RICHMOND, Va. -- The dream day began in the morning, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking several Washington Redskins for laps around Richmond International Raceway. Redskins players greeted him with a sense of awe, excited to drive laps with one of NASCAR's biggest personalities.

Thing is, Earnhardt returned the awe. As happy as the Redskins players were to meet him -- linebacker Will Compton took a selfie with Earnhardt before his lap -- he was equally pumped to be around the players of his favorite team. After all, this is the team he's rooted for since 1982.

So it meant something for him to talk with Joe Jacoby and Doug Williams during practice in the afternoon. It meant something to talk shop with quarterback Kirk Cousins, who took a spin with Earnhardt in a Camaro at the track afterward.

And then to catch passes from Cousins, who recruited Josh Norman -- another lap participant -- to cover Earnhardt. For the record, Cousins completed two of three passes to Earnhardt for 12 yards -- a 74.3 passer rating. Earnhardt's double move vs. Norman wasn't enough to shake free on the last pass and the ball sailed over his head.

I think @DaleJr may have died and gone to heaven today https://t.co/OgO3Hrh9va

— Amy Earnhardt (@AmyEarnhardt) August 8, 2017

I was so geeked out about going to @Redskins training camp today, I left my truck running all day at the airport. No bs.

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) August 8, 2017

But who it was cooler for was hard to tell.

"The fastest I saw us going was 114, and that was going into a turn," said linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, one of four Redskins to take laps. "So that was, wow, that was awesome."

Cousins rattled off Ricky Bobby lines from the movie "Talladega Nights" while he was at the track. He joked that if he received another franchise tag he might buy a race car. Cousins isn't into NASCAR, but he did recall that his college roommate, Aaron Bates, had a poster of Earnhardt's father on his bedroom wall.

Norman, the only player to ride in Earnhardt’s 88 car -- a leak was being fixed when the others rode -- let out a loud "Wooo!" as the car came to a halt.

Norman said he could feel the power of the car "in my stomach and gut. You feel every bit of that car."

Norman had driven a race car before in Charlotte and joked that he wanted to drive again Tuesday. But he had not experienced anything like the first lap Tuesday.

"The best part was first starting it up," Norman said, "hearing those horses in that car. And then taking off, zero to frickin 80 it felt like in less than 3.2 whatever seconds it was going. It was amazing to feel the sheer power in that car.

"That first lap was the best thing I've ever experienced. I'm an adrenaline junkie, so this is in my wheelhouse."

After his laps, Cousins said he felt he was "one to two feet from the wall going 120, 130 miles an hour. To be that close was unbelievable. Talk about foot, hand-eye coordination."

Cousins talked later with Earnhardt about how close they were to the wall.

"I guess you're so close to the wall you put your trust in the machine," Cousins said.

Then Earnhardt, turning back into the football fan, quizzed Cousins on practice and new receiver Terrelle Pryor Sr. He wanted to know how long it takes to get the chemistry down with a new target. So Cousins told him about the various aspects of that quest, from audibles to hand signals. He told Earnhardt that Pryor is really smart and, as a former quarterback, has handled that aspect well.

It was a day for athletes in different sports to admire one another's craft, getting an up-close look. Earnhardt has said he is retiring from NASCAR after this season, but he's not about to abandon his Redskins fandom.

As Earnhardt exited, a security officer said, "That was cool. That was very cool."