Top Stories in dale jr.

Junior Joins Hendrick
Date Created: Jun 13, 2007, 02:29 PM


Enjoy photos of today's function through the lens of Harold Hinson. You can always see more at HaroldHinson.com.



|

Budweiser Joins Tribute to Dale: The Black #8 Bud Car
Date Created: Apr 25, 2006, 03:59 PM



Dale Jr. in BLACK No. 8 Budweiser Car this Weekend at Talladega

The No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet piloted by Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have a new look for this weekend’s activities at Talladega Superspeedway. The usually red No. 8 will be black with white lettering and silver and red stripes in honor of the life and brilliant career of the late Dale Earnhardt. The paint scheme mimics the design the elder Earnhardt made famous in his career while driving for Richard Childress Racing in the Cup Series and Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) in the Busch Series. Ten of Earnhardt’s 76 career wins came at Talladega – more than any other driver. His son, Dale Jr., is second in all-time Nextel Cup victories at Talladega with five, including a record four-in-a-row for DEI between October 2001 to April 2003.

The elder Earnhardt will be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall-of-Fame at Talladega Thursday evening, and Saturday, April 29th would have been his 55th birthday. Among the most memorable of Earnhardt’s 10 victories at Talladega was the last of his 76 career victories, where he came from 18th place with five laps remaining to take the win in October 2000.

Anheuser-Busch and the Busch family had a personal and business relationship with Dale Earnhardt for many years, promoting the Busch brand. Earnhardt won the first-ever race run under the “Busch Series” name in 1982 at Daytona.


All photos by Harold Hinson.

Ladies and Gentleman, Start Your Credit Cards. After unveiling the new paint scheme yesterday, the first reaction among nearly everyone was how cool the car looked. Then, the second question (even among many members of the media) was "where and when can I get the die-cast?!"

Log-on to BudShop.com to order the die-cast of the car, as well as special Black-8-themed items like the Budweiser stein, mirror (pictured), t-shirt and more that you will find nowhere else. Click into the site, hit the Dale Jr./Racing link, and then select "Everything #8" to find the items.

|

The Story of Wilson
Date Created: Sep 24, 2004, 08:42 PM

I made mention in yesterday's post about the "Wilson the Volleyball" story, and received a lot of feedback from people who didn't know the story or wanted to know the background... so here it is.

First of all, some background. The 2001 season had been a nightmare: Dale Jr. lost his father and it seemed most of us were in a state of shock. The team actually pulled together quite well because it seemed hard work and togetherness helped lessen the pain, or at least numb it.

Second, Darlington Raceway was not one of Dale Jr's favorite tracks. He does well there now, but in '01, he said in a Playboy interview the track was the worst on the Cup circuit and needed to be resurfaced because if you rubbed your hand across it, it would cut your hand. In the spirit of good fun, the Darlington staff awarded Dale Jr. "The Shelly Award" with a big sea shell on top in honor of his quips about the track being nothing but a bunch of crushed sea shells.

Third, Dale Jr. likes and needs at least some sort of acknowledgement on the radio during the race. If he says "the car's doing this," he doesn't like hearing silence in return. Usually, a "10-4" will do.

Fourth, Dale Jr. loves the movie "Cast Away" starring Tom Hanks. In the movie, Hanks is stranded on a deserted island, and he makes a friend by painting a crude, scruffy face on a Wilson volleyball.

So, as the Sept. 9, 2001 race at Darlington ground along endlessly, Dale Jr. was in a less-than-stellar mood.

"I'm trying not to crash or spin out in every corner. I am amazed anyone can finish 500 miles without crashing," he told the team via the radio.

Silence. No response.

"I'm out here slipping and sliding lap after lap after lap, and I feel so stranded. You know -- all alone. 'Help! Somebody save me! Anybody!' Y'all just make me feel like Tom Hanks out here, all alone. I should just get a volleyball to keep me company."

The comments - though uttered with more than a twinge of anger - made the crew laugh...

Two days later: Sept. 11.

In the aftermath of the attacks, the Loudon race was postponed, and Dover loomed on September 23. I tried to think of a way to break the ice or at least break the tension in the garage area. So, I set out to find a Wilson volleyball like the one in the movie. I can't recall how many sporting goods and mega-stores I visited to find a ball with that red scratchy face on it. No luck anywhere.

As a last resort, I went out after Friday's qualifying to find ANY Wilson volleyball, and the Dover K-Mart, though less than clean or aesthetically pleasing, offered up a single Wilson-brand volleyball. I picked up several red Sharpies and headed back to the hotel for a little arts-and-craft time.

Saturday morning, I snuck the ball to the garage and presented it to Tony Eury Jr. and the crew. They decided it would be funny to stuff the ball into Junior's helmet (still an open-faced model at that time) before Happy Hour.

We tipped off a few photographers and were able to catch Junior's reaction as he climbed into the car. He immediately broke out in a huge laugh... Mission accomplished.

Before the race started, the crew decided to carry the joke one step further, so they mounted the ball in the passenger side of the racecar, barely out of sight from the driver's seat. As Junior climbed in the car - amidst the incredibly emotional and patriotic pre-race ceremonies - he didn't see the ball.

The race began, and the Bud car seemed to be fast, but Junior watched a fluctuating water temperature gauge. During a yellow flag period, he radioed the crew.

"I'm watching the water temp. It's about 220 degrees. I'm worried because I remember back in the days when 210 was all ya wanted to see."

"Hey man," answered Jeff Clark, the team's engine specialist, "Wilson says it's OK."

"There ain't no Wilson here," was the reply.

"Yeah, he's there," said Tony Eury Sr., the crew chief, "but I'll bet he's all swollen up from the heat inside that car. He's never seen heat like this."

"Seriously? I don't see him."

"Yeah, he's right there," said Tony Eury Jr. "Behind your water bottle."

After a long pause, a jubilant driver answered.

"Hey! There he is! (calling out like Hanks' character in the movie) WILSONNNNNNNNNN! He's in here man! I got a buddy."

After hearing this strange conversation on the the team radio, the NBC crew wanted to know what was going on. As they told the story, they rotated their in-car camera to show the volleyball strapped solidly inside the cockpit.

As you can probably guessed (or know by now). Dale Jr. won the race, and as he circled on the cool-down lap, he asked for a flag. Danny Earnhardt pulled a big American flag from the pit box, and team pilot Joey Meyer ran the flag to Junior before he did a reverse lap holding the flag high for the fans. ("That thing is damn heavy at that speed," Junior later joked when describing the strength it took to hold the flag upright...)

In Victory Lane, the flag was hoisted high and Wilson was cut from his perch to join in the victory celebration.

In a long post-race media conference, Junior was asked about his inanimate passenger:

"I think Tom Hanks is good in about any movie, but I think that 'Cast Away' is awesome. I guess because I felt like I've been on a deserted island since my dad died in February. You know, I'm surrounded by people all the time, and thousands of people at the track, but I feel all alone, ya know. I said that to some of the people close to me, and they thought it would be fun to surprise me with it in the car. Now that we've won with it, maybe it brought me some luck too, so we may have to have that ball in there from now on."

In the weeks that followed, it seemed Wilson received as much attention as the team or the driver. A volleyball magazine called for a story, and Wilson corporate executives visited the race track to discuss a marketing tie-in. Action Performance decided to produce a die-cast replica of the winning car plus a mini-Wilson ball as a bonus. The lil' round guy began to take on a life of his own.

The second week, it was politely suggested by some Anheuser-Busch executives the volleyball might be receiving TOO much media exposure, so Wilson was taken out of the car. Unwilling to give up their good luck charm, the team mounted the ball on the pit box. Of course, every TV or still camera that came past focused on Wilson during the race.

So, after several weeks of fame, Wilson- smudged with oil and god-knows-what and less-than-pure-white than when his life began - was retired to the Dale Earnhardt Inc. archives. I wouldn't be surprised to see him reappear in the DEI museum or showroom in the future. But, he's safe in knowing he was a practical joke that became a small piece of joy in the midst of perhaps the saddest times our country has seen.

--------------------------------------------


What do 1000 soldiers look like?

|

Articles in dale jr. (Total Entries: 131)
  • Adieu FHM
    Date Created: Jan 28, 2007, 06:47 PM
  • Victory!
    Date Created: May 07, 2006, 12:10 PM
  • Momentum
    Date Created: Jun 24, 2005, 07:33 PM
  • 500 600
    Date Created: May 27, 2005, 07:36 PM
  • Fun, eh?
    Date Created: Feb 20, 2005, 07:17 PM



All contents of this blog are the sole responsibility and views of the author.
They do not in any way represent the views, beliefs or corporate values of any clients of fingerprint inc.
This includes but is not limited to Anheuser-Busch or any other corporate or personal entities mentioned within.



Copyright © jade gurss. All rights reserved.