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Posted on 04/08/2007 8:29:59 AM PDT by WestCoastGal
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I feel really bad for DJ, not the way to finish out his career. There is still hope Toyota will gather things together and get those cars competitive before that day comes. They sure have the trucks dialed in. The COT drives like a truck so maybe they will have better luck with them.
Shrubs “people” said it was a miscommunication that he left. LOL hahahahaha Uh huh!! As if I couldn’t be any more obsessed about Dale Jr for being such a stand up guy he goes and does something like that. I was watching the interview with Smoke talking about how all Jr’s fans will be mad at him now - and were booing him every time he drove by, he was almost in tears. As he was talking the 5 car drove past behind him with you know who driving. lol
Smoke was just beside himself after the race, really mad at JPM, I mean really.....he said JPM should drive at the back of the field until he learns how to drive. hahahaha And, he was as I mentioned above almost despondent about Jr wrecking. He said he would NEVER do anything to jeopardize Jr’s safety or something to that effect and that he was thinking about retiring early. Yeah right.....the guy who drives everything he can every weekend.
OMG you are SO lucky I wrote a long post to Mac. LOL
For me, better to be lucky than good. Thanks for the setup!
Have to get up early around here, that’s for sure. :)
Now as for Mr Spencer he is in deep DOO DOO with the Earnhardt Nation, and trust me there are a lot of us, mostly women. Here is the article with the dumb remarks he made yesterday...
On Sunday, Wendy Venturini presented an excellent two-part feature on Max Siegel, the new President of Global Operations for DEI. During the report, Mr. Siegel and Venturini mentioned Dale Junior's sister Kelly, who is his agent and business manager. It is no secret that getting the two Earnhardt "camps" together is Siegel's key goal. The end of the report led back to the set, where Jimmy Spencer waited. Then, all hell broke loose. And Jimmy Spencer may wind-up regretting it.
"Theresa Earnhardt gave Dale Junior his opportunity to race." It was with those ominous words that Spencer began his comments. After making sure that Junior knew his place, Spencer moved on to Dale's sister, Kelly Earnhardt Elledge. "I am shocked that she kept her middle name. Why keep Earnhardt? I think her ego is so big and she is backing Theresa and Max (Siegel) into corners. She's not a good negotiator. If she was working for someone else they would probably fire her."
Spencer continued his comments with "I think she is using ego to control this direction, and Dale needs to be careful about it." Now done with Kelly, Spencer switched his aim back to Dale Junior, and was very eager to invoke the name of Dale Earnhardt Sr. as the basis of his argument.
"There are a lot of true Dale Earnhard Sr. fans who will lose respect for Dale Junior (if he leaves DEI)." Spencer stated "I don't think Dale Junior needs to leave the organization. I don't like what Kelly (Elledge) is doing...how she is putting them (Theresa and Siegel) in corners."
Spencer closed with "Dale and Theresa and Max need to sit down and get this worked out. If the old man was still living, he would kick Earnhardt (Junior's) butt. I would hate to see that organization fall apart."
Whatever Spencer's motivation, his attack on Kelly Elledge was poorly timed. It has been well-documented that she had just undergone serious surgery, and is in the process of recovering. While she was on-hand at the opening of JR Motorsports new shop this week, she is far from full strength. In addition, RaceDay has always gone out of the way to be fair to all parties involved in NASCAR issues. This time, there was no Earnhardt Junior or Kelly Elledge standing by with Wendy Venturini to address this discussion. Had they been there, Spencer may have been singing a completely different tune.
I believe we have not heard the end of the reaction to these comments on national television. If the print media takes the ball and runs with it, there may be bigger issues on the horizon for Jimmy Spencer than his apparent hatred for Junior's sister.
During the race, over the radio, Jr and TJ spoke about possibly winning the race and being able to sit at that table with the &^mf#%^ jerk. I bet he will get a word in with him one way or another.
"Am I disappointed? Yeah - but there are a lot of ways to deal with it. We didn't do anything ourselves to cause the misfortune. We just had some bad luck. That car was a rocket and that should make everyone at DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) happy because they built me a great car and a great motor. We were really fast in traffic and out front in clean air. That's a tribute to (crew chief) Tony (Eury) Jr. and the whole team. A great car and great pit stops. It shows we can keep up with the big guys by working harder and smarter. It was a lot of fun while it lasted. It's cool to be able to see the fans in the stands going crazy like that when we take the lead. Add it all up and that's how I'll be able to sleep well this week."
Why would you get in another car? "Because they asked me. I have some friends on that team - and I'll always jump at a chance to climb into someone else's car to see what it's like. They used to do that all the time back in the day. You'd have relief drivers getting into someone's car almost every week, so it was kinda like a step back into NASCAR history or something. Old school! It was cool."
Today's Stats
Started: 12th
Finished: 36th
He finished 37th in the 5 car too :)
Points: 18th (lost 7 positions, -43 points out of 12th place.)
Laps Led: 96 laps led
Fastest Laps: 52 (quickest lap time of entire field)
Best Pit Stop: Stop 3 of 10 / lap 170 / Four tires and fuel / 12.41 seconds*** [great job BrewCrew!!]
Dale Jr:
ON BEING ASKED TO DRIVE THE NO. 5 CAR: “I could tell that it was a real nice car before we had the accident. Smooth steering, just smooth. I really appreciate them asking me. I was honored, it means a lot to me.”
ON GIVING UP THREE POINTS BY DOING IT: “It don’t matter, I was glad to do it.”
ON THIS BEING AN AUDITION: “Are you crazy??
ON WHO ASKED HIM TO GET IN: “My buddy Pig, he is the jackman. Pig is my buddy, and I have a couple other friends on this team, so. They asked me to do it so I wasn’t going to say no.”
ON WHERE WAS KYLE BUSCH: “He’s gone, I think he left, I don’t know. I guess he is not around.”
ON ANY HESITATION: “No, not at all.”
ON HOW IT DROVE: “Well, it had been wrecked!”
_____________________
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 CHEEZ-IT/CARQUEST MONTE CARLO SS:
ON KYLE NOT BEING AVAILABLE TO GET BACK IN THE CAR: “It was a miscommunication between the team and Kyle he thought they weren’t going to go back out so he left. So they asked Dale Jr. to fill in, there were a few laps left, they knew they could gain a position and gain three valuable points. Junior didn’t hesitate and agreed and it was a very sportsman like gesture and it says a lot about Dale, Jr. and the kind of person he is.”
ON HAVING DALE JR IN HIS CAR: “I like having Kyle Busch in my car but it was very cool to have Dale Jr. to do that.”
Sponsor problems at MWR? Elliott to MWR? Rumors are swirling about Toyota driver #55-Michael Waltrip’s future and his sponsorship support [NAPA], after failing to make the last six tour races. According to one unconfirmed report, Waltrip is having to return $300,000 to his sponsors for each race he misses. There is also speculation that Bill Elliott may be under consideration for a ride with the three-team operation; Elliott, 50 and only a part-time driver these days, would have six championship provisionals, guaranteeing him a spot in at least six races. However Elliott, despite the multimillion-dollar contracts being waved at him by more than one team, has been less than enthusiastic about becoming too deeply involved in the sport again.(Winston Salem Journal)(4-16-2007) Jayski
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car suffered heavy damage in a crash on lap 252 of the Samsung 500 when he was rammed from behind by an apparently blinded Kyle Busch.
But when Busch left the track after a "miscommunication" with his Hendrick Motorsports team, guess who drove Busch's car to the finish?
Yes, Earnhardt Jr.
"I appreciate them asking me," said Earnhardt Jr., who helped Busch pick up one spot - and three points - in the race results. "That was an honor."
Photo is the 5 car finishing the race with Junior driving.
The connection between Junior and HMS seems to be getting stronger. Maybe this is just a way to strengthen Junior's hand in his negotiations, because I'm sure a lot of people in the sport would like to see him take over the company his father built.
Huge OUCH!
I don’t think DEI has a choice.
Without him they will be just a souvenir vendor for the most part. I am not sure how dedicated Teresa is to continuing the business that Dale started....we will find out shortly!
Spencer’s comments about Kelley have gotten him in big trouble.
This is from the balcony of our restaurant that also serves on the boats.
I hope you’re not stuck cause of the weather. :(
You’re probably pooped.
Did you read the thread..........Jr was in the #5 car at the end.........did you guys stay til the end?
I am................racking my brain to come up with something new for Phoenix.
The word rack in racking (one’s) brain is thus spelled. That is because it derives from the rack, the medieval instrument of torture on which a victim was slowly stretched. (This stems from the familiar rack ‘a framework’.) This rack was used as a verb meaning ‘to torture on the rack’, and hence in the transferred sense ‘to torture’, and then figuratively ‘to stretch or strain’, which is the sense in rack (one’s) brain.
they’re only a little squished.
No, my first flight got delayed by 2 hours, so I’m rebooked on a much later connecting flight :/
ST came and hung out with us for the last third of the race.
Didn’t know ‘bout Jr. in the 5 car till I read it in the paper on the plane this afternoon. Very considerate of him considering the circumstances!
I got a few ok pics I got from the track. I’ll try to get them up in a bit.
It’s dang hard to follow the race stats and such with all that pesky engine noise and fumes and hot sun to distract ya!
Nobody ever accused Spencer of being the brightest bulb around, but that was dumb even for him. And hurtful at a time when Kelley is very vulnerable due to her major surgery. Junior is such a nice guy, but I’ll bet he makes life miserable for Spencer.
LOL
I’m FReepmailing you a copy of what his PR guy said today..
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