Earnhardt Jr makes Hendrick debut

Earnhardt Jr drove a white and red Chevrolet Impala SS with the 5 number on it, not the 88 that he will be racing with next season. He also wore red and white overalls with a big Adidas logo on them as part of a personal endorsement deal he signed with the German company this year after leaving DEI.

In the morning, Earnhardt Jr completed his first laps in the car being still a bit sore after his massive crash on the penultimate lap of yesterday's Nextel Cup race caused by a loose left-rear wheel.

He reunited with his former DEI crew chief Tony Eury Jr, who has already started work at Hendrick Motorsports a few weeks ago.

During the morning session Earnhardt turned a best lap of 30.057 seconds which ranked him seventh fastest, less than three tenths off from the driver he replaces at Hendrick, Kyle Busch, who was fastest of the day. In the afternoon he ran around a tenth slower and finished eighth fastest.

"Well, the car drives about the same, but you feel like the steering is smoother," Earnhardt Jr said about his first impressions of the Hendrick car relative to his DEI machine.

"I think the theory and the method that Hendrick takes in putting their geometry together and putting this front suspension - how the front suspension's assembled, makes the car steer smoother.

"That's the way the 5 car felt at Texas. It was quite a bit different than my car at Texas. It's a little bit the same here."

Although officially driving a Hendrick entry for the first time, he drove Kyle Busch's wrecked car at Texas in the final part of the Nextel Cup race back in April. However, this time he had the chance to try out different settings through out the day and get to know his new working environment.

"The adjustment period, I think the hard part for me is just, you know, it's like going to a new school, making new friends," Earnhardt added. "It's hard to make friends. It's hard to build relationships.

"Starting all over with a new group of guys, I had such a great rapport and great relationship with all the guys on my team I'm currently with, and to have to go through the challenge of that and building that respect and trust, you know, with a whole new group is going to be tough.

"They seem like they're willing to have a great attitude, willing to work really well. So it should be just a matter of time."

Earnhardt Jr will continue testing tomorrow, as will most Nextel Cup teams at Atlanta Motor Speedway.