Dale jr. offered $100,000 to race at Texas

http://www.paddocktalk.com/news/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=83090

Will never, ever happen. If he is gonna race in and IndyCar it'll be at Indy, and even that will probably never happen.

Junior is probably raking in about $50 million in contracts, prize money, and endorsements. $100,000 is chump change to him.

That's Eddie Gossage for you, though: always a fantastic promoter.

I could see him more likely at a road course in an Indy car. That and isnt Texas the track where the drivers almost didnt race one year due to the insane speeds they were maintaining around the track and the g loads? Not exactly where I'd want to debut

Not sure if that was Texas but that was Champcar not Indycar several years ago.

I'd love to see it just for the novelty factor but aain doubt it will happen .... but you never know :)

$100k is chicken feed for Dale.

That would not be a motivating factor to compete.

I could see him more likely at a road course in an Indy car. That and isnt Texas the track where the drivers almost didnt race one year due to the insane speeds they were maintaining around the track and the g loads? Not exactly where I'd want to debut

That was Texas 2001 with CART. The race was canceled due to high g loading on the drivers. Essentially with that exercise we found the limits humans could withstand in regards to motor racing. Dr. Steve Olvey's book has a chapter regarding this race and the effects on the drivers.

$100,000 cash or a cheque for his favourite charity? I don't know much about Dale Jr. but why would you pass up an opporunity to give money to a worthy cause and race at the same time?

$100k is chicken feed for Dale.

That would not be a motivating factor to compete.

But if I were Junior, I would not care about the money. I would try it if I can adapt my racing schedule to this event. It can be a great experience. I would not care if the cheque is 100K or 1 million...

If he really wants to try, he sould not care about the amount on the cheque...he's already full of money.

$100,000 cash or a cheque for his favourite charity? I don't know much about Dale Jr. but why would you pass up an opporunity to give money to a worthy cause and race at the same time?Because somebody is blackmailing you by playing the charity card. Playing the charity card in the media too. The race would get more than $100,000 from it, and yet that is all being offerred. Charity for who, Texas or Indycar?! IMHO it is not fair and far from dignified to do that publically. It is no one else's business other than Dale's which charity, whether he makes it public, and if at all, he gives money to.

This will never happen.

One, drivers today just are not that anxious to try their hand in another series like they used to.

Two, playing the charity card is, as Adam states above, blackmail.

Three, just because there may not be a NASCAR race that weekend there may be things he is committed to (otherwise how do you keep the mega bucks rolling in for the assorted sponsorship deals) that would keep him from doing a one-off.

Personally, I would love to see Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart do a one-off as I rate them higher as drivers than I do Dale Jr.

About the charity topic - if you were a driver, would you risk your life and career in a medium which you are unfimilar with? What if something catastrophic happened to Dale Jr.? NASCAR and Hendrick would have multiple heart attacks, and to top it off Dale doesn't get paid.

Remember 2 or 3 years ago when Dale raced at Infineon raceway? He was driving the Corvette ALMS car when it caught fire. He was burned pretty badly on the hands and legs. I think after that, NASCAR was very weary of letting him race in non-NASCAR events.

Dale Jr. would need at least $1 million to race, and even then it's not going to happen.

Now, Tony Stewart racing at Texas would make more sense!

*BTW - Texas is on June 7, the next day on June 8 is Pocono for NASCAR.*

I think you'd see Dale in a V8 supercar one off before racing in the irl.

There's been mumblings about a V8 outing, but this jsut may be rampant speculation from a totally untrustable source (it is just floating about in my mind).

Now, Tony Stewart racing at Texas would make more sense!

Could Tony fit into an IRL car now? (Thats a serious question btw, though you can interpret it as humourous if you want).

Probably not!

This is a thoroughly pointless (and undignified whilst we're at it) proposal. Quite apart from the fact it would be a total waste of a weekend for Dale. If he isn't already committed to some other work, he will want a rare weekend off I would guess rather than tootle round Texas in an ultimately wasteful and irrelevant guest appearance that would be of no benefit to him.

