A
abooja
Guest
I thought this was a hopeful little article. 
http://llnlb.us.publicus.com/apps/pbcs.dll...ionCat=SPORTS11
Published Thursday, October 3, 2002
Learning Curve
Kerry Earnhardt finds that his focus should be on his skills, not Dale Jr.
By Patrick Zier
The Ledger
TALLADEGA, Ala.
Quietly, and with much less fanfare than his younger brother, Dale Jr., Kerry Earnhardt is on the Winston Cup track.
The eldest son of Dale Earnhardt, Kerry Earnhardt will attempt to qualify for the second Winston Cup race of his career on Friday in a car fielded by Armando Fitz, for whom he drives on the Busch Series.
The 32-year-old Kerry Earnhardt comes in off his bestever Busch finish, a second at Kansas City on Saturday. It was his third top 10 of the year and his only top five.
In his first full season of Busch competition, Kerry Earnhardt has not made the big splash Dale Jr. generated when he was moving up. Earnhardt Jr. knocked the series on its ear when he won back-to-back championships in 1998 and '99 before taking a Cup ride.
But one of the things Kerry Earnhardt has had to learn is that while comparisons to his brother are inevitable, his focus must be on improving his own skills rather than how he measures up to Dale Jr.
The two have gone down very different paths, Dale Jr. concentrating on racing all his adult life and Kerry concentrating on taking care of his family before getting fully involved in the sport.
Now, though, Kerry is getting ready to make a move.
"We wanted to run a Cup race to get our feet wet," Fitz said. "We wanted to see what we could do. The plan is for Kerry to run seven Cup races in 2003, then go full time in 2004."
Once before, in 2000 at Michigan, Kerry Earnhardt ran in Winston Cup. It was a much ballyhooed debut since it marked the first and, as it turned out, only time the three Earnhardts would be in the same race.
It proved to be an embarrassment for Kerry Earnhardt, who ran Dave Marcis' car.
After qualifying 27th, he finished last when he wrecked all by himself just five laps into the race.
"That taught me patience is a virtue," Kerry Earnhardt said. "And I think I've learned that this year.
"I've learned you can only do so much, and when you have to, just hang on and let people pass."
While he has had limited success in his first full Busch season, Kerry Earnhardt has shown front-running ability in ARCA, where he won three times in five starts in 2001.
And he credits his dad, who monitored him on the radio, with giving him a big boost.
"I learned a lot in ARCA," Kerry Earnhardt said. "I learned more those two years with that coach (Dale Earnhardt) than at any time since."
Now he is trying to build on that.
And if he does, it will mostly be on his own with only limited help from DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.), his dad's company and the owner of Dale Jr.'s car.
DEI will provide the motor for this race and that's a plus, because the last two years DEI has been, by far, the top Winston Cup team on the superspeedways -- Daytona and Talladega.
Since Fitz has no owner points, Earnhardt must qualify in the top 36 to make the race, and the DEI motor could make the difference.
"That's the race we're worried about," Fitz said of qualifying.
As for DEI's future involvement with Kerry Earnhardt's Winston Cup effort, that remains an unknown.
"I hope they'd be involved in some way," Kerry Earnhardt said. "As a single car team, we can't afford the technology you need to run Cup.
"I'm not counting on DEI," Fitz said. "But if they're there, I'll take it in a heartbeat."
"Right now, we're just taking baby steps," Earnhardt went on.
"We're not jumping into things. We're making sure they're right before we make a move.
"I think the team has come around, I think I've come around.
"No one's harder on myself than I am when I wreck cars or don't do well," he continued.
"I was a wild driver. I wrecked a lot of cars. I thought all you had to do was mash the gas and go. There's a lot more to it than that," Kerry Earnhardt said.
One final note.
The car Kerry Earnhardt will drive here is No. 83.
The eight is the number his grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt, ran and Dale Jr.'s Winston Cup number. The three, well, we all know who that belonged to.
http://llnlb.us.publicus.com/apps/pbcs.dll...ionCat=SPORTS11
Published Thursday, October 3, 2002
Learning Curve
Kerry Earnhardt finds that his focus should be on his skills, not Dale Jr.
By Patrick Zier
The Ledger
TALLADEGA, Ala.
Quietly, and with much less fanfare than his younger brother, Dale Jr., Kerry Earnhardt is on the Winston Cup track.
The eldest son of Dale Earnhardt, Kerry Earnhardt will attempt to qualify for the second Winston Cup race of his career on Friday in a car fielded by Armando Fitz, for whom he drives on the Busch Series.
The 32-year-old Kerry Earnhardt comes in off his bestever Busch finish, a second at Kansas City on Saturday. It was his third top 10 of the year and his only top five.
In his first full season of Busch competition, Kerry Earnhardt has not made the big splash Dale Jr. generated when he was moving up. Earnhardt Jr. knocked the series on its ear when he won back-to-back championships in 1998 and '99 before taking a Cup ride.
But one of the things Kerry Earnhardt has had to learn is that while comparisons to his brother are inevitable, his focus must be on improving his own skills rather than how he measures up to Dale Jr.
The two have gone down very different paths, Dale Jr. concentrating on racing all his adult life and Kerry concentrating on taking care of his family before getting fully involved in the sport.
Now, though, Kerry is getting ready to make a move.
"We wanted to run a Cup race to get our feet wet," Fitz said. "We wanted to see what we could do. The plan is for Kerry to run seven Cup races in 2003, then go full time in 2004."
Once before, in 2000 at Michigan, Kerry Earnhardt ran in Winston Cup. It was a much ballyhooed debut since it marked the first and, as it turned out, only time the three Earnhardts would be in the same race.
It proved to be an embarrassment for Kerry Earnhardt, who ran Dave Marcis' car.
After qualifying 27th, he finished last when he wrecked all by himself just five laps into the race.
"That taught me patience is a virtue," Kerry Earnhardt said. "And I think I've learned that this year.
"I've learned you can only do so much, and when you have to, just hang on and let people pass."
While he has had limited success in his first full Busch season, Kerry Earnhardt has shown front-running ability in ARCA, where he won three times in five starts in 2001.
And he credits his dad, who monitored him on the radio, with giving him a big boost.
"I learned a lot in ARCA," Kerry Earnhardt said. "I learned more those two years with that coach (Dale Earnhardt) than at any time since."
Now he is trying to build on that.
And if he does, it will mostly be on his own with only limited help from DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.), his dad's company and the owner of Dale Jr.'s car.
DEI will provide the motor for this race and that's a plus, because the last two years DEI has been, by far, the top Winston Cup team on the superspeedways -- Daytona and Talladega.
Since Fitz has no owner points, Earnhardt must qualify in the top 36 to make the race, and the DEI motor could make the difference.
"That's the race we're worried about," Fitz said of qualifying.
As for DEI's future involvement with Kerry Earnhardt's Winston Cup effort, that remains an unknown.
"I hope they'd be involved in some way," Kerry Earnhardt said. "As a single car team, we can't afford the technology you need to run Cup.
"I'm not counting on DEI," Fitz said. "But if they're there, I'll take it in a heartbeat."
"Right now, we're just taking baby steps," Earnhardt went on.
"We're not jumping into things. We're making sure they're right before we make a move.
"I think the team has come around, I think I've come around.
"No one's harder on myself than I am when I wreck cars or don't do well," he continued.
"I was a wild driver. I wrecked a lot of cars. I thought all you had to do was mash the gas and go. There's a lot more to it than that," Kerry Earnhardt said.
One final note.
The car Kerry Earnhardt will drive here is No. 83.
The eight is the number his grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt, ran and Dale Jr.'s Winston Cup number. The three, well, we all know who that belonged to.