pandr
02-15-2011, 12:06 PM
Junior stamps Earnhardt name on Daytona pole
By Jim Utter - charlotteobserver
Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It has the makings of a monumental moment.
Ten years after the death of his father in a last-lap wreck in NASCAR’s biggest race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will lead this year’s field to the green in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Earnhardt posted a lap at 186.089 mph, enough to hold off Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon (185.966 mph) as Hendrick Motorsports swept the front row for the second consecutive season.
As fans and media pay tribute to Dale Earnhardt on the 10th anniversary of his death approaches, his son prefers to distance himself from connections between his performance and the anniversary.
“I’m here to race. I understand the situation," Earnhardt said "I’m looking forward to seeing how my father’s remembered and honored throughout the week.
“I’ll enjoy that. I don’t really get into the hypothetical, fairytale sort of stuff.
“I just want to focus on my job, what I need to do every single corner, every single lap, what’s best for me at this moment, what gets me closer to Victory Lane on Sunday.
“That’s all I’m going to concern myself with.”
But even Gordon admits that this year’s Speedweeks seems to be lining up in “an interesting way.”
“I mean, (Earnhardt) pulled the pole for the Bud Shootout, wins the pole for the Daytona 500, the lights went out the other night (on the backstretch during practice).
"Some strange activity (is) happening around Daytona right now,” Gordon dead-panned.
“I think that just kind of is going to build to the hype and excitement for next Sunday's race. I love to bring back a lot of these memories about Dale, what he brought to the sport, his legacy.”
Sunday’s qualifying locked in only the starting positions for the front row of the Daytona 500. The rest of the lineup will be set by Thursday's Gatorade Duels qualifying races.
However, four drivers did lock themselves into the field by virtue of their qualifying performance. Bill Elliott, Joe Nemechek and Travis Kvapil are assured a starting position based on their speeds. Terry Labonte is assured a spot with the use of a past champion’s provisional.
Earnhardt certainly has plenty of reason to want to concern himself with his performance.
He has failed to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup the past two seasons and his most recent points win came in the summer of 2008 at Michigan.
Earnhardt would like to launch his 2011 campaign with a good finish.
“We want to work hard the rest of the week and learn what we can learn about what the car needs to be doing, what I need to be doing, try to get ourselves the best opportunity to win the race on Sunday,” said Earnhardt, who earned the 10th pole of his career and first since last March at Atlanta.
“It’s a really good thing when you can come out of here, like last year we came out of here (in 2010) with a second‑place finish. It does run you right into Phoenix with a good, confident feeling that you got a good start, you want to maintain, improve.”
In the offseason, team owner Rick Hendrick changed the driver-crew chief tandem of three of his teams, including Earnhardt’s, who now works with crew chief Steve Letarte.
So far the pairing is off to a strong start.
“We’re happy the car had speed. It’s a test of speed,” Letarte said. “Racing is a test speed. Today we had the most speed.”
c/p Thats Racin
Read more: hxxp://www.thatsracin.com/2011/02/13/55786/junior-stamps-earnhardt-on-daytona.html#ixzz1E1ogjT2K
By Jim Utter - charlotteobserver
Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It has the makings of a monumental moment.
Ten years after the death of his father in a last-lap wreck in NASCAR’s biggest race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will lead this year’s field to the green in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Earnhardt posted a lap at 186.089 mph, enough to hold off Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon (185.966 mph) as Hendrick Motorsports swept the front row for the second consecutive season.
As fans and media pay tribute to Dale Earnhardt on the 10th anniversary of his death approaches, his son prefers to distance himself from connections between his performance and the anniversary.
“I’m here to race. I understand the situation," Earnhardt said "I’m looking forward to seeing how my father’s remembered and honored throughout the week.
“I’ll enjoy that. I don’t really get into the hypothetical, fairytale sort of stuff.
“I just want to focus on my job, what I need to do every single corner, every single lap, what’s best for me at this moment, what gets me closer to Victory Lane on Sunday.
“That’s all I’m going to concern myself with.”
But even Gordon admits that this year’s Speedweeks seems to be lining up in “an interesting way.”
“I mean, (Earnhardt) pulled the pole for the Bud Shootout, wins the pole for the Daytona 500, the lights went out the other night (on the backstretch during practice).
"Some strange activity (is) happening around Daytona right now,” Gordon dead-panned.
“I think that just kind of is going to build to the hype and excitement for next Sunday's race. I love to bring back a lot of these memories about Dale, what he brought to the sport, his legacy.”
Sunday’s qualifying locked in only the starting positions for the front row of the Daytona 500. The rest of the lineup will be set by Thursday's Gatorade Duels qualifying races.
However, four drivers did lock themselves into the field by virtue of their qualifying performance. Bill Elliott, Joe Nemechek and Travis Kvapil are assured a starting position based on their speeds. Terry Labonte is assured a spot with the use of a past champion’s provisional.
Earnhardt certainly has plenty of reason to want to concern himself with his performance.
He has failed to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup the past two seasons and his most recent points win came in the summer of 2008 at Michigan.
Earnhardt would like to launch his 2011 campaign with a good finish.
“We want to work hard the rest of the week and learn what we can learn about what the car needs to be doing, what I need to be doing, try to get ourselves the best opportunity to win the race on Sunday,” said Earnhardt, who earned the 10th pole of his career and first since last March at Atlanta.
“It’s a really good thing when you can come out of here, like last year we came out of here (in 2010) with a second‑place finish. It does run you right into Phoenix with a good, confident feeling that you got a good start, you want to maintain, improve.”
In the offseason, team owner Rick Hendrick changed the driver-crew chief tandem of three of his teams, including Earnhardt’s, who now works with crew chief Steve Letarte.
So far the pairing is off to a strong start.
“We’re happy the car had speed. It’s a test of speed,” Letarte said. “Racing is a test speed. Today we had the most speed.”
c/p Thats Racin
Read more: hxxp://www.thatsracin.com/2011/02/13/55786/junior-stamps-earnhardt-on-daytona.html#ixzz1E1ogjT2K