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EARNHARDT SCORES A NEW FIRST

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Dale Earnhardt, racing's "winningest" driver at the "World Center of Racing" with 34 victories and seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, was touring the 3.56-mile road course in the No. 3 Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet Corvette C5-R. Earnhardt, along with his son Dale Earnhardt Jr., participated in a three-day test session, Jan. 4-6 in preparation for the Feb. 3-4 Rolex 24 At Daytona. This is the Earnhardts' first time at Daytona for the endurance sportscar event, sanctioned by Grand-Am.

Dale Earnhardt Sr., Dale EarnhardtJr., Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins will drive the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C5-R while Ron Fellows, Chris Kneifel, Franck Freon and Johnny O'Connell will drive the No. 2 Chevrolet Corvette.

"This is going to be fun," Earnhardt Sr. said. "The biggest thing I don't want to do is make a mistake. That's what I talked to Dale Jr. about. I want to be consistent, make the shifts and don't do anything to harm the car and equipment and don't go off course. I'm excited about this."

Earnhardt is enjoying his sportscar experience. He not feeling pressure ; he's just having fun competing in North America's most prestigious sportscar endurance race.

"There's a lot more to this race. There's a lot to a Winston Cup race with pit stops and strategy, but 24 hours is a long time." His co-drivers Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins and the rest of the Chevrolet Corvette organization are giving him a ton of information.

"It's exciting," Earnhardt said. "It's a lot fun. They want everybody to do as good as the other person. They want to help and make sure everybody is good because it's a team effort. They know if this guy does as good as this guy, we're all going to be consistent and go fast. It's pretty neat to be on a team like that.

"Even though (Richard Childress Racing teammate Mike) Skinner and I, (Dale Earnhardt Inc. drivers Steve) Park and Dale Jr. are teammates, we all still have that edge to beat the other guy. In this, we all want to help each other."

"This is just a great opportunity," said Earnhardt Jr. about driving in the Rolex 24 "When my father got excited about it, that just pumped me up more. Everything he says and does I really believe in. It's something I didn't think we'd be doing. It's a pretty big deal. It ranks up there with that first Daytona 500 that I drove."

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