Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Thoughts About the 2012 Daytona 500 and More

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was upbeat and relaxed at the Daytona three-day test session and as always, he did not hesitate to express his thoughts in a direct manner, but the driver of the No. 88 can be pretty funny too.

Earnhardt knows Victory Lane at the Daytona 500. When he was asked what winning it again in 2012 would mean, he spoke of the magnitude of the race.

Junior said, "Winning the 500 is the biggest race of the year. It's the greatest feeling. When it comes to winning single events, you can't beat it."

He talked of all the effort that was being demonstrated with the lengthy, intense testing at Daytona and addressed the fact that the amount of work evident at the track was being mirrored back at the shop.

Earnhardt said, "The effort is quadruple when it comes to how much goes into the engines, just for that race and the bodies on the cars, just for that race."

The driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet had a good offseason and was able to relax, but he missed being in the race car and really didn't want the season to end.

Junior added, "I've been asking Steve (Letarte) when we were going to test, when we're going to go the racetrack just to be doing something instead of sitting around at home."

Earnhardt has a lot of respect for NASCAR history and those who made it. He was so impressed with numbers that drivers used to run like Bill Elliott did at Talladega, when speeds were exceeding 200 mph back in the 80's.

He called it "Awesome stuff to read about, and it gets you really excited." Then he went on to say, "So going 30 miles an hour slower than that doesn't sound like a lot of fun, and it's not."

Earnhardt likes the direction NASCAR is trying to go at Daytona with getting the cars faster and putting more control back in the hands of the driver.

He said, "I like the car to handle some. I'd like to have to adjust on my car and work on the handling and get it to drive good."

The HMS driver tends to think the race may play out much like it did last year, but in the pack drafting session he, like most of the drivers, really had fun, even though it was a little edgy.

As to the limitations NASCAR is putting on communicating with other teams, he didn't see a problem because drivers usually work with teammates.

Even though Earnhardt had forgotten Danica Patrick would be testing the No. 10 for Stewart-Haas Racing, he said, "She's been relatively quiet, and that's probably good for her to be able to come in here and work and get everything done she wants to get done."

As for choosing Cole Whitt to drive his Nationwide car vacated by Aric Almirola, who made the move to the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43, he spoke of Whitt's "potential that was untapped."

Junior said, "I think it's more exciting, a lot more risky but more exciting to go with a guy who you don't really know what he's capable of and could be big things, but you've just got to take that risk."

He went on to say, "That's really why I do it. I don't do it to make money. I don't have a whole lot of other reasons to be in the Nationwide Series other than just to help somebody."

Earnhardt takes obvious pride in the opportunity he gave Brad Keselowski and Almirola and to see where they are now. He has Patrick driving full time for him until she moves full time to Cup.

The bearded driver spoke of the '70's-themed New Year's Eve party he threw. Earnhardt said, "I was Evel Knievel, of course. Has Matt Kenseth been in here today? Is he coming in?"

Earnhardt said, "Y'all can remind him that he owes me $2,500 because he had a beard that night and I bet him he couldn't keep it through the test, and we actually sent a few texts back and forth to confirm the bet."

He added, "And he shaved his beard. You guys can remind him--I told him to go to the bank, but maybe he forgot. I want my $2,500."

It was obvious in the garage area, that Earnhardt is getting along well with his crew chief, Letarte, and all four Hendrick drivers were a bit like peas in a pod. It looks like HMS has a strong foursome for 2012.

As the Daytona 500 gets closer by the day, we shall see if Earnhardt gets his way with more pack racing, but he does believe it will be a two-car tandem when the checkered flag waves.

Will this be the race that Johnson pays him back with a friendly push? We will know after the running of the 54th Daytona 500.

 Quotes courtesy of official NASCAR press release.