Loudon: Dale Earnhardt Jr preview

Quotes from Dale Earnhardt Jr. / Driver, #8 Budweiser Chevrolet:

"I'm really looking forward to this weekend. We worked really hard testing all three DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) cars at Milwaukee a few weeks ago, and I think we should have a very solid car for the flat, one-mile oval. I can't emphasize enough how hard the team has been working - and even though we miss Tony Jr. (suspended crew chief Tony Eury Jr.) at the track - he's really been good at giving me some great cars. Look at how well we ran at the road course at Sonoma, and that's example of how competitive we have been. We've overcome the 100-point penalty (from technical violations at Darlington) and have really solidified our place in the top-12 with ten races to go before the Chase. Tony Gibson (interim crew chief) has done a great job and was the perfect choice to step in for Tony Jr., but when we get back to full strength at Daytona (the week following Loudon), we'll be tough to beat. No one has let all of the extra distractions and hoopla take away from their effort, and that makes me really proud of everyone at DEI."

Minutiae:

Among the oddities from Loudon in Dale Jr's career: Loudon is the home of the first DNF of Dale Jr's Cup career, as he finished 43rd with a failed engine in his second career start in July 1999... In this race last year, the team duplicated this less-than-stellar feat when engine issues meant a second last-place finish... The July, 2004 race marked the first time Dale Jr. ever required a relief driver, as Martin Truex Jr. made his Cup career debut in relief of Junior, who had been burned in a sports car race the previous weekend. Truex became only the second driver to ever pilot the No. 8 Bud car in competition... Dale Jr. started and finished third at Loudon in Sept. 2004, giving him a share of the point lead in the first race of the first-ever Chase for the Nextel Cup.... He has started in the third position four times in 15 starts...

-credit: dei