RacingWin

Double Road Course Duty For Dale Jr

While he’s not usually thought of as a road course racer, Dale Earnhardt Jr is pulling double-duty this weekend at Watkins Glen International. Junior is set to run Saturday’s Nationwide race at the New York road course in the No. 5 Chevrolet, and then follow it up with the Sprint Cup race there Sunday.

“It’s no secret that I really don’t like road courses,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Watkins Glen is a little faster and flatter than Infineon Raceway, but I grew up watching racing on ovals and not road courses. I’ve had a good run or two at the Glen, and I’m running the Nationwide race there to get some extra seat time, but I just generally don’t like road course racing.”

So what are Junior’s goals for the weekend? “We just want to run well, get through it and get on with oval track racing at Michigan,” Dale explained.

Dale Jr has won at Watkins Glen before. That happened in 1999 in the Busch Series on his way to his 2^nd Busch championship.

“We don’t do that much road course racing, and we rarely like to test road courses. Running the Nationwide car is really the best way to get acclimated with the track and get back up to speed,” explained Earnhardt.

“When you just run the Cup car all weekend like we do at Sonoma, you spend the first day just learning the track again — at least I do. I feel like sometimes that puts me a little bit behind the eight ball. So I thought when they allowed me to pick and choose a couple races in the Nationwide Series, that would be a good reason to run Watkins Glen.”

“I would be able to go in there and get a couple hours on the racetrack before I got in my Cup car. I thought maybe I could help my Cup guys by running better laps and getting better feedback to them for the car. It should be fun.”

Earnhardt’s crew chief has an optimistic outlook for The Glen. “Dale Jr. usually runs pretty good there. We’ve had a lot of success there,” said Tony Eury Jr. “The biggest key there is you have to get wide open through the esses.  It’s pretty much an open road course. You can use it like an oval and set it up to go to the right. It’s a lot of fun to go to Watkins Glen.”

While Earnhardt has raced competitively at road courses before, Watkins Glen remains the site of his only win on the road course tracks.

“I have a pretty good memory of winning there against Ron Fellows,” Earnhardt recalled. “We don’t do that much road course racing, and we rarely like to test road courses.

“Running the Nationwide car is really the best way to get acclimated with the track and get back up to speed. When you just run the Cup car all weekend like we do at Sonoma, you spend the first day just learning the track again — at least I do. I feel like sometimes that puts me a little bit behind the eight ball.”

“So I thought when they allowed me to pick and choose a couple races in the Nationwide Series, that would be a good reason to run Watkins Glen. I would be able to go in there and get a couple hours on the racetrack before I got in my Cup car. I thought maybe I could help my Cup guys by running better laps and getting better feedback to them for the car.”

Earnhardt is looking to go back to victory lane at Watkins Glen. He fondly recalled his last victory there.

“It should be fun. I have a pretty good memory of winning there against Ron Fellows,” said Dale Jr. “That really meant a lot to me to beat him there. I really respect him as a road racer. “That really meant a lot to me to beat him there. I really respect him as a road racer.”

Photo Courtesy Hendrick Motorsports.

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