Sports Radio Interviews

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Happy To Be Doing What He’s Doing

Dale Earnhardt Junior hasn’t exactly torn things up in 2009. The crew chief of the #88 car was changed in late May after Junior still hadn’t won a race this year, let alone cracked the top five. There is still plenty of time for him to get back in the thick of the points race, but he’ll have to get things going sooner rather than later. Junior finished 15th in last weekend’s race at the Chicago Speedland Raceway.  Junior joined WDNE in Indianapolis last Friday to talk about the state of the sport, a bit about his father, and what he hopes to do the remainder of the 2009 season.

On his dad’s personality and if he sees any personalities in the sport today that remind him of his father:

“There’s definitely some dynamic personalities in the sport that have come and gone and each one was different. I wouldn’t say that dad had the most dynamic personality or the biggest. There was some amazing drivers with good personalities that were good people and exciting people…Everyone of them was different in their own little way. Each one of them gave something to the sport in their own way.”

On if he has ever questioned his decision to be a racecar driver?

“Never a moment, never happens…That’s what being a racecar driver so cool is you know what you want to do, you know where you want to be, you know where you have to be and it’s easier. I had to work at a real job and I know what that’s like. Being a racecar driver is where it’s at…The business part of it is not a real pain. It’s not what I got into the sport for. Parts of it is pretty interesting, parts of it aren’t, parts of it are boring. I don’t like meetings any more than the next guy. The driving part is what you get into it for. There’s other things that come along with it, good and bad. You just take it.”

Did he play any other sports growing up?

“I lettered for soccer in high school when I was a freshman. We went to the state championships and lost. That was the only year I played any sport and I went racing the year after that.”

Listen here to Junior on WDNE in Indianapolis

Tags: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Earnhardt. Sr., NASCAR, WDNE