Dale Jr. talks "agendas" at NHMS tire test

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Aric Almirola participated in the confirmation test to select the proper compound and construction of tires for when the Sprint Cup tour returns on July 17. 

Earnhardt was grateful for the opportunity to garner more seat time at a track where he’s yet to win. 

“There are two agendas,” Earnhardt said. “You obviously want to learn what you can and help Goodyear understand what kind of tire they need to bring back. That’s really the number one priority at the tire test. 

“But the car’s felt good in the little window we’ve had to learn anything and we’re getting some good information. We have a lot of data to go over and understand.”

Earnhardt’s last visit to the one-mile oval in Loundon, New Hampshire was anything but “Magic” as the venue’s moniker might suggest. While Earnhardt acknowledged he likes racing at the track, his 25th-place finish last fall did not help his championship hopes. However, Earnhardt earned his eighth top-five last July. 

In 33 starts, he has 15 top 10 finishes. He finished a career-best third in 2004 but is still looking for his first career win at New Hampshire. 

“I just want to win the race. We haven’t won here. We’ve had some top fives and top 10s but never really been that car. There seems to be, every time we come here there’s one guy  that stands out about the rest of the field. And we’ve just never had that car and so, hopefully our opportunity to test here will give us that chance. 

“I’d like to win everywhere at least once. But this track is unique because it’s not a mile-and-a-half, it’s not really a short track, so I think when you win at various types of configurations it makes you feel like more of the total package or more of an all-around race car driver. And plus, like I said about the fan base up here, these people are racing people. They’re racers. A lot of folks there in the grandstands are local racers and support their local racetracks on the weekends, so you like to race and do well in front of them because they know what’s going on out there.”