================================================ Subject: NCR: Jr. part 2 From: "Misty Farmer" To: Date: Wed 4 Apr 2001 12:27:26 -0000 ================================================ Dale Earnhardt Jr.: You just try to maintain. I put a picture on my wall of me and him, and I'll always remember what we did together and just try to, you know, get on with it. Darrell Waltrip: I'm just a friend, and you're his son. Here's a guy that's your mentor, your teacher, your friend, your buddy, somebody you can go on the track and knock around a little bit. How do you keep going? Earnhardt Jr.: Honestly Darrell, you know, you just... the only thing that makes me feel better or the thing that gets me up in the morning and gets me to the racetrack and, you know, gets me over to the shop is just knowing that, if he had the opportunity, he'd be beatin' on the door at eight o'clock in the morning, trying to get me up. Waltrip: Well yeah, 'cause you don't get up 'til two. Earnhardt Jr.: Right so I mean I do a lot of things, I know it's only been a little more than a month, but I do a lot of things that I never did before, and I only do 'em because I know he wanted me to do 'em. Waltrip: When we were at Daytona, and I was watching the race, obviously the end, I saw Schrader. That's why I knew. I didn't know what; I just knew it was bad. And then I saw you take off running. What happened? Earnhardt Jr.: Nobody said anything to me. I just, you know, I had no real concerns of serious injury or anything like that. It just, you know, when you see your dad get in an accident, especially at a big track like that, you want to get over there. Make sure everything's cool so I was just... I didn't... I finished second, and I was pretty happy. And I knew he would be happy for Michael (Waltrip), and I knew he would probably be pretty happy for me. Probably a little upset he'd wrecked and all. But, you know, I just, you know, had this urge to go see him. Waltrip: I know that I was surprised by the outpouring of emotion and fans — not just in our (racing) community — but all over the world that came in response to your father's death. Did you have any idea? Earnhardt Jr.: I think it surprised everybody. It surprised me quite a bit. You don't realize exactly how many people are paying attention. There are more people watching and listening than you think. And then there are those who probably never sat down to watch a race before, but then they hear John down the road talking about it and they see how their friend Bill reacted and must have said to themselves, 'Man, this guy meant a lot to a lot of people. Tell me a little bit about this guy.' It makes me feel good to see what he meant to so many people. Waltrip: So, you are Dale Earnhardt Jr. Now, do you feel a lot of pressure to live up to what your dad has done? Earnhardt Jr.: People have always asked me that, and maybe it's more relevant now than it was before, but I don't feel a lot of pressure to equal any of his success or anything like that. Or try to be personally what he was or be a reminder to people. I mean, that is an awful lot to ask of somebody, and it's really unhealthy. I've got my own interests and (way of doing things) right now, but we all change throughout the years and there's a great possibility that as I get older, I will get more like him. Waltrip: That's a scary thought. Earnhardt Jr.: Well...(laughs) Waltrip: I'm just kidding. Earnhardt Jr.: You know, I've asked some people that I know were real close to him about how he was when he was 26 or 24... I feel pretty comfortable with what I'm doing. Waltrip: What is your role gonna be in just say the company, DEI (Dale Earnhardt Incorporated)? Earnhardt Jr.: It's basically Teresa's responsibility right now, and she is handling it like a champ and everybody, including myself, is right there with her, trying to help her however we can help her. I trust Teresa... I would never has told Dad this, but I trust her almost more than I do him. She's an astounding person so... Waltrip: And she's a strong person. Earnhardt Jr.: Yeah, she's awesome! Waltrip: Would you ever drive a black three car? Earnhardt Jr.: (laughs) Probably not. I mean it's...you know, I look at everything that happens from here on out for a long time, I'll always think, "What would Dad do? What would his decision be on it?" And I don't think that he would make that kind of decision so I probably wouldn't ever do anything like that. If, you know, you could ask me that 10, 20 years down the road, maybe so. If I'm still driving race cars, that might be something that I'd like to do. Waltrip: What is it gonna take, or is there anything that will give you closure to this tragedy? Earnhardt Jr.: I don't think, you know, you can look for something, one thing, or you know when you ask "What is it gonna take?" I don't think you can look at one thing or a few things and say, "This is gonna help." Or, you know, you'll just go day after day, and, you know, I wanna, I would like to win, you know, win races and possibly a championship one year and those things will help. If I don't, you know, I'll go do something else. Waltrip: You believe your dad went to heaven? Earnhardt Jr.: I'm pretty sure of it actually. He was pretty adamant about, you know, about living right and being right. He was a special person, you know what I'm saying. I mean, there were just things that he could think of and do. And his level of common sense was just so far beyond a lot of people that I know. And I just believe he was so way above average in a lot of areas. That's why I feel pretty positive that he's in heaven because I don't think God would pass something like that up. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE Budweiser E-mail account at http://budweiser.com Budweiser E-Mail must be used responsibly and only is for consumers 21 years of age and older! Disclaimer: Neither Anheuser-Busch, Inc. (the makers of BUDWEISER beer) nor the operator of this E-Mail service or their respective affiliates have seen, endorsed or approved any of the content in this e-mail and expressly disclaim all liability for the content in whole and in part. To unsubscribe or change your preferences for the Creed-Discuss list, visit: http://www.winduplist.com/ls/discuss/form.asp