Junior gets off to great start in first test in No. 88

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- At precisely 11:54 a.m. on Monday, in a seemingly symbolic move, the No. 88 Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned into a garage stall at Daytona International Speedway right in front of the Budweiser-sponsored Sprint Cup car now bearing No. 9 and driven by Kasey Kahne.

Kahne sped on past, moving down the road and taking Earnhardt's past with him.

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Earnhardt Jr. climbed out of his new car, conferred with long-time crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and kept the media waiting. What was he thinking? How did his new ride for Hendrick Motorsports drive in his first test?

Junior -- as in Earnhardt Jr. -- wasn't saying. At least not to anybody but the handful of insiders gathered around him. He will speak at length to the media Tuesday, but left the talking Monday to Eury, the other Junior on the most scrutinized Cup team on the planet.

As with the other Junior earlier, Eury did nothing to downplay what he admits are "huge expectations" of the No. 88 team heading into their first season at Hendrick, the Sprint Cup behemoth that also fields the powerhouse teams of two-time defending points champion Jimmie Johnson and four-time champion Jeff Gordon, as well as the No. 5 of Casey Mears.

"Man, it's been exciting for me," Eury Jr. said. "As soon as we left Homestead in November [following the final race of last season], I was ready to go. That's when I kind of took over. I've just been trying to get the team together. We've got some things we've been changing around, just trying to bring the level of this team up to what the 24 and the 48 are. There's no doubt that they're the best teams in the Hendrick organization, and we're going to make the 5 and the 88 the same amount -- so we'll have four great teams.

"I've been pumped up. I think I've seen Dale Jr. more pumped up right now than he's ever been. He was down here for the first test [last week]. That's a sign of just how excited he was to get into the car. All in all, I think both of us are just happy to get this one test right here done -- and we're looking forward to February."

Fast times

The Juniors had reasons to smile after Monday's morning practice session at Daytona. Earnhardt's top lap speed of 184.646 mph (48.742 seconds) was second-fastest behind only a lap turned by Dale Jarrett (184.987 mph). It also was the fastest lap turned by a Chevrolet driver.

In truth, running fast in these practice sessions means next to nothing. To put it in perspective, Paul Menard, Earnhardt's former teammate at Dale Earnhardt Inc., posted the fastest times in one of the practice sessions a year ago -- and subsequently failed to run fast enough to qualify for the Daytona 500 when he returned a month later.

But in light of all the publicity swirling around Earnhardt's departure from DEI and his long-awaited arrival on the track in a Hendrick car, Eury said that in this case it meant something. At least to them.

"I mean, we're in the top five on the speed charts, so that's a good thing," Eury said. "We're just kind of doing our normal deal. We're not sitting here making qualifying runs, trying to be at the top of the sheet. We've just got a really good car, and we've got a little bit left in it. So we're pumped up."

They also have yet to put the car in a drafting scenario, which is so important at Daytona. That won't occur until Tuesday afternoon.

But Eury said Earnhardt's eagerness to get behind the wheel of his new ride has been contagious within the team. That eagerness was magnified last week when Earnhardt surprised everyone and attended the first day of testing for his teammates -- just to watch Johnson, Gordon and Mears and learn as much as he could.

Surprise visit

Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed his level of dedication to his new Hendrick team when he showed up for opening day of testing at Daytona, even though he wasn't scheduled to drive.

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"I was actually at the shop and he called home and said, 'You'll never guess where I am,'" Eury said.

Right away, though, Eury had a pretty good idea.

"I knew it was pretty noisy," Eury said. "To be honest, it kind of surprised me that he was down here. But that's good. His teammates probably appreciated him being down here, and I think that showed the organization how serious he is."

On the other hand, Earnhardt is changing cars, sponsors, and team uniforms -- but not who he is.

"He's not really no different," Eury said. "I mean, I think he was pretty pumped up when he got here. But it's normal Junior. He goes out there and tells you what [the car] does, and listens to a little bit of Ipod while he's sittin' out there [and the crew is working on the car]."

At least four?

It was when Earnhardt's new car was unveiled in Dallas last September that the gauntlet was laid down on expectations for the No. 88 this season. Former points champion and current television analyst Darrell Waltrip predicted then that Earnhardt would win the Daytona 500 and "at least six races" in 2008.

That day, Earnhardt did not flinch when told of the bold prediction. Neither did team owner Rick Hendrick.

On Monday, Eury was asked if he thought those lofty expectations were indeed realistic.

"I think so. I'd be very disappointed if we don't win at least four, to be honest," he said. "I just look at the races that we had problems with last year, where we were running in the top three and were in contention. That's the biggest thing in this sport -- you've got to put yourself in contention, and then anything can happen at the end of these races.

"That's all we've got to do. We've got to make the right calls, and be in the right position at the end of races -- and then we can win those races. We didn't win any last year, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. There were several races where we were running in the top three, top four at the end of the race and something would happen. A motor would blow up, or we would get in an accident, or something else would happen.

"I don't think it's totally out of line. I think it's up to us what we do."

Both Juniors know that the racing world will be watching ever so closely. Eury said they are used to the scrutiny.

"It's no more pressure than I've ever had on me," said Eury, Earnhardt's crew chief on the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet at DEI prior to making the switch to Hendrick last year. "I think there's pressure that comes along when you're dealing with Dale Earnhardt Jr. But expectations are good and they're huge. I just have to go out and do our job and make sure we're competitive and win races.

He makes it sound easy. But he knows it won't be.

Meanwhile, at least Monday was a good start.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer