NASCAR's Dynamic Duo
Dale Eanhardt Incorporated team looks for breakout season in 2006
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily
Both Dale Earnhardt Junior and Martin Truex Junior need to make strong statements in 2006.
Dale Jr. needs to rebound from a less than stellar 2005 season while Truex hopes continue the success he had in the Busch Series, where he won back-to-back titles and carry that over as he competes for Rookie of The Year.
Separate, both racers are talented, proven and always in the thick of any battle on the track. Together though, they could very well be a force to be reckoned with in 2006 both on the verge of what some say are breakout seasons.
The duo operates under the Dale Earnhardt Inc. banner and Truex Jr. joins his friend and mentor Earnhardt Jr., in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series this season.
For Truex, his introduction into the top tier series hasn’t been difficult, so far at least, and his transition seems to be on track.
“Things are looking good, “Truex Jr. said Monday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the second preseason testing session is underway.
"Nothing's been that hard yet, but it's about to get a whole lot harder," Truex Jr. added referring to the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 at Daytona International Speedway.
One of the advantages of having a teammate like Earnhardt for Truex during his transition is that he knows exactly where to go for guidance. "Me and Junior are good friends," Truex Jr. said. "He's been a great friend and someone I go to for advice, and not just the stuff on the race track."
"The toughest challenge for Martin will be the schedule," Dale Earnhardt Junior said of his protégé and friend," and he's pretty aware of the racing part of it. He's been racing all his life."
Truex is already looking at the challenges ahead and has his game plan in place for when the going gets rough.
“We've just got to work real hard and make our cars as good as we can, “Truex said. “But hopefully I'm prepared for them when they show up and we'll have a good year.”
Dale Jr. hopes to carry the momentum his team seemed to have between him and his reunited crew chief Tony Eury Jr. during the last ten races of 2005.
“ I felt like it was a good opportunity to get to work with Tony Junior those last ten races,” Earnhardt said. “He had learned a lot of stuff in the setups and his setups were a little different than what I had normally been racing on.
And he was, you know, curious as to how I was going to like the things that he was doing with his car. So that seems to be working out pretty good and we really are getting along really good.”
As for the test session itself, Jeff Green and Elliott Sadler set the pace during Monday's opening day.
Green posted the fastest speed of the day during the morning session with a lap of 170.068 mph. Sadler was fastest during the afternoon session even after a spin in turn three.
"We did a lot of winter testing and it looks like it has paid off," said Sadler, who drives the M&M's Ford for Robert Yates Racing. "We were pretty fast in both practices and we are very comfortable, and I think we have a good shot of coming back and running good. All of the hard work that the team had done has paid off. We will come back and try to learn more tomorrow, but as of right now I don't think we could be any happier."
The only incident other than Sadler's spin was a blown engine by rookie Brent Sherman during the morning session.
"I was a little tight so I tried to use the apron to help the car turn and I learned that I shouldn't do that," said Sadler. "I'm glad I learned it now during practice rather than during the race."
Mark Martin (169.369 mph), Jeff Burton (169.083 mph) and Kevin Harvick (168.592 mph) rounded out the top five drivers with practice times.
Green and Sadler were among 24 drivers on hand to test their Monday. Speedway officials expect 45 teams to test on Tuesday.
Courtesy of The Cup Scene Daily ==> http://www.ajnascarracing.com/
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily
Both Dale Earnhardt Junior and Martin Truex Junior need to make strong statements in 2006.
Dale Jr. needs to rebound from a less than stellar 2005 season while Truex hopes continue the success he had in the Busch Series, where he won back-to-back titles and carry that over as he competes for Rookie of The Year.
Separate, both racers are talented, proven and always in the thick of any battle on the track. Together though, they could very well be a force to be reckoned with in 2006 both on the verge of what some say are breakout seasons.
The duo operates under the Dale Earnhardt Inc. banner and Truex Jr. joins his friend and mentor Earnhardt Jr., in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series this season.
For Truex, his introduction into the top tier series hasn’t been difficult, so far at least, and his transition seems to be on track.
“Things are looking good, “Truex Jr. said Monday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the second preseason testing session is underway.
"Nothing's been that hard yet, but it's about to get a whole lot harder," Truex Jr. added referring to the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 at Daytona International Speedway.
One of the advantages of having a teammate like Earnhardt for Truex during his transition is that he knows exactly where to go for guidance. "Me and Junior are good friends," Truex Jr. said. "He's been a great friend and someone I go to for advice, and not just the stuff on the race track."
"The toughest challenge for Martin will be the schedule," Dale Earnhardt Junior said of his protégé and friend," and he's pretty aware of the racing part of it. He's been racing all his life."
Truex is already looking at the challenges ahead and has his game plan in place for when the going gets rough.
“We've just got to work real hard and make our cars as good as we can, “Truex said. “But hopefully I'm prepared for them when they show up and we'll have a good year.”
Dale Jr. hopes to carry the momentum his team seemed to have between him and his reunited crew chief Tony Eury Jr. during the last ten races of 2005.
“ I felt like it was a good opportunity to get to work with Tony Junior those last ten races,” Earnhardt said. “He had learned a lot of stuff in the setups and his setups were a little different than what I had normally been racing on.
And he was, you know, curious as to how I was going to like the things that he was doing with his car. So that seems to be working out pretty good and we really are getting along really good.”
As for the test session itself, Jeff Green and Elliott Sadler set the pace during Monday's opening day.
Green posted the fastest speed of the day during the morning session with a lap of 170.068 mph. Sadler was fastest during the afternoon session even after a spin in turn three.
"We did a lot of winter testing and it looks like it has paid off," said Sadler, who drives the M&M's Ford for Robert Yates Racing. "We were pretty fast in both practices and we are very comfortable, and I think we have a good shot of coming back and running good. All of the hard work that the team had done has paid off. We will come back and try to learn more tomorrow, but as of right now I don't think we could be any happier."
The only incident other than Sadler's spin was a blown engine by rookie Brent Sherman during the morning session.
"I was a little tight so I tried to use the apron to help the car turn and I learned that I shouldn't do that," said Sadler. "I'm glad I learned it now during practice rather than during the race."
Mark Martin (169.369 mph), Jeff Burton (169.083 mph) and Kevin Harvick (168.592 mph) rounded out the top five drivers with practice times.
Green and Sadler were among 24 drivers on hand to test their Monday. Speedway officials expect 45 teams to test on Tuesday.
Courtesy of The Cup Scene Daily ==> http://www.ajnascarracing.com/
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