Pepsi 400 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Notes

Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Race Preview

Dale Jr. Quotes for Daytona
The Budweiser team dominated at Daytona in February until a failed alternator knocked Dale Jr. out of the lead in the Daytona 500: “Does this place owe us one? No way. But, if you ask me if the Daytona 500 still haunts me and my team, I’d say you’re damn right it does. We had that thing handled – even when we were two-laps behind, I knew I was going to come back and win that race. We got one lap back, and then the rains came… Now, we’re halfway into the season, and we’re right there in the championship race. We never need extra motivation when we come to Daytona, but I'll tell ya that we’ve had our eyes on this race since that day. We’re focused, we’re confident, and we’ll be fast.”

“I was happy about the way we performed (at Infineon Raceway) on the road course. I don’t think anyone gave us a chance to be competitive, and we proved them wrong. More importantly, we proved to ourselves that we can go out and run at or near the front every week. The days of this team being inconsistent are gone. To have a weekend off, and then come to Daytona, where we’ve been really good in the past, means I can’t wait to get on the track when practice starts (Thursday afternoon).”

Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Daytona
Previous Winston Cup Starts: 7 (Points races only – does not include Budweiser Shootout, 125-mile qualifiers)
Best Start: 2nd (2003 Daytona 500)
Best Finish: 1st (2001 Pepsi 400)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 9th FIN: 6th

- Speedweeks at Daytona earlier this year were dominated by Dale Jr. and the Budweiser team, as they won the Budweiser Shootout, won a Twin-125 race, qualified second for the Daytona 500, then led 22 laps (seemingly at will) in the 500 until a failed alternator knocked them two laps behind the field. Dale Jr. regained one of those laps when rain fell to end the race prematurely on lap 109 of the scheduled 200-lap race. Dale Jr. and his Chance2 team also won the Busch Series race on the day prior to the Daytona 500…

- Dale Jr. and the Bud team grabbed an emotional victory in this race in 2001.

- Dale Jr’s Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) teammate Michael Waltrip is aiming for his third-consecutive points-race win at Daytona. At the other ‘restrictor-plate’ superspeedway, Talladega, Dale Jr. has won four consecutive races.

What:
Pepsi 400
160 laps / 400 miles / Race #17 of 36-race Winston Cup Series

Where:
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
2.5-mile superspeedway

When:
Saturday, July 5 / 7:30 p.m.

Watch:
NBC-TV (pre-race: 7:00 pm)
--- This event marks the transition to the NBC/TNT segment of the season. The remaining Winston Cup races of the 2003 season will be seen on NBC or TNT.

Bud Pole Qualifying:
Bud Pole qualifying can be seen Thursday at 8:00 p.m. on TNT. You can also hear qualifying and race action on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) on a radio station or computer near you. The radio programming is also heard on the 24-hour NASCAR channel on XM Radio. (All Times: Eastern)

©Copyright 2003 Race 2 Win