Dale Jr. signs w/ Freisinger for Daytona 24 hrs

[corvetteracing]

Current Autosport (9/11/03) reports that Dale Earnhardt, Jr., will contest next year's Daytona 24 hrs race with the Freisinger Porsche team. He will race the team's 911 GT3-RS along with Stephane Ortelli.

[Adam43]

and Ortelli could be doing the Bathurst 24hr. Great stuff.

Will Porsche realise not only should htey be back racing at Le Mans properly, but they have the ideal driver too.

Ooops, on topic. no that should be good fun. And it should be a competitive car there too.

[paul-collins]

The Daytona car is supposed to be the all new Porsche RSR. Do they honestly think it will overcome the fuel cell reduction handicap? It makes me very curious.

I thought Dumas was the other driver along with Ortelli and L'il E.

[Fiorentina 1]

Way cool! According to Racer, Dale Sr was to retire from Nascar this season and do the full ALMS in the Vette, including Le Mans!

[Adam43]

Well that is 2/3rds of the successful Spa trio and a bloke who should be at home (albeit with the differences) at Daytona.

[paul-collins]

Fiorentina, Ron Fellows had told me the same thing, but I didn't know that it had become common knowledge. Do you think that L'il E is still thinking along those lines? DEI had set aside some shop space back in 2001, but I'd guess it's being used for their stock cars now.

Ron Fellows got his ride at DEI for the road courses this year through L'il E, with part of the package being that Ron would help Jr learn to set up a car on a road course, and learn how to learn a road course itself. (Ron said that Jr has a lot more potential than he gives himself credit for.)

Of course, L'il E is driving for DEI without a contract right now, and is apparently not all that happy with the way DEI is being run. I don't understand how DEI can't see that L'il E is the franchise player, but they don't seem to be playing it very smartly. I wonder, if L'il E does change teams, whether he'll try to get weekend exemption clauses to attend certain non-NASCAR events?

[Wally (Evo.1)]

This is really cool news. I might actually try to watch Daytona next year. Anyone have any info on the RSR they're supposed to race?

Fio and Paul, thanks for that info. I know Sr. said he wanted to race at Le Mans after his NASCAR retirement, but I never knew he wanted to do ALMS full-time. Just imagine where sports car racing might be today if that had come to pass. (Or, would the ISC machine have 'persuaded' him to go to Grand-Sham and drive a DP?)

I guess this is still on-topic, but does anyone know how competitive Dale Sr. and Jr. really were in the 'Vettes in 2001, compared to the regular team drivers? I know all the drivers and team managers said they were really competitive and set great lap times, but that could be Chevy PR covering for their star NASCAR guys (or just my cynicism getting out of hand).

I just want to know the truth about this. Earnhardt Sr. was the first hero I had in racing, courtesy of having two of my family members on his RCR crew. I really wonder how well he might have done in a real race car in a real racing series, like F1, CART or IMSA GTP.

[FIRE]

Has junior not a contract with Chevrolet?

[paul-collins]

Wally, I don't have best laps, and I know that there was trepidation in the 2001 race with the rain initially, but IMO they acquitted themselves quite reasonably during the race. Ron certainly speaks of them very highly as drivers as well as people.

[BobN]

Herb Fischel of Chevrolet Racing was on Wind Tunnel (Speed TV) the other night and said that Dale Sr. was faster than the rest of the Vette drivers through the turn 3 and 4 complex at Daytona. He appartenly impressed his co-drivers quite a bit and helped them pick up speed throught that part of the track. He likewise wanted very much to learn from them and appartently had a very good attitude about his position with the team.

[Wally (Evo.1)]

Thanks, Bob and Paul. I think I'll dig out the videos of the race and watch them this weekend.

[Tim Northcutt]

Dale Jr. is obviously the key "Marquee" guy in NASCAR....

But two other NASCAR drivers with the last name of Gordon are MUCH better road racers that "Li'l E" ever dreamed of being....Robby was driving for the Matthews team in the 2002 24 Hrs. at Daytona and the team finished 2nd overall....and Jeff is as good as the usual NASCAR guys get when they race at Sonoma and the Glen....

Jeff also is almost as valuable as a marketing tool as Dale Jr....at least you see him on boatloads of TV ads...

[veeten]

hey, Paul-Collins...

called that one, didn't I?...

