texastrophies Posted November 12, 2004 Report Share Posted November 12, 2004 Earnhardt Jr. OK after destroying primary car By Marty Smith, NASCAR.COM November 12, 2004 05:32 PM EST (22:32 GMT) DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. will require a backup car for the Southern 500 following a brush with the Turn 2 wall during practice Friday. And this was no love tap, either. Earnhardt hit hard enough hard enough to knock the roll cage loose in the No. 8 Chevrolet and knock the breath from his lungs. "At Darlington, due to fact that we hit the wall here a lot in the race, every car puts a 4x4 square piece of lumber in the side," Junior explained. "I hit the wall really hard. "It knocked breath out of me, moved that lumber, knocked the cage out of the car. "That's the main part of the chassis. We might have to make a show car out of this one. I don't know really what happened other than I ran out of racetrack. I got up out of the groove, hit the fence. It happens." True, but it tends to occur at Darlington Raceway more than at most venues. "Junior proved that this morning," chuckled Jeff Gordon. "I went out my first lap and I about got in the wall, too." Apparently it's not cause for much concern in the DEI camp. After 49 minutes spent prepping the backup, Junior promptly went out and ran his fastest laps of the day. "Any time we tear up our primary car, I feel pretty good about the car we have on the trailer," he said. "I got a couple laps, so we have a good idea what to put under the car (for the race) if we get rained out tomorrow." The backup car is one Earnhardt has run multiple times in the past, but has yet to race in 2004. Due to a qualifying rainout, he'll start third Sunday. "I didn't really have a lot of high expectations going into qualifying, regardless," Earnhardt said. "It's nice to have a good starting spot (and) clean air, but you're car's got to be good." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrud Posted November 12, 2004 Report Share Posted November 12, 2004 Re: Jr. to Backup Car I can sum up my reaction to that in one four-letter word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrud Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Re: Jr. to Backup Car Wait a minute...he still gets to start third, I think. I think the back-up only applies after qualifying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheDeerHunter Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Re: Jr. to Backup Car I hope you are right! That would suck if he had to go to the back of the pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTF Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Re: Jr. to Backup Car He will start third , because he never qaulified with the car he wrecked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrud Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Re: Jr. to Backup Car Cancel the four-letter word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvantageTimberLou Posted November 13, 2004 Report Share Posted November 13, 2004 Re: Jr. to Backup Car Never knew NASCAR at Darlington ran 4x4's on the side for impact reasons. Now here's the kicker, who supplies the lumber the #20 Home Depot car or the #48 Lowe's car? Lou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrud Posted November 14, 2004 Report Share Posted November 14, 2004 Re: Jr. to Backup Car Kretz Lumber Company, Inc., Antigo, Wisconsin. Resawed by myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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