Dale Jr. Leads Tuesday A.M.; Drafting Starts

Dale Earnhardt Jr. jumped to the top of the speed chart Tuesday morning at Daytona International Speedway, in a possible effort to gain some credence to his crew chief's predictions for 2008.

Monday afternoon, Tony Eury Jr. predicted his driver would pilot the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 to four race victories in the coming season.

Earnhardt Jr.'s lap of 185.820mph landed him the fastest single-lap speed of any driver through both this and last week's test session at the legendary 2.5-mile track. That figure will stand as the top overall single-lap time as the Sprint Cup Series drivers will now switch to multi-car drafting mode for the afternoon session on Tuesday.

Wednesday, testing will wrap up with two more drafting sessions in the schedule -- pending forecasted afternoon rain stays away. If Wednesday is enough of a washout, Thursday is scheduled as the additional rain-date but the forecast that day looks even worse.

The Toyotas remained a strong presence at the top of the leader board Tuesday morning with Michael Waltrip, Brian Vickers, Dale Jarrett and Tony Stewart rounding out the Top-5 of the final single-lap session.

There were no reported incidents in the morning session, but stay tuned to NASCAR Fanhouse for updates on the Tuesday afternoon session and activities on Wednesday.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-03-2008 @ 10:25PM

DALE JR GIRL 88 said...

DALE JR HAS A GREAT CAR AND A GREAT TEAM I FEEL HE WILL WIN THE NATIONWIDE RACE AND THE 500. HE IS AN AWESOME PERSON ON AND OFF THE TRACK AND I KNOW DALE SR WILL BE VERY PROUD OF HIS SON. HE IS THE ANGEL RIDING SHOTGUN WITH DALE JR. I WILL BE AT THE SHOOT OUT AND THE 500. ALL I NEED NOW IS MY POOL CUE WITH 88 AND AMP ON IT BECAUSE I AM IN A POOL LEAUGE AND MY BUDWEISER NUMBER 8 POOL CUE IS HANGING UP IN MY ROOM I NEED TO CALL HENDRICKS MOTOTSPORTS AND JR MOTORSPORTS TO SEE IF THEY WILL HAVE A 88 POOL CUE BECAUSE HIS STICKS BRING ME LUCK. IF YOU WANT TO SEE PICTURES OF THE RACES I HAVE BEEN TOO GO TO MY PHOTO ALBUM AT http://s36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/katanalady2/
I LOVE DALE JR AND I AM A NASCAR MORON GO JUNE BUG YOUR GOING TO WIN BABY I HAVE FAITH IN YOU MY JUNE BUG.
LOVE YOU A BUNCH YOUR BIGGEST FAN
PATTY

1-15-2008 @ 9:18PM

ROBERT LONG said...

This will be a good year for Dale Jr. He will have a good car and great team team mates

1-15-2008 @ 9:23PM

petra keyes said...

dahl good luck to you you father will be happy to good luck in 2008 we love you dahl jr

1-16-2008 @ 11:16AM

Jeff said...

Who cares?

The downward spiral that NASCAR is in has only been exacerbated by officials.

If Jr. had been leading the points as Gordon had and then virtually had to start over at the close of the season and then got nipped out by another at the end, I can tell you that the inner circle of fools who run the game would have to be wearing body armor and have bodyguards as they moved around.

NASCAR just can't get it right and they are losing fans by the bushel.

The race for the chase is a loser.

1-16-2008 @ 11:40AM

mikeymike said...

Agreed, NASCAR has changed....bad for us old time fans. Good for the sponsors that can throw multi-million contracts at teams. NASCAR is losing fans bushel but they are being replaced by new ones....most of which dont know the diff between a timing belt and a fan belt. NASCAR is on a slow painful self destruction... can you say cart/IRL.... somewhat same players: Penske, Ginnasty... so sad :(

1-16-2008 @ 6:52PM

rob said...

I have to agree with the others. NASCAR is on a downwards spiral. Brian France made to many changes in too short of a period of time and has slaughtered the goose that laid the golden egg. It's really too bad. The sport could still be growing, if France had just been intelligent enough to understand that a little tweaking was all that was necessary. Couple his wholesale changes with all the old drivers leaving and you have a sport that is nothing like the sport that grew so quickly in the 90s. There just isn't much left to like.

1-17-2008 @ 12:28AM

susie said...

Dale Jr. will do alright this year. He may have had a rough year last year, how many engines can be blown in a year? Anyway, you may no longer have the "8" car, but "88" will do just fine. And even though you have to tend with Jimmy and "Cry-Baby" now since their on your team, you're still the best and you've made it on your own. Good luck to you and your sister this year. Hope to see you in that winners circle in Richmond, Va. Be looking for you with my sisters!

1-17-2008 @ 6:32PM

kate r hunt said...

Jr. says he is optimistic about the upcoming season. Check out what he said at his Sound and Speed News conference on YouTube.

1-18-2008 @ 8:59PM

SHAWN said...

DALE JRS GOING TO KICK A** IN 08

1-20-2008 @ 4:46PM

LD said...

When is NASCAR going to open up their eyes and see this thing is no longer working. Almost every race has empty seats. The race to the chase is a joke. If you want a race for the championship, let everyone in and start out with zero points. Then you will see some fan interest and better racing. Lastly, the "lucky dog" rule has to go. There has to be a better way for drivers to get their laps back. Let's get it together before it is too late. Have not been to a race since April of 2001. Haven't missed it much either.
LD