Indy Notebook: Dale Jr aiming high

Earnhardt qualified 36th - the last driver to make the field based on qualification speeds.

"Well, coming in here I felt like I was going to win this race all week long," Earnhardt said. " I'm kind of questioning my confidence now because of where I'm going to start. When we came here and tested, the car drove like nobody had a car that good. They may run the times that I can run, but I think on long runs our car is going to be turning better than most people.

"Even though we're fighting loose off of turn four now, when we take the tape off the grilles and get our cars in race trim, the guys are going to be complaining - maybe not in the beginning of the race, but through the majority of the race that their cars are not turning well.

"I think we already have half that problem licked," added Earnhardt. "If we can work our way to the front, I believe we can stay there. I just really felt good coming into this race the way our car tested and the way it drove. It gave me a lot of confidence."

Earnhardt believes the track surface at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway can change dramatically to where a car can have a great set-up on one fuel stop, make a pit stop and then falter badly after that.

"I think what happened last year was that as the race went on, the track got a lot tighter and a lot tighter," Earnhardt said. "The shadows started to fall over certain corners of the track. I believe it just got kind of overcast at the end of that race. We just didn't adjust enough. We didn't expect it to change as much as it did. That was the case at pretty much every race last year for us.

"This year, we're a little bit more knowledgeable about the track tightening up at places like Pocono and Michigan. If we start the race with a great handling race car, that's probably the first thing that comes across my mind is to tell Tony Eury Jr (crew chief) that we're going to probably have to think about what we're going to have to do later in the race to get the car freed-up. There are all kinds of things that you can change on the car to do that, but they all don't work the same way and give you the feeling that you want."


Team owner Carl Haas has always had a bittersweet relationship with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As a team owner in CART, Haas often had the best car in the field in the Indianapolis, but never won the race.

With Mario and Michael Andretti and Nigel Mansell as his drivers, Haas's cars always run up front, and often dominated the world's biggest race. Mario Andretti won the pole in 1987 and had a two-lap lead on the field in the race before his Chevy engine blew up less than 30 laps from an apparent victory.

Haas's teams competed in the Indy 500 until the infamous split between CART and the Indy Racing League beginning in 1996.

So when Jimmy Spencer won the pole Saturday for Sunday's Brickyard 400, Haas admitted that he felt redemption at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Haas co-owns the team with Travis Carter.

"I don't know if it's my turn or not, but we are sure happy today," Haas said. "I sure do feel some redemption. We never won it (Indy). As you know, we were so close to winning it many times. It's very gratifying. It's not a race win, but the pole is big here. I'm humble. I have always respected and will continue to respect the Indianapolis 500 and what it stands for. Now, the Brickyard 400.

"I was standing there the first and second year when NASCAR ran here and it was awesome. It was a big, big event. I think it's on par with the Indy 500."

Even though Haas has remained loyal to CART and stayed away from the Indianapolis 500 every year since 1996, he admits that as more CART teams trickle back to Indy, he may join them next year.

"Six of our guys came here this year and did pretty well," Haas said. "We have talked about it. If we are welcome, I'd come and race in the Indianapolis 500. I don't have all of my plans together yet for next year. It's a possibility, quite honestly. Right now, I want to win the NASCAR race here.

"If you look at my history, I'm in racing because I want to win races. I want to be competitive. That's what I eat, sleep and do. I've done it for 30 years. It doesn't matter what race it is. I want to be competitive. This is very difficult. This is the toughest racing I've ever seen. It's hard to win. It takes a lot of the package. We have come a long way."

Although Haas has an unusual personality, he loves working with Spencer - an outspoken driver who has earned the nickname "Mr. Excitement."

"I love the guy," Haas said of Spencer. "His personality is great. We have hit it off very, very well. He is a good NASCR racer. If he gets the right backing and the right equipment and the right people, and we have a lot of the right people now, he's a potential winner and he proved it today."


Kevin Harvick had double-duty on Saturday when he had to qualify for both the Brickyard 400 on Saturday morning and the Kroger 250 NASCAR Busch Series race at nearby Indianapolis Raceway Park in Clermont, Indiana.

Harvick qualified 11th for the Brickyard 400 and 12th for Saturday night's Busch race. After Busch qualifying, Harvick came back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the final "Happy Hour" practice session on Saturday afternoon, then returned to IRP for the Busch race.

"I haven't been nervous for qualifying for a long, long time," Harvick said. "But this place brings out a lot of history to a lot of people and this is pretty cool for me right now. It's hard to tell what we want right now. We don't know how much the track has slowed down. We'll be fine."


Jay Leno, the host of The Tonight Show on NBC, will drive the pace car in Sunday's Brickyard 400. It's the second time Leno will serve as the pace car driver at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The TV funnyman also drove the pace car for the 1999 Indianapolis 500, won by Kenny Brack.

"The fastest I've gotten the pace car around here was about 128 miles an hour in the pace car," Leno said. "I have great respect for the men and women who race. I always have this argument with people who say they are not athletes. They don't realise the skill and hand-eye co-ordination is like one in 10,000. Driving a race car is like making love - every guy thinks they are pretty good at it. Then, you talk to the other person involved.

"I always wanted to be involved in this sport," added Leno. "But then again I had a thing about Miss Winston, and that didn't happen either. I like cars and I always have."