Eury went to work putting together the fastest and
best over the wall pit crew members for the No.8 team.
I'll be able to share with NASCAR fans things they
won't be able to hear anywhere else," Junior said.
When NASCAR held it's annual media day at Daytona on
the 1st day of Speedweeks Junior lacked anything but
confidence about the upcoming race season.
"We're going to come into the Chase in the top three
in points, and we'll have six or seven wins this season
if not more," Earnhardt boldly predicted.
"If we lose the championship, it won't be by much."
When asked about his chances of winning a 2nd Daytona
500 ha said simply, "I've got the car to beat over there
in the garage."
In the Daytona 500 Dale Jr led on 5 occasions for a
total of 32 laps -- more than any other driver -- but
handling problems late in the race dropped him to an 8th
place finish. Earnhardt considered this a good start --
especially considering the cool weather and strong winds
which made passing to the outside difficult.
A late caution forced a green-white-checkered restart
on lap 202 -- with Dale Jr in 5th. He moved high to the
outside but the lack of a drafting partner and an engine
running low on power quickly moved him back to 8th.
Junior described the engine's horsepower in a classic
Earnhardt quote after the race.
"The motor's like an old man -- it'll get up, run for
a while and then fall back asleep," he said.
In February Dale Earnhardt Jr began hosting a weekly
show on XM Satellite radio called "Dale Jr's
Unrestricted." The loosely formatted show features
Junior, and his longtime friends Josh snider and Steve
Crisp discussing racing, music, and just about
everything else.
At about the same time Junior announced that his new
media company, Hammerhead Entertainment, would produce a
new show for Speed Channel. The show, "Back In the Day,"
would be hosted by Earnhardt and highlight classic
NASCAR races from the past.
In March at Atlanta Earnhardt scored a 3rd place
finish, then 2 weeks later at Martinsville he finished
4th -- but heading into Talladega in May he had yet to
win.
Not long after the green flag fell at Martinsville's
DirecTV 500 in April Earnhardt was heading down pit road
with crash damage.
The entire left side of the No. 8 Chevrolet was beat
up front to rear, and the right rear was not much
better.
Crew chief Tony Eury nearly called for Junior to take
the car to the garage -- instead he ordered team members
to start cutting away the damaged sheet metal -- not
knowing if the suspension was damaged, or if the
radiator was intact.
When Junior made it back to the track he was missing
a brake cooling duct -- an important component at
Martinsville -- but he was also missing a right front
fender, which allowed plenty of air to the brakes.
Eury just wanted to finish the race -- but Dale Jr
had other plans.
The car drove great despite the heavy damage, and
Earnhardt drove it to a 4th place finish.
Dale Earnhardt Jr knew how to win at Talladega -- he
had done so 5 times. 4 times in a row!
When the No.8 Chevrolet rolled off the hauler at
Talladega the familiar red paint scheme was gone.
In a tribute to his father the car sported a familiar
black scheme with silver and red trim like the one
Earnhardt Sr sported on the No. 3 Chevrolet.
The special paint was to mark the occasion of Dale
Earnhardt Sr's induction into the International
Motorsports Hall of Fame which sits just off turn 4 at
Talladega Superspeedway where Earnhardt Sr has 10 wins.
"I think the car looks good, and I think it's a cool
way to honor my dad," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's going to
be a lot of fun to be behind the wheel of that car, and
sort of see the reaction that it gets.
Unfortunately, the black paint scheme didn't bring
Junior good luck. With just 37 laps remaining Dale Jr's
engine erupted in a puff of smoke -- giving him the 1st
DNF of the season.
Earlier in the race Junior spun the No.8 Chevrolet
after making contact with Carl Edwards. In that spin his
car turned around causing the rear wheels to spin
backwards.
"It was four wide and I got loose and got into Carl
and spun myself out," Junior said. "I might have spun
the motor backwards. That's probably why I blew up. We
don't normally have engine failures. But right there, it
just blew up and quit running."
Dale Jr scored his 17th Cup victory in May at
Richmond, ending a 28 race winless run.
He spent most of the race chasing Kevin Harvick, who
led 272 laps. Then in the final 100 laps Junior's crew
made an air pressure adjustment to the car that sent him
charging to the front. He took the lead with 44 laps
remaining and never relinquished it.
Dale Jr made a June appearance at Seattle's Paramount
Theatre for the "One Night Stand," a meet and greet with
his fans where he answered questions for his fans, told
stories and signed autographs. The appearance was
accompanied by an appearance from Seattle band Fiasco.
When the Busch series returned to Daytona in July
Junior claimed another win -- but he was unable to back
it up in the Saturday night Nextel Cup race, where he
finished 13th.
Earnhardt Booed!
In August Dale Jr was the target of Carl Edwards
following the Carfax 250 Busch race at Michigan.
Earnhardt had applied the chrome horn to Edward's
bumper in a pass for the lead just 2 laps from the
finish -- a move that sent Edward's spinning.
As some of the fans were booing Dale Jr on the cool
down lap after the race Carl Edwards came out of the
pits in a scene reminiscent of Days of Thunder and
rammed Earnhardt's car in the driver's side.
Junior had his hand out the window at the time and
Edwards nearly took it off.
Later when Junior had made it to Victory Lane Edwards
showed up with a few angry words for Earnhardt.
"I didn't mean to spin him out, I don't go around
wrecking people on purpose," said Earnhardt.
"I could understand him being upset, but running in
the side of my car after the race was over with, with my
hand out the window and coming into a man's victory
lane, no matter what the circumstance, was just rude."
Edwards was fine $20,000 and placed on probation by
NASCAR for the incident.