AVONDALE, Ariz. -- There were a few must-share moments from Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s behind-the-hauler media availability Friday at Phoenix International Raceway.
First, to those who still question Earnhardt's drive and desire to be a champion, I offer this:
Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesDale Earnhardt Jr. on the fast-approaching offseason: "I'm ready to go testing. I'm not ready to sit down.""I wish we could race on into February and start back over, if it was up to me," said Earnhardt, who is 12th in points after missing two races with a concussion. "It's been a good year, but this should be like par for the course. It's been a good year, but we want to do better than this.
"I'm not ready to stop trying to be better."
Earnhardt hasn't always wanted the season to continue. There have been years when, with two races remaining, he couldn't wait for the offseason. There have been times when he dreaded even testing during the offseason.
He admitted that maybe only 30 percent of the time since 2000, when he began driving in the Sprint Cup Series full time, has he wanted the season to keep going this late.
"I'm excited about next year, excited about the opportunities with a new car, working on the new car," Earnhardt said. "I'm ready to go testing. I'm not ready to sit down."
That was enlightening.
Listening to Earnhardt respond to what Brad Keselowski said Tuesday about having to sign a clause in his previous contract at JR Motorsports never to write a book about the experiences he had with NASCAR's most popular driver was downright funny.
"I don't have anything that I would rather him not write about," Earnhardt said with a laugh. "I think he was telling a lie, to be honest with you. We've had some fun times together, and he grew up a whole lot when he was around us."
Such as?
"He hadn't been exposed to a whole lot when we got ahold of him," Earnhardt said. "All he had ever done was race cars. We took him to town and got him some clothes and dressed him up and showed him what was going on.
"It wasn't too crazy."
Now who's lying?
David Newton | email
ESPN Staff WriterABOUT THIS BLOG
David Newton
David Newton, an award-winning NASCAR writer, began as a national motorsports columnist at ESPN.com in December 2006. Prior to joining ESPN.com, Newton served as the lead writer for NASCAR.com.
Newton previously covered NASCAR, the Carolina Panthers, Clemson University and University of South Carolina athletics for The State in Columbia, S.C., from 1984 to 2006. He also served as a correspondent for Sports Illustrated, and covered seven Super Bowls, dozens of college bowl games, five Masters, two U.S. Opens, two men's Final Fours, one women's Final Four and every major race on the NASCAR circuit.
The 1981 Wofford College graduate has won numerous state and national press association awards, including the 2009 Aflac Motorsports Journalism Award and second place in the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) columnist category. He also grabbed second-place national honors for his coverage of University of South Carolina football from the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) in 1992 and the award for excellence in news reporting from the South Carolina State Press Association in 2002. He has broken major national stories, including the Carolina Panthers' steroid scandal in 2004.
Comments
You must be signed in to post a comment