Dale Earnhardt Q&A

"Christmas and New year was over and I was a little bit bored. No really, I've always been interested in the 24 Hours. I thought I had an opportunity last year to do it, but my neck injury prevented me from following through with it.

"It all came together this year. When I do retire I'll be able to sit back and say 'I've done that and been part of it'. I'm a big fan of all sorts of racing, from Formula 1 down.

"Fortunately there was room for myself and Dale Jr in this team. There are a lot of accomplished road racers who could be in our seats and do a better job. Being able to do it with my son was another piece of the story. Win or lose it's going to be fun."



"The whole team have been tremendous in helping me improve my road racing and I'm learning a lot. It's just tremendous to drive one of these cars. They are exceptional. They do what you ask of them to do. And if you operate them properly, they'll keep on doing it.

"When we first tested the car at Sebring back in November, we beat the car a little bit up, particularly the transmission. Now I'm learning about shifting with these cars."



"It's pretty neat to have someone else to qualify the car and do all the set up. I only have to get in once in a while. I'm thinking of maybe doing that for the Winston Cup team. We hire all these engineers to do the set ups at the shop and the track, so I shouldn't see why we shouldn't have drivers to do the same."



"I'm pretty careful around traffic. I want to be around at the end of the 24 hours. Dale Jr has been a little bit more into it. I'm pacing myself a little more and not going after it every lap."



"If you look at my past you'll see that things tend to happen close to the end of the race. If we're around after 20 hours, maybe our game plan will change."