Earnhardt Jr. attends testing as spectator
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn't stand the thought of staying home and being bored while the rest of his new Hendrick Motorsports teammates were testing during Monday's first Sprint Cup Series session at Daytona International Speedway.
So he hopped on a plane and flew down from North Carolina for the day, saying he showed up to "watch, observe and goof off a little bit."
"I'm just curious, too," he said. "Normally I just sit at home and don't do anything. I had a plane coming down here anyway, and I didn't have anything going on today."
In the offseason, Earnhardt Jr. traveled to Australia with some friends. While there, he attended a V8 Supercar race and loved every minute of being at a race just to watch as a fan.
"I hadn't done that in a long time," he said. "It was nice to be at the race track with no responsibilities other than to eat a lot of junk food and hang and laugh with your buddies. It's fun to sit here and watch everybody else work."
Earnhardt Jr. said the first day of testing was always the day when there was the most information to be gained, and he was interested in listening in on his teammates' conversations as they knocked chunks off their lap times. He'll come back for his scheduled session next week.
But as long as he was in Daytona, didn't he have the urge to hop in one of the cars and run a few laps?
"That's against the rules," he said. "I already asked."
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn't stand the thought of staying home and being bored while the rest of his new Hendrick Motorsports teammates were testing during Monday's first Sprint Cup Series session at Daytona International Speedway.
So he hopped on a plane and flew down from North Carolina for the day, saying he showed up to "watch, observe and goof off a little bit."
"I'm just curious, too," he said. "Normally I just sit at home and don't do anything. I had a plane coming down here anyway, and I didn't have anything going on today."
In the offseason, Earnhardt Jr. traveled to Australia with some friends. While there, he attended a V8 Supercar race and loved every minute of being at a race just to watch as a fan.
"I hadn't done that in a long time," he said. "It was nice to be at the race track with no responsibilities other than to eat a lot of junk food and hang and laugh with your buddies. It's fun to sit here and watch everybody else work."
Earnhardt Jr. said the first day of testing was always the day when there was the most information to be gained, and he was interested in listening in on his teammates' conversations as they knocked chunks off their lap times. He'll come back for his scheduled session next week.
But as long as he was in Daytona, didn't he have the urge to hop in one of the cars and run a few laps?
"That's against the rules," he said. "I already asked."