[paul-collins]

Yeah, well, you were about a half an hour ahead of me. Ahead is ahead, I guess. Good catch nevertheless.

Tim, the reason Jr is so valuable in this scenario is because he seems to be the closest to "free agent" status there is in NASCAR right now. Do you think Jeffie would do anything to antagonize the France family? It doesn't seem in character. Now, Robbie, it would be in character - but he's not big enough to write his own ticket with NASCAR right now. He's been bustin' his hump to get in, why would he bite the hand?

Tony Stewart I could see showing up in unexpected places, but I don't think he'd do anything to deliberately conflict with NASCAR's goals. Then again, I could be wrong.

It just seems like Jr has the superstarpower that Sr forsaw when he set up DEI for Jr, and I don't understand why current DEI management can't see that. The rumours around Mike Helton stepping from the NASCAR helm to take over DEI were specifically mentioning that he'd come in, clean house, and get Jr under contract - that it was almost an assignment by NASCAR. That's my understanding, anyway.

[PascaLM]

Earnhardt with Ortelli, good news ! This reminds me the Wollek-Foyt team at Daytona in the 80's.

[Tim Northcutt]

I fully understand that, Paul-collins....

I'm just saying that they are getting the name and not necessarily the best road racer (of the full-time guys) from that series

[skycafe]

I like that it isn't a DP. That is interesting!

I think he could little E could develop road racing ability, he just needs some track time. Robby Gordan has tons from the old Roush Mustang days.

Big coup for Freisinger! Probably a smart move for little E as well, as Freisinger knows how to field a car that will last the 24 Hours.

[cybersdorf]

Originally posted by BobN
Herb Fischel of Chevrolet Racing was on Wind Tunnel (Speed TV) the other night and said that Dale Sr. was faster than the rest of the Vette drivers through the turn 3 and 4 complex at Daytona. He appartenly impressed his co-drivers quite a bit and helped them pick up speed throught that part of the track. He likewise wanted very much to learn from them and appartently had a very good attitude about his position with the team.

I have heard about that as well, and I must say that I was impressed by that. He was a champion in his line of racing, and I imagine it isn't the easiest thing for a master of his craft to have to accept "apprentice" status in another field. Frankly didn't seem like someone who would take advice from anybody, and he didn't have to go roadracing; still, he decided to do it properly, and accept advice from accomplished road racers. Must have been a humbling experience in a way.

It is a shame he never made it to Le Mans. No matter what some Americans may think about the French right now, they would have loved him.

[RacingManiac]

Earnhardts did great in that Rolex 24, for the sheer fact that they have to do road course AND do it on a wet track was impressive....

[Chevyguy]

I know the real story of the Earnhardts in '01. Sr. ran strong and consistant, but not really competitive. He did just fine for a 24 hour race, nice and conservative. Jr. on the other hand, is the reason the #3 Vette didn't get on the podium in my opinion. Besides numerous spins, which is to be expected from a dry oval racer, he made a huge mistake. He was having a problem and went to the pits saying it was witht he gearbox. In true Le Mans type team form, they immediately changed it. The problem was not corrected because it turned out to be a broken halfshaft, which got changed later. The time lost on the gearbox cost them the 2 laps they were down to the 3rd place 911, easily. If not for that misqueue, it might very well have been a 1-2.

I have alot of respect for Jr., and I understand that his lack of experience was the only thing that bit him. While I wish that the driver lineup was a little less historic and more sensible, it was infinately special that Jr, got to share a car with his father who died later that month on the same track.

[paul-collins]

Forgot about the halfshaft. They run a different configuration in NASCAR, right? So he would never have been able to diagnose the halfshaft on his own.

[noise boy 2]

Paul, you are correct, the NASCABs run a solid rear axle (Ford 9" no matter what "make" the car is). Robert

[Chevyguy]

Paul, that's what I meant by lack of experience. Perhaps he should have said, "check it out", instead of attemting to diagnose the problem in a car he probably knew nothing about.

[paul-collins]

...of course, he might have said "it feels like the gearbox" in response to a question. (?)

Does anyone have a transcript of the conversation leading up to the unnecessary repairs? Honestly, I'm not trying to defend him, I just want to know what exactly is known about the incident.

[LouisTheShark]

The team later took the blame. They knew that Jr. had less experience with diagnosing exact problems and should have checked it out first before embarking on the incorrect repair.