<fstl:categorylink categoryId="371489">Dale Earnhardt
Jr.</fstl:categorylink> is NASCAR's most popular driver for
the seventh consecutive year.
Earnhardt's win keeps him at third on the career list behind
<fstl:categorylink categoryId="374343">Bill
Elliott</fstl:categorylink>'s record 16 times selected as the
most popular driver, and Richard Petty, who won the award nine
times. The award, which is sponsored by Chex and presented by the
National Motorsports Press Association, has been given since 1965
and voted on by fans.
Earnhardt, who is not part of the 12 drivers being celebrated
this weekend in Las Vegas, took some time to get to the stage
during Thursday's awards ceremony.
"They nearly stuck me up there in the top row," he said after
finally getting to the podium.
"I take a lot of honor in (the award) it and a lot of pride.
I know it's kind of a cliche, but I just wanted to be a race-car
driver, wanted to be able to make a living showing up, driving cars
every week. Having the fan support like I have has been an
incredible bonus for me.
"I can't thank them enough, so I guess I'll just keep showing
up."
Earnhardt, in his second season with Hendrick Motorsports,
finished 25th in the standings. His Hendrick teammates went 1-2-3,
as <fstl:categorylink categoryId="371503">Jimmie
Johnson</fstl:categorylink> won his fourth straight
championship to lead the sweep.
Earnhardt flew to Las Vegas just in time to accept the award,
and planned to leave immediately after. Because of his hectic
travel schedule, he said he's trying to have a quiet offseason with
friends and family and enjoy the new home he built and moved into
about two weeks ago.
But he didn't consider skipping the ceremony - something he
did several years ago when he accepted the award via taped message.
Earnhardt said he "learned my lesson" after receiving a good bit of
backlash for not showing up in person.
"I understand how important it is to accept it in person," he
said. "There's a big sense of that I earned this, that I deserve
this because of my family name. My father, he gave me a hell of a
gift in popularity, so my job has been to try to be an asset to the
sport and to maintain that gift and it's integrity. The name that
my father has built, the Earnhardt name, and the respect that it
has.
"So there's a lot of emotions that run through when I accept
the award."
Surgery postponed
<fstl:categorylink categoryId="438599">Denny
Hamlin</fstl:categorylink> had minor knee surgery planned for
the end of this season, but delayed the procedure after booking a
suite with a basketball court inside of it for his stay in Las
Vegas.
Since arriving Tuesday evening, Hamlin said he and his
friends have gotten in at least three games a day on the court. His
surgery will be Dec. 16.
"I moved my surgery back because I had this reserved for the
last two months," he said. "It was scheduled for last week, and I
thought there would be no point in it. I moved my surgery back to
accommodate my hotel room in Vegas, so I'm trying to get all the
ball in that I can since I'm going to be out for a month."
Crew chief choices
<fstl:categorylink categoryId="71519">Kurt
Busch</fstl:categorylink> figured he's still about a week
away from finding a crew chief to lead his Penske Racing team.
The candidates have been whittled down to about three, and
Busch said two were from other race teams and one was already at
Penske. He wouldn't reveal who he's talking to, but the candidates
are believed to include Dave Winston, his current engineer, and
Steve Addington, who was fired in October as crew chief for Busch's
younger brother, Kyle, at Joe Gibbs Racing.
"We've talked with a few guys on the outside, we have an
internal guy that we want to bump up," Busch said. "It's still a
work in progress. We haven't decided. I was hoping to have a
decision and an announcement this week. But we won't have that."
The void was created when Pat Tryson decided to move to
<fstl:categorylink categoryId="439363">Michael
Waltrip</fstl:categorylink> Racing to crew chief for
<fstl:categorylink categoryId="438583">Martin Truex
Jr.</fstl:categorylink>
Busch said he's part of a four-man team at Penske looking for
Tryson's replacement, joining owner Roger Penske, team president
Tim Cindric and vice president of operations Michael Nelson.
"There's still somebody out there I'd like to talk to," Busch
said. "I haven't found, necessarily, the guy you'd want to jump on
top of and go to."
Busch said leadership is a key quality he's looking for in
his new crew chief.
"You need to have a guy who fits into the Penske mold, as far
as an engineering background, but yet I like a car guy, somebody
that knows how to turn the wrenches and throws things in and out of
the car right off his hip," Busch said.
