NASCAR WCUP: Earnhardt Jr. approaches 'The Winston' differently
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
May 19, 2001
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"Well the laps were okay. They weren't spectacular, but they were okay. We lost about three second on the pit stop. And the guys worked on that real hard, so they are kind of down about it. It matters, but not that much. We've just been struggling with the car a little bit. It's a tough deal to make all that happen - just making it all right (for qualifying). The guys worked hard. But we put forth a good effort, so we can't complain. We'll just have to do what we can to get the car right."
(Do you drive The Winston a lot different than other races?) "Yeah, you drive it a lot different. The first two (30-lap) segments, you just get out there and save your car for the last 10 (laps). You work on set-up. It's almost like two practice sessions so your car is as good as you can have it for the last 10-lap segment."
(Kevin Harvick talked about just how exciting this is when you haven't been in a race like this before. Does this help a rookie?) "Sure, a rookie's got just as good a chance as anybody to win."
(Was it hard to see out there with the sun going down and without lights?) "No. When you've been around this place enough, you can almost drive it by memory."
(Are either of the first two segments more important?) "You just have to settle in after each segment and see what happens. You've just got to hang in there and hope you get some good breaks like we did last year. No matter how good a racecar you got, you've got to get some lucky breaks and things like that to happen your way. We've got the same car and we should be able to get somewhat the same results. The only thing I'm worried about is if they don't fix the lighting that we won't get our Happy Hour. And then we'll have to have Happy Hour tomorrow in the warm weather it won't be the same."
Text provided by Nancy Wager
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