Race-car drivers will make anything into a race. Literally, anything.
On the latest edition of the “Dale Jr. Download” on Dirty Mo Radio, Dale Earnhardt Jr. recounted the time when he raced Brad Keselowski to a port-a-john while waiting out an extended red-flag period during the 2012 Daytona 500 (yes, the Juan Pablo Montoya-jet dryer one).
As it turns out, Earnhardt was behind the race within the race.
“He started walking to the port-a-john and I thought, man, that’s a good idea,” Earnhardt said. “Where’s this port-a-john at? I got to looking and saw where it was and I kind of jogged up behind him (Keselowski) quietly, tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘Race ya!’ “
“We started running and with those long legs, man … I thought I had him beat. He had me beat, actually, but we got to the port-a-john and I had to give him the shoulder. I put the bumper to him and pushed him by where he overran the port-a-john.”
Earnhardt may have collected his first “unofficial” victory of the 2012 season, but it came at a cost.
“At this point, my heart is literally pounding out of my chest and I’m almost embarrassed about how out of breath I am,” Earnhardt recalled. “So I go into the port-a-john and stood there for five minutes before I ever took a leak to catch my breath. Like, holy moly, I can’t let anybody see how terrible I feel.”
And, of course, there’s video of it all.