Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Notes

Budweiser Race Preview: Atlanta

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – driver, No. 8 Budweiser team:

On Atlanta Motor Speedway:
“It’s the fastest place we go, and it’s almost impossible to describe the feeling of being launched into the turns at 200 mph. It takes guts to keep your right foot down. We tested there last week, and I actually turned the car around once. Fortunately, I didn’t hit anything.

“We’ve always been really good at Atlanta and I always feel like I have a chance to win. Last year, it happened for us (in the March race). That was a cool deal, because I really, really wanted to win at Atlanta. My dad always ran well there, and I always ran well there, and I finally had a win to show for it. It’s like Daytona or Bristol: places where I grew up dreaming of racing there, and to actually win makes me feel like I’ve entered my own little corner of the history of the track. It’s a really cool feeling.”

On closing out the season strong:
“At this point it’d be nice to bring the car home in one piece. We’ve been in a string of wrecks lately, most of ‘em not our fault but wrecks all the same, and it ain’t fun. There have been some really fast cars with that Budweiser logo on ‘em that didn’t get the finish they deserved. If we keep bringing fast cars to the track, it will eventually pay off. We’re coming up on some good tracks in the next couple of weeks – Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix – all tracks we’ve won in the past.”

Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Previous Nextel Cup Starts: 12
Best Start: 1st (Nov. 18, 2001)
Best Finish: 1st (March 14, 2004)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 6th / FIN: 33rd
Last Time at Atlanta: ST: 35th / FIN: 24th
Chassis: #38 (previously used at Kansas three races ago)

BUDWEISER QUICK NOTES: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the #8 Budweiser race team enter the Atlanta race weekend 21st in the Nextel Cup point standings. In 2005, Dale Jr. has one win (Chicagoland Speedway), six top-fives and 11 top-10s in 31 starts. The Bud team is coming off an 18th-place showing at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday.

‘HOT’LANTA: Dale Jr. won at Atlanta last year, starting seventh and leading 55 laps en route to a three-second margin of victory in the Golden Corral 500. Dale Jr. has finished seventh or better in six of his last eight races at Atlanta, with four top-fives. He has led in eight of 12 races there for a total of 332 laps. He led his first lap as a Cup driver (in his fifth career start) when he topped the field for one lap at this race in 1999.

Race Details:
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 / Race No. 33 of 36 in the Nextel Cup Series
Atlanta Motor Speedway / Hampton, Ga.
1.5-mile oval / 325 laps / 500.5 miles
Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005
TV: NBC, 12:30 p.m. ET start. (Countdown to Green pre-race show begins at noon ET)
Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN) and XM Satellite Radio
Bud Pole Qualifying: Friday, Oct. 28 / 8 p.m. ET (SPEED Channel)
2004 Winner: Carl Edwards