August 29, 2004
DRIVER 8, TAKE A BREAK
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet, won at Bristol Motorspeedway yesterday for the second year in a row. Pretty good, considering he was nearly burned to death about a month ago and has been in excrutiating pain ever since.
The funny thing is that although he's No. 3 in the NASCAR Nextel standings, writers are saying that he's been in a slump. Hell, he's even saying so.
Autmotive near-immolation has a way of distracting you from your task, I'm guessing.
Anyway, Earnhardt Jr. will be featured in the season premiere of the weeknight edition of 60 Minutes. He's the first NASCAR driver to be profiled on the legendary news magazine show in 18 years. (Seven-time NASCAR champ Richard Petty was featured in 1988.)
Yeah, he's in a slump alright.
An aside: I found some photos from last spring, when a Dale Earnhardt Jr. cruise took place. Click here to see some of the photos.
I can't imagine another sport where you could fill a cruise ship with fans - and the athlete would actually show up and meet with them.