Convo: Shane Huffman

Shane Huffman is in a unique position as driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet in NASCAR's Busch Series.

That's because his boss is Nextel Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., owner of the JR Motorsports team that employs Huffman. Huffman is running 15th in the Busch Series standings -- but fourth among those who make running in that series their primary and sole interest.

Having Junior as boss is 'awesome'

Sometimes Shane Huffman flicks through his cell-phone contacts for the entry "Dale Earnhardt Jr." -- to convince himself he's not dreaming.

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Q: What's Dale Jr. like as a boss?

Huffman: He's real hands-on. He's very involved in the day-to-day operations as well as involved with me as his driver. He's very hands-on with me. He's been a great teacher and a great friend, too, so it's really been a lot of fun.

Q: How long have you known each other?

Huffman: I've both been around racing a long time. But we kind of missed each other on the whole Late Model thing just a little bit there. He was getting out of it just as I was getting started in it. I ran into him a time or two, but never really had the chance to talk too much or anything. Until I came to work for him, I didn't really know him well at all.

Q: How did that transpire, you coming to work for him?

Huffman: We were running the Hooters Pro Cup series in '05 and so were they with Mark McFarland driving. Then they announced that Mark and Navy were going to do this Busch deal this year, and they were looking for someone to replace Mark in the Hooters Pro Cup car because they had a good sponsor, and they were looking to continue on. They knew they had a lot of growing pains with the Busch team, so they were looking for someone to come in with the Pro Cup deal who wouldn't really need a lot of attention. I think that played into my hands a lot as far as getting the deal. ... We sat down and talked and it was pretty much a done deal soon after.

(Note: Huffman then went on to replace McFarland in the Busch car this past August, running nine races in that series in 2006).

Q: Word on the street is that you've gotten to do some really neat stuff with the U.S. Navy being the primary sponsor on your Busch car. What have you done?

Huffman: I've gotten to do a lot of cool stuff. That's really been a neat part of the deal of being involved with the Navy as our sponsor. Most recently we got to go with the Blue Angels. That was probably the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. So we really have had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed that.

Q: What else have you done along those lines?

Huffman: I went on an aircraft carrier and stayed overnight on it. I stayed overnight on a submarine about 800 fathoms below the water or however you say that. Just a lot of cool stuff. I got to see the Navy Seals train at Coronado in San Diego, Calif. I got to see the SeaBees train. ... I saw the classes at different stages of their nine weeks of training, so that was kind of neat -- to see the evolution of a sailor. And then most recently we went and saw where they do underwater survival and stuff like that. A lot of the Coast Guard people train down there. That was pretty neat.

Q: On that Blue Angel deal, wasn't there a little, um, accident in the cockpit of the jet you were riding in?

Huffman: No, it ain't true. ... OK, yeah, it's true. I got sick. But I don't care. I would do it again tomorrow. I would prepare myself a little bit better for it."

Q: Junior didn't give you a hard time about it, did he?

Huffman: Not too bad. But he did laugh at me.

Q: What's the best part about having Junior as your boss?

Huffman: Probably having the instant fan base. That was really neat -- but at the same time, it puts a lot of pressure on me to perform right off the bat. You know, I put it all on myself, anyway. Junior certainly doesn't put it on me. But that's probably the biggest thing and the coolest thing, the fan recognition because this is Junior's team.

Q: You also know you're going to have great equipment, too, right?

Huffman: Oh, yeah, that's a big part of it. We just moved into a brand-new facility back in January (in Mooresville, N.C.). That's been a new experience, too, just to know that I'm the driver of the car that sits in that building. We've got a new 66,000-square foot building. It's really, really neat -- and I'm proud as hell to be a part of it.