NASCAR WCUP: Earnhardt Jr. Talladega Race Preview

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

April 17, 2001

Dale Jr. Quotes

"I really look forward to the races at Talladega. We have a great restrictor plate program at DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) and I think the showing for all three of our teams at Daytona proves that. Finishing first and second in the Daytona 500 was incredible, but you have to look at the entire Daytona Speedweeks to see how strong we were, such as in the Budweiser Shootout and the qualifying races.

“I thought we had a great car at Talladega last year. We didn’t get to show it in the spring race (contact on lap one knocked Dale Jr. from contention), but we led a lot of the second race with the new (aerodynamic) rules. We're ready. I’m excited.”

ALL DALE… ALL THE TIME

It’s an ALL DALE WEEKEND this week on MTV, as two different shows featuring Dale Jr. will debut. CRIBS, the music channel’s look at celebrity homes and cars, will be seen Thursday night at 10 pm (Eastern). If you cannot wait until 10pm, look for a sneak preview of the show on Thursday evening’s edition of Entertainment Tonight. (As the cliché says: “check your local listings…”)

“True Life: I’m A Race Car Driver,” the one hour documentary about Dale Jr. shot last season, will debut at 1:00 pm Saturday afternoon. Both shows will be seen up to a dozen (!) times in the following weeks.

Don’t have cable? You can read about Dale Jr. in the May 2001 issue of Details Magazine in a story written by motorsports writer Monte Dutton.

Here is a partial list of the scheduled airtimes from MTV: “Cribs / The Car Special”

• Date Time
• Thursday, April 19 10:00 PM
• Friday, A. 20 3:00 PM
• Friday, A. 20 8:00 PM
• Saturday, A. 21 2:30 PM
• Saturday, A. 21 7:30 PM
• Sunday, A. 22 12:00 PM
• Sunday, A. 22 4:00 PM
• Monday, A. 23 11:30 PM
• Wednesday, A. 25 7:30 PM

"True Life / I’m A Race Car Driver"

• Date Time
• Saturday, April 21 1:00 PM
• Saturday, A. 21 8:00 PM
• Sunday, A. 22 11:00 AM
• Sunday, A. 22 5:00 PM
• Monday, A. 23 7:30 PM
• Wednesday, A. 25 10:00 PM
• Saturday, A. 28 1:00 AM

• What: Talladega 500 (188 Laps, 500 miles 2.66-mile oval Race #9 of 36)
• Where: Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, AL
• When: Sunday, April 22 1:00 pm Eastern
• Watch: Fox-TV Pre-race: 12:30 pm (All Times: Eastern)

Bud Pole Qualifying: Bud Pole qualifying will be seen live on the Fox Sports Network Friday at 4:00 pm Eastern Time. The Winston Cup Happy Hour will also be seen on the FX Network Saturday afternoon at noon.

What to Watch: The nerve-wracking, exciting and dangerous races at Talladega always spell trouble for fingernails: it is 500 miles of tightly packed three-wide side-by-side action. Is it possible to hold your breath for 500 miles? Tune in Sunday and find out.

Dale Jr. at Talladega

Winston Cup Starts: 2

• Best Start: 3rd (Fall, 2000)
• Best Finish: 14th (Fall, 2000)

Notable: Dale Jr. makes no secret of his love of restrictor-plate races, and he led 28 laps of last fall’s Talladega race before making a banzai move on the final lap and falling to 14th position at the finish. If Daytona’s results from February are any barometer of restrictor-plate performance, expect to see the red Budweiser No. 8 team near the front for much of Sunday’s race.

Text provided by J. Gurss

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.