Dale Jr. Meets the Pocono Press
This weekend, Dale Earnhardt Jr. met with the press at Pocono Raceway. Here is some excerpts from that sit down with the media.
- - Dale was asked about the recent issues with his Step Mother and his sister. He politely declined to comment on any further.
- - There has been issues at many tracks with maintaining fairness for fans in getting autographs from the drivers. The priority has always been to serve the children first. Dale Jr., “You can’t get to everybody and sometimes those that you can’t get to get pissed off.” The Drivers Council in conjunction with the tracks came up with this solution of using one side of a red carpet strictly for children. This way the drivers can autograph for the children first. (Authors note: This was done at other tracks but was not visible at Pocono this weekend.)
- - Recently Dale tested Goodyear’s new tire at New Hampshire Speedway. Dale Jr. said, “I liked the tire. It’s softer and it wears faster. With the softer tire the car takes off right away and works real hard with lots of grip. He went on to say, “Basically a 20 lap tire and 40 lap tire use to run the same times. An older tire should run slower.” These new softer tires should slow the cars down as the tire wears.
- - Asked if he feels his team is gaining on the Gibbs cars. “I think we need more time to answer that question. I think we are making strides. Ask me again after the second Pocono race. I’m happy where the team is now. I see some areas that I can be more available." Dale went on to say that he feels he can be more attentive and communicate more.
- - Dale stated, “The team is grinding to find a little more speed.” I liked how we tested at New Hampshire. We showed the same amount of speed there that we always have. It didn't feel any differently."
- - Dale Jr. is happy with the progress of his Xfinity team. He especially liked the youth on his Xfinity team. “We have a great group of young crew chiefs,” he said.
- - On Pocono, "The track puts money it makes right back into track improvements. It’s so great that Xfinity is here. Brandon Igdalsky (Pocono Raceway President and CEO) is such a cool guy you want to do everything you can for him.”
- - Asked why the team has lost a little bit and if he’s feeling anxious about it, Dale said, “No, I’m not going to worry about. We are a good enough team to make it (Chase) with or without a win. We just expect to win races.” He noted that if this were a dozen years ago he might be feeling some anxiety but not now.
- - Dale Jr. feels that Hendrick is going to be as strong as ever in the Chase. He went on to note that in the year Brad Keselowski (2012 Sprint Cup Champion) won their championship, the Hendrick cars were really strong at the beginning of the year. “Then the Gibbs guys saw some things to improve and worked on some other things and came out and won the Chase.” Dale sees the same as a possibility for his team.
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