Chat Transcript: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
November 4, 2001
12:20 PM EST (1720 GMT)
[Nascar_Host1] Welcome to NASCAR.com's chat with Dale Jr.!
[Dale_Jr] Thanks for coming back! It has only been a couple of weeks and I appreciate you showing up. I hope we can get some cool questions from you!
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [casey] I watched qualifying today and saw the nose of your car touch the pavement several times. Did you miss the setup?
[Dale_Jr] Well, not really, it was real close today. We had the same setup as the No. 1 car and for some reason I just couldn't get it work. I am not upset with how we qualified. We could have qualified better, but with a couple of thousands, we could have been in the top-10 or 15.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [ama042978] Congratulations on the win at 'Dega! How irritating is it for you and the team to have another win overshadowed by controversy?
[Dale_Jr] I wasn't too upset about that. Having the car lower is not uncommon so I wasn't upset about it. I was worried that we were going to get some points taken from us, and like last few years they just fined the crew chief. Points are everything right now at this point in the season.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [r dale e jr fan] Hey Jr., sorry about your luck at Phoenix. What exactly happened to your car?
[Dale_Jr] I think we had a lugnut come through the radiator. We punctured a hole in it and burned up a piston. We were struggling to get into the top-10 or 15, but the handling was going away and we just blew up.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [Bjah] Since you are going to run the No. 3 Nabisco car for RCR in the Busch series, how will you get a team together? I assume that the Bud team will not pull double duty. How is a situation like that handled? Will you start from scratch with a new team for Nabisco?
[Dale_Jr] No, we won't start from scratch with a new team, but Richard is putting that all in place. It will be his responsibility to put that together. What he has told me is that it is a company-wide effort from RCR and everyone is excited about it. It will be more RCR-associated than DEI as far as personnel.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [Liya] What was more surprising to you, your victory at Talladega or the Redskins winning?
[Dale_Jr] HAHA... probably the Skins winning! I can't believe they beat the Giants. I was really surprised about that. That was pretty cool and I was pretty happy.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [SuperSissy08] Hey Jr., congratulations on the win. What was it like to be on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno?"
[Dale_Jr] It was a lot of fun. They had my father on there a couple of times and Jay has been to a couple of races, so I knew what to expect. It was a lot more laid back than I anticipated and I felt really, really comfortable there.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [Noelle_dalejrfan] Hey Dale, have you been watching the World Series? Which team do you think will win?
[Dale_Jr] I dunno man. I watched that game last night, which I thought was pretty incredible. If the Yankees do win, they damn well deserve it. If Arizona wins, I am a big fan of Randy Johnson, but I also am a fan of Roger Clemens. I am really pulling for the Diamondbacks because Randy really has it together and he doesn't have his Championship yet like Roger does.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [Forbidden] Jr., hope you had a Happy Halloween! How old were you when you stopped trick or treating, and what were some of your favorite costumes as a kid?
[Dale_Jr] I think I quit after about 12 or 13 years old, but it was always big on the street we lived on. All the kids were involved in it. I was like a football player a lot of the time, and up until I was 10 we had those cheap old plastic ones from Wal-Mart. After that I was a football player about every year.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [Tony's #1 Fan!] Junior, at Talladega were you nervous when Bobby passed you and then Tony passed you and tried to keep the lead?
[Dale_Jr] Yeah, I felt really worried with 3 laps to go. We fell back to 6th and it was getting pretty shady there. Everyone was ganging up on us and we had worked with Jeff Burton all day and luckily he was there to help us out and he saved my ass there at the end for the win. Without his help, we would not have won the race, and I told him that. When you put yourself in position to win those races, you really need some friends there at the end.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [FlaBudGirl8] Hi, Junior! NASCAR has made it mandatory for all drivers to use head and neck restraint devices. What are your feelings on this?
[Dale_Jr] I was pretty comfortable with it because I had been wearing it for about a month or two before that. It was a bad situation for Tony because he was forced into it, but I am fine with the ruling. NASCAR was in a tough position and they had to do something about it and get people off their backs. I agree with it and I don't think it causes any harm and hopefully it will save a few guys when they get into a wreck.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [California Red] Hi Junior! Your fans stand in line for a long time to get to meet you and get your autograph. Who would you stand in line for?
[Dale_Jr] Oh man. That is tough. I would stand in line for probably Tom Hanks. I would stand in line for his autograph, and probably, lets see, Elvis Presley if he was still alive, or Kurt Cobain if he was still alive. Do dead people count? Haha
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [joshua1983] Congratulations on your Talladega win! Did you enjoy being on the "The Man Show" recently? What is up with that RED bed?
[Dale_Jr] Well, I kinda thought that our choice was unique and cool, but that was filmed in California and we had an appearance and had some company come back with us. There were a bunch of girls there and they left some glitter there after the photos. I was kinda embarrassed, but I guess it wasn't bad publicity! Haha
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [frano] Dale, if you were given all the working parts of an engine, could you build one?
[Dale_Jr] Oh yeah, most definitely. When I was at a dealership, I worked with the guys to repair and remove motors that had blown up. I have done work on late-model motors and street-stock motors we have run in the past. I got an automotive degree at college. It wouldn't be one that you would want to take on any long trips though!
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [swtracer] Junior, you rock! Would you ever do a reality based TV show? If so, which one and why?
[Dale_Jr] Nah, probably not. I think that shows like that are fun to watch but they bring the worst out of people, and I don't want to open that up for the whole world to see of me! I have talked about doing a documentary, like a yearlong thing of my season next year, and try and pack that into 2 hours and sell that out to the fans. I think that would be fun and interesting to see what we do at the race track.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [gojunebug] I just saw a commercial with Ward Burton driving a recliner through a store. What's the craziest thing you have been asked to do for a commercial but had to turn it down? I think earlier in the season I saw you racing with a shopping cart through a store?
[Dale_Jr] Yeah, that wasn't the worst gig we have had. Actually, I cant really think of something really stupid I did, but I did a Budweiser thing once that I had to ride a motorized bar stool around like 45 miles an hour. It was very top heavy and I think I knocked it over and got my head scuffed up.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [rochelleinstlouis] Jr., if you could be any position on a pit team what would it be? And why?
[Dale_Jr] Probably a tire guy. I think he has a real demanding job. He doesn't go over the wall and I wouldn't want to do that either. I would like to work the tires out to what the team would need. That is like having a good hand in poker, each time you get a good set of tires. You can take 2 or 4 and mix it around, stuff like that is pretty interesting.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [cofcgirl] Hey Junior, after September 11 you donated all of that money to help out and I have heard about other charities that you get involved in. What are some of those that you help out and why? Congratulations on your win and good luck the rest of the season!
[Dale_Jr] The one that have been helping with is the Urban Racing League. First off it is in Philadelphia, which isn't NASCAR country, but still it shows and reveals the ins and outs of racing to inner city kids.
They haven't seen a race or know what a race is and they deal with other things on a daily basis that this wouldn't be an opportunity for them. I do that like once or twice a year and I like working with kids. They are a lot of fun to be around. Outside of that, that is the only one I am hands-on with right now.
Everything that Action Performance makes for us, they send us a few samples and I usually use those for donations, auctions and charities. We usually auction off driver suits because they get a lot of money, so I always give one to Jeff Gordon to auction off and save some others for everyone else.
[Nascar_Host1] Question from: [Wburton22addict] What is your take on the recent display of the "overly" aggressive racing and intentional "ramming" that has been going on?
[Dale_Jr] Well, if you look back several years, that was an every week thing. There was always a feud with someone from the week before. The sport was very lenient with that, and now that it is more in the public eye, NASCAR needs to tighten the grip on what is going on during the race.
They need to make a bigger deal of it than in the past. It is not a big deal and it is usually forgotten by the driver the next day. It brings drama to the sport and when the sport gets into a lull it is good to have these feuds between drivers.
[Nascar_Host1] That's all the time Junior has for us tonight. Thanks Jr.! What are your final thoughts?
[Dale_Jr] I just want to thank everyone for coming by my chat tonight. I appreciate all the questions and support you have given our team and the sport of NASCAR. Check you later!
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