Pocono fans savor Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s final year before his retirement
"We're going to miss you," one fan called to Dale Earnhardt Jr. through an aluminum fence at Pocono Raceway on Friday.
LONG POND, Pa. - "We're going to miss you," one fan called to Dale Earnhardt Jr. through an aluminum fence at Pocono Raceway on Friday.
"Thanks for the memories, buddy," another fan said as he asked for an autograph. "Oh my God!" a third squealed when Earnhardt consented.
Earnhardt, voted NASCAR's most popular driver for 14 straight years, is used to being the center of attention. But the local fans do not have many more chances to see him. Earnhardt does not have many more chances to enter his car, exit his car, and walk down pit row before a crowd of fans who love him and let him know about it.
The 42-year-old announced in late April that this season would be his last. Last week at Dover, Jeffrey Earnhardt - Dale Jr.'s nephew and a third-year Cup driver - called his uncle's retirement "a big shock to this sport." At least, it was a shock to 23-year-old Allentown resident Ashley Nedley, who cried when she heard Earnhardt's announcement.
Nedley soaