Dale Earnhardt Jr. is under more scrutiny than anybody in NASCAR, but interestingly, he doesn't run from the spotlight -- he stands up and takes the tough questions, week after week, time after time. USA Today's Nate Ryan has a fine, long Q&A with Junior today in which he puts a bow on his season and starts looking forward to 2010. If you're a Junior fan, this is must-reading. Some of the highlights:
• At the CMAs, he was too nervous to ask Reba McEntire to take a photo with him.
• He doesn't want to get away from racing in the offseason; quite the opposite, he'd rather be racing in December.
• Great quote about how he's getting caught up in so many wrecks because he's back in the pack: "If you hang out with pigs, you're going to get (dirt) on you."
• On running a complete race: "We're to the point now where we show up and we're fast and competitive. In races, we're running good. From now to February, we should have figured out what the hell the other problems are that are keeping us from finishing the deal."
• He laughed off his National Enquirer appearance as a "compliment," but didn't try to track down the "unnamed sources" in the story.
• On 2009: "It's been a real frustrating year, and you've got to give me a little credit, because I've been pretty good about controlling my mouth."
So there you go. Tough year for Junior, but give him credit -- he's facing up to the shortcomings of his car, his team and himself. It'll get very interesting if these problems continue on into next year, won't it?
Earnhardt Jr. strikes a hopeful tone in exclusive Q&A [USA Today]
No comments:
Post a Comment