Where is ... Lyndon Amick?

Lyndon Amick gets a kick out of the question.

Now that Amick is on the ground in Afghanistan, deployed there for the last four months as a part of the South Carolina National Guard, how would his buddy Dale Earnhardt Jr. fare in such circumstances? What kind of soldier would Junior make?

"I wonder how he could do taking orders from someone else?" Amick joked in an e-mail interview from Camp Stone, his base of operations in Herat, located in the northwestern part of the country. Then again, Amick continues, it might be fun to have Junior along for the ride in the war-torn country.

A real soldier

Lyndon Amick, shown in full combat gear, is ready to fight if called. Standing on top of a building in Herat, Afghanistan is a far cry from the life he left behind in Saluda, S.C.

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"I know Junior has the guts and will to get the job done as a soldier," Amick continued. "All kidding aside, I know he would do fine. I think we could make a great pair tearing up the highways in Humvees. At least we would get where we were going in a convoy really fast."

There can be no doubt that Amick is a very long way from home, and in circumstances far different than the ones he faced as a Busch Series driver from 1997 through his last start at Talladega in April 2003. Certainly, his living conditions are far removed from the comfortable home in rural Saluda, S.C. that he shares with wife, Melanie, and children Billy, Drake and Jonas.

Amick today lives in a barracks with 12 other men. There's a mess hall, gym and common room, where the computers and television are located. Internet access is spotty.

Still, Amick isn't complaining.

"They have made a lot of strides in making it better for soldiers to enjoy the down time we have," Amick said. "All you want is a place to sleep, eat ... and Internet. I think most infantry guys are happy. We are not used to those things in most cases, so we are pretty happy with our setup here. Others may complain, but I think overall, our platoon likes it."

So far is Amick removed from his family, they live on what he says are daily calls on the cell phone he took with him overseas. Since e-mails are sometimes hit and miss, that's what they get by on.

Amick knew he would miss those he loves most in this world, but he didn't know just how much.

"What I didn't expect was how hard it would be to be away from my family and friends," Amick said. "It is much harder than I thought, I still think it's harder on them than on me."

Since arriving in the country, Amick has been in touch with a handful of the people he knew in the motorsports community -- people like Brad Pickens, the car chief for Kyle Busch who helped start Amick's Busch Series team. Other than that, he's been limited to keeping up with his friends in the garage through the Internet and televised races. (Continued)