what they've got to deal with next year.
fighting race work
We had enough race car, just not enough time. We started off tight, and we've been fighting it in our practices. We still have some work to do on it.
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I cried a little bit in the race car on the way to the checkered flag. Well, maybe not cried, but at least my eyes watered up.
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Me and Denny are good friends. He came down a couple years ago and hung out in the bus. I knew he was a pretty good race car driver. ... I tried to get Joe (Gibbs) to give him up, if you will. But they hung onto him and that's probably the smartest move they made because he's going to make them a lot of money.
key learn possibly race test tracks
This test right here is very important, very key for our team, not only just for this race (March 12 at Las Vegas), but for a lot of tracks. We'll need to learn as much as we possibly can, not only for Las Vegas, but for other tracks that are similar.
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When you go into California and don't run well, and come to Vegas and don't run well, it puts a lot of pressure on you. But we finished 11th at California, and that's our goal this week. And if we can do that at these two race tracks, which have been our biggest nemesis, I think we can expect to have a pretty good season.
build good next nine races tony toward work
Tony and I are a good combination. And we're going to try to work toward next year. These next nine races are real important and we're going to try to build on that.
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For example, one of the more common ones is if a guy races you really hard, and it seems pointless at the time, then next time when he's in a position that he needs a break, you don't cut him one. That's sort of the main one that I probably deal with most often.
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Target is to run as good as you can every week. Everything else kind of takes cares of itself. We just go out there and race as hard as we can, take the car we got, do the best we can with it every week.
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We are going to win six or seven races and be in the top three in the Chase. If we don't win the championship, it won't be by much.
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We were just out there drafting together. He's a good teammate. Some guys have their own agenda. But when you put him in the car, he knows how good a race car driver he is. He doesn't have anything to prove. If you give him a good car, he's going to run good. He's out there to help us and we're going to help him.
capable certain driver felt full given harder learn realized situations understand year
I've raced harder this year than I've ever raced before. You think you're doing all you can. I've always felt like I've given 100 percent, but you're put in certain situations and you find you're capable of doing more. Hopefully, I still haven't realized my full potential. I feel like I've got a lot to learn and as a driver I can get a lot better and each year I understand there's more to me than I even thought I had.
care good run takes target
The target is to run as good as you can every week. Everything else kind of takes care of itself.