Budweiser Racing Loudon II preview

Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Race Preview

NASCAR has responded to the tragedy that has struck the United States by altering the weekend schedule at Loudon. There will be no Winston Cup practice or Bud Pole qualifying Friday. The starting lineup will be set according to the current Winston Cup team owners point standings. This will place the No. 8 Budweiser team in the eighth starting position for Sunday's race.

Dale Jr.:
"First of all, it's hard to look ahead to Sunday's race after all that has happened (Tuesday). Everyone on our Budweiser team sends our best wishes to the injured and the families and friends of everyone that has been killed by this unbelievable attack. We were testing at the new Kansas Speedway, and once we learned about the closure of all airports, we packed everybody into a couple of rental vans and hit the road. We got back to Charlotte 15 hours later at about 3 in the morning.

"A lot of the talk about Loudon is that you aren't able to pass, but we got a top 10 finish (ninth) after starting 29th, moving into the top 10 in about 80 laps, and then dropping back in the field with an overheating car. It seemed like we passed everybody three or four times. We have never started this far forward at Loudon, so going to the green in eighth should help us avoid those kind of problems."

-Budweiser Racing