| | | | | | SO WHAT? | DEI, Martin Truex ready for 2008 season without Dale Jr. | |
| | By Rea White / SceneDaily.com MOORESVILLE, N.C. - Dale Earnhardt Inc. executives say they are looking at 2007 as its transition year rather than 2008, their first year without Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the team's lead driver.
The Earnhardt Jr. saga followed the team last season as the son of team founder Dale Earnhardt made his decision to leave DEI for Hendrick Motorsports.
"I've heard it explained that 2008 would be a transition year for Dale Earnhardt Inc.," DEI Vice President John Story said Wednesday. "Quite frankly, 2007 was the transition year. In 2008, we're focused on the future. We know where we're going. We know what we have to work with."
DEI's Martin Truex Jr. made the Chase For The Nextel Cup last year and finished 11th in points, and Story believes that team could contend for a title in Truex's third full season.
"Anything less than a championship out of that team this year would be a bit of a disappointment because we know we have the personnel on that team, the driver and the crew chief to get the job done," Story said. "They're at least a top-five team, and we'll see where it falls."
Truex is ready.
"We're going to keep challenging ourselves to get better and better each year," Truex said. "I feel really confident that we can win this season, starting off the year where we left off last year.
"At the end of the year, we were probably consistently one of the best teams out there as far as speed on the race track."
One of the reasons the team officials believe they will be better is the additional shop space they gained with the acquisition of Ginn Racing.
All of the teams work out of one big shop, making sharing information easier. The team also has gone more to a one-car-fits-all philosophy, where all cars are built nearly the same. All of the chassis will be built in-house.
But possibly the biggest difference is the dynamic without Earnhardt Jr. and Truex taking over the role as the "lead driver" in the stable.
"It's definitely different," Truex Jr. said. "It's definitely the most comfortable I've ever been in my own shoes since I became a professional race-car driver. For a while, you don't feel comfortable, and you feel like everybody is watching you, and you don't ever feel like you're doing a good enough job. I don't feel that way anymore.
"I feel very comfortable. I love the position I'm in. I love working for this company. I feel like we can win races and compete for championships for a long time."
| | Posted January 25, 2008 , 11:25 pm EST
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