Dale Earnhardt Jr. is known for being strong on the super speedways and with testing coming to a close in Daytona, everybody knows he will be one to watch in February.
Throughout the days, Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t been the strongest on the speed charts, but is pleased with what his team has learned and the speed they gained the last day. He was fourth on the speed chart on the final day of testing.
“It’s gotten really good today,” Earnhardt Jr. said on Sunday. “This day has been great. We could get out there, made tons of runs not having to wait in line. We learned a lot, found a lot of speed.”
Though there was a slight snag in testing when in the second drafting session, it was Earnhardt Jr. that triggered the big wreck involving 10 cars after trying to bump draft with Marcos Ambrose.
“I felt like Marcos (Ambrose) was backing up to me in (turns) one and two to get a run down the back,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I was just going to give him a push down the back straightaway and see if he could get the lead. I was trying to eventually get the lead myself. We got off the back straightaway and were just kind of pushing him along there and our cars sort of just didn’t match up very well. I got him hooked into the fence.”
Despite the fact that they are running a new car, Earnhardt Jr. says that the car is pretty similar to those of the past in that you can just hold the throttle down and go fast. However, testing is still important as it’s all about collecting data and trying new things. That’s why Earnhardt Jr. and his Hendrick Motorsports were there till the last minutes of testing going through crew chief Steve LeTarte’s laundry list.
“Put something on the car, put a new piece on the car or change a piece, go out and run laps and hope that you knock a few thousandths off the run before,” he said. “That is just the routine throughout the whole test really.”
That’s why at times, it can be tough for a driver to keep interested since they are just making single-car runs, all by themselves. That’s why Earnhardt Jr. says he plugs into what the team is doing, keeping up with the changes so his mind has something to think about.
“I get out of the car, asked what they changed, why they changed it, why they think that is going to be better, what’s next, why they think that is going to work,” he said. “I try to really plug into the kind of technical things they are doing to the car. It helps me because we have been doing this a long time and something they are doing might dig up a memory of a test or something we tried on some cars back in the DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) days that worked. So it’s good for me to be involved as much as I can. So that helps me get to clicking, the day goes by fast when you are plugged in like that.”
Testing is something that Earnhardt Jr. spoke of being important to do with crew chief Steve LeTarte following their success. Right now, he admits they’re limited due to the speed of building the cars and lack of parts. However, there are plans to go to Nashville and Pike Peaks in the coming weeks after next week’s test at Charlotte.
“We need to learn as much as we can learn,” he said. “We have got a lot of rule changes in the cars. A lot of things are different so we need to try to find where our package needs to be and get a good comfortable idea of where to start when we go to the different tracks.”
While there are thoughts that a team may not get off to a good start while someone else finds an advantage, Earnhardt Jr. feels that Hendrick Motorsports is a company that excels at times like these.
“I think that we have a lot of resources, no reason why we shouldn’t come out as one of the better performing teams, especially right off the bat,” he explained. “Obviously, when you give somebody a new puzzle some guys might figure out something quicker than others just by chance and ingenuity. Over the entire scope of the whole change and the whole new car I think that being with Hendrick (Motorsports) is going to be a real advantage.”
To be able to do that, Earnhardt Jr. says that you’re going to have to work hard and no worries – he likes being at the track working hard.
“I just like to be at the race track working,” he said. “I think to believe in momentum means you keep plugging away and you keep working. For us to sit around and just hope that when we show up to Vegas we are going to have plenty of time to figure things out or hope we are better when we get to Phoenix, I think that is just a pipe dream. You have got to go to work. You have to test and put in the time to be better, you’ve got to go to the race track.”
While the teams continue to work at getting the cars right, there is no hiding the potential for them to bring out a good package and that is one thing that has Earnhardt Jr. looking forward, positively.
“With this car we have a chance to do something great and really make a big impact,” he said. “It’s on everybody in the sport really as to how that all works out, but, you know, I think all the pieces are there.”
