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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. wanted to smoke some brisket, like a lot of brisket, hopefully a nice 15-pound chunk of it. This was late last summer, the summer that was churning on without him. He wasn’t racing. He wasn’t traveling every week. He wasn’t in the constant state of movement that had defined his existence for 17 racing seasons, if not before – the 200-mile-per-hour life of a NASCAR megastar. He was sitting around a lot, sitting in his living room in Mooresville, N.C., recovering from a concussion suffered after hitting the wall in June at Michigan...

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. Chevy American Revolution 400 from Richmond International Raceway Please drop in and say hi and thanks to our soldiers, veterans, and their families here... The FR Canteen Support Our Troops Please pray on this day, and every day, for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world in defense of our liberty, and for the families awaiting their safe return.

<p>Asked what it meant to win at Talladega for a fifth time, Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded as if he were talking with some buddies at a bar.</p> <p>"Well, it don't mean s**t right now. Daddy's won here 10 times. So, I've got to do more winning. But we're going to get there. He was the master. I'm just following in his tracks."</p>

<p>SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. was treated for minor burns on his face and legs and hospitalized after an accident Sunday during practice for the American Le Mans Series Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma.</p> <p>Medical officials at Infineon Raceway described the injuries as ``moderate-sized burns of moderate intensity.'' Earnhardt was flown to the University of California-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento for precautionary reasons.</p>

NASCAR (news - web sites) star Dale Earnhardt (news - web sites) Jr. was knocked out of first place in the Nextel Cup by a slip of the tongue. Earnhardt was docked 25 points and fined $10,000 by NASCAR on Tuesday for cursing during a TV interview after his victory at Talladega Superspeedway. Asked Sunday by NASCAR broadcaster NBC about the significance of his fifth victory at Talladega, Earnhardt said, "It don't mean s--- right now. Daddy's won here 10 times." Now, instead of leading Kurt Busch by 13 points in the Nextel Cup standings, Earnhardt, the son of the...

LOUDON, N.H. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. said obliquely Saturday there's no telling what the future holds for Dale Earnhardt Inc.; but his emotions about the upcoming departure of his teammate, Michael Waltrip, were obvious. "I'm sad because Michael has been my teammate for all my Cup career," Earnhardt said. "He's taught me a lot and he's just a fun guy to be around -- and he's been around, you know?" Earnhardt and Waltrip's exploits were most known on Cup's restrictor-plate tracks, where they won 10 of 13 races in one stretch, including finishing one-two in the 2001 Daytona races. "It's...