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10 Questions: Kerry Earnhardt

Kerry Earnhardt took a unique route to the upper levels of NASCAR racing.

Dale Earnhardt's oldest son established a family first, and then attacked his dream of a racing career; which will see its latest chapter this weekend at Daytona International Speedway when he races for owners Michael Waltrip in the Busch Series and Richard Childress in Nextel Cup.

During testing at Daytona in January, Earnhardt sat down to answer 10 questions not necessarily related to his racing career.

1. What's your dream vehicle that you don't already own?

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Kerry Earnhardt: A 1967 Supersport Chevrolet Camaro convertible.

Q: Would that be the SS-396 model?

Kerry Earnhardt: Yeah.

Q: For a Chevy dealership guy, you've got to be in that camp, right?

Kerry Earnhardt: Oh yeah. I mean; ever since I've been driving, I've always wanted a '67 convertible Camaro. And then I got married.

And my wife wanted a '69 Camaro -- and she's got that, now. But I've yet to get my '67 Camaro. I've got to figure this out.

Q: Sounds like you're the ideal husband, anyway, getting her hooked up first.

Kerry Earnhardt: Yeah (laughing).

2. If time on the road weren't an issue, what would be your ideal pet?

Kerry Earnhardt: I like deer. They're fun, and we actually have some, back at the farm that we play with. We 'rassle with 'em.

The bucks -- you can kind of grab 'em by the horns and just 'rassle 'em down. They're pretty neat and they're fun to watch.

3. What's your biggest pet peeve while driving on the road?

Kerry Earnhardt: People that ride in the left lane, real slow.

4. Racing means travel, so what's your worst hotel experience, without naming any names because we don't want to bury any hotel chains.

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Kerry Earnhardt: We won't do that. We actually tested in Texas one time, and stayed in a hotel that was helping out the race team.

Needless to say I slept in the car -- and the rest of the guys did, too (laughing).

Q: How bad was it?

Kerry Earnhardt: Oh that place was bad. The sheets were all nasty. The rooms were awful.

And it was in the bad part of town, too. So we were brave enough to sleep in the car, which was one thing because of the part of town we were in -- but it was better than sleeping in that room.

5. The order of questions is all wrong, here -- but what's your favorite food?

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Kerry Earnhardt: I love seafood -- shrimp, and I love grouper.

Q: Is your favorite seafood restaurant near home, or somewhere out on the road?

Kerry Earnhardt: We actually have one here, near Daytona. Our Deck Down Under in Port Orange is one of my favorites, and I always go there when we're here.

Q: You and Sterling Marlin. That's his favorite, too.

Kerry Earnhardt: I will probably eat there three times while I'm here this week.

6. If you had to choose, would it be being honest, or being nice?

Kerry Earnhardt: Both (laughing). Just being honest. I mean; I just feel like honesty is probably better than anything.

7. What's your fondest childhood memory?

Kerry Earnhardt: I'd have to say my fondest childhood memory was when I was 16, and I saw dad again -- for the first time, actually, since he had put me up for adoption.

Q: Did you feel like you made up for a lot of that missed time, in a hurry?

Kerry Earnhardt: No. Just being able to be back with him and everything (was great). I didn't ever really feel like we had missed time.

But we just kind of enjoyed the times we had together; from the time we started, on. I just cherished every minute of it.

8. You're a great family guy, so this is a tough question -- but what would your dream date be? Where and with whom?

Kerry Earnhardt: Shania Twain, at my house.

Q: I like that -- no hesitation at all. That's perfect.

Kerry Earnhardt: And my wife knows it, too (laughing).

9. What's your worst prank, either perpetrated by you, or done to you?

Kerry Earnhardt: Hmmm. I think, one time -- I can't remember who it was, but we took a pair of thong panties -- see-through panties -- and put them in somebody's car.

It was a rookie driver that year. I want to say it was Brian Vickers, in his Busch car.

Q: That would start some talking, wouldn't it?

Kerry Earnhardt: Yes, it did.

Q: Were you worried about payback?

Brian Vickers

Kerry Earnhardt: No. No, because Brian's pretty cool. He's a good kid and everything.

But we actually did that and then we had the camera crew go up to film him, live, on TV as he was getting into his car. We told them it was going to be a pretty good prank.

He went to get in and pulled out those see-through thong panties, and they got a surprise, too.

10. What would you consider your "Welcome to NASCAR" moment?

Kerry Earnhardt: My welcome to NASCAR moment, if it were in any series, would be when I ran the Goody's Dash Series, here at Daytona in 1993.

It was my first time here, a top-five run and I remember dad being there with me.

That was my most memorable moment, as far as a welcome to NASCAR.