Well, it wouldn't be a waste if he wanted to do it (for fun). Why is it undignified?

That said, I don't think he would have any interest in doing it.

About the charity topic - if you were a driver, would you risk your life and career in a medium which you are unfimilar with? What if something catastrophic happened to Dale Jr.? NASCAR and Hendrick would have multiple heart attacks, and to top it off Dale doesn't get paid.

Remember 2 or 3 years ago when Dale raced at Infineon raceway? He was driving the Corvette ALMS car when it caught fire. He was burned pretty badly on the hands and legs. I think after that, NASCAR was very weary of letting him race in non-NASCAR events.

Dale Jr. would need at least $1 million to race, and even then it's not going to happen.

Now, Tony Stewart racing at Texas would make more sense!

*BTW - Texas is on June 7, the next day on June 8 is Pocono for NASCAR.*


Well at the risk of taking this off-topic, it is not our fault that Dale Jr is as goofy as his dad was about safety equipment and not using it. Jr hops into a 'Vette without the proper layers of nomex and when it hits the fan he almost buys the farm. Maybe next time he will wear the underwear AND the overalls.

His dad said: "I ain't puttin my head in a god-d***** noose," (referring to HANS device advice) ignored Bill Simpson's advice about mounting his belts and insisted on wearing an open-face helmet. The results speak for themselves.

Personally, I don't think he has the talent to drive an open wheel car...so he is going to "protect the franchise" by staying out of one.

Well at the risk of taking this off-topic, it is not our fault that Dale Jr is as goofy as his dad was about safety equipment and not using it. Jr hops into a 'Vette without the proper layers of nomex and when it hits the fan he almost buys the farm. Maybe next time he will wear the underwear AND the overalls.

His dad said: "I ain't puttin my head in a god-d***** noose," (referring to HANS device advice) ignored Bill Simpson's advice about mounting his belts and insisted on wearing an open-face helmet. The results speak for themselves.

Personally, I don't think he has the talent to drive an open wheel car...so he is going to "protect the franchise" by staying out of one.

The lackadaisical approach to safety by some drivers is mind numbing.

As it has always been. When crash helmets were introduced to replace the cloth cap of the early 50s, it was the drivers who objected...

As it has always been. When crash helmets were introduced to replace the cloth cap of the early 50s, it was the drivers who objected...


Nomex underwear has been part and parcel of the safety requirements for drivers since the '70's (I can personally vouch for that!). What you describe above, Jimmy is the reaction to what was literally a revolution in driver safety. Mounting seatbelts properly and wearing the required safety gear is just common sense, but I digress...

mountainstar, mind numbing doesn't even begin to describe the "approach" by some drivers regarding basic safety!!

Jr. has never been in an open wheel car has he?

I would think he needs to prove he could get up to speed and show some consistent lap times - i.e. pass the IRL rookie test. I am sure the IRL drivers would want a competitor to have some time behind the wheel before racing against him at a place like Texas.

Jr., no dummy, seems to understand this.

If I had the opportunity, if I was there testing my car and somebody had their car there, I’d like to jump in it and run a couple of laps," Earnhardt Jr. said, "but that would be the extent of the adventure.”
http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/TMS_president_offers_Earnhardt_Jr_100000_to_drive_in_IndyCar_race.html

Maybe offer him a test, do some laps and maybe he could compete in the future.

I think dale will hardly accept, for a similar reason, rush1

Facts have shown that dropping in a different series and figure out decently (let alone win) is very hard nowadays: cars are different, and require a long work to fit a newcomer.
Just look at the problems ex-CC drivers are facing on ovals; A Nascar superstar faces the high risk to be a backmarker in Indycar (and vice versa, like Hornish and Franchitti are showing), which is, I reckon, unbearable for anyone of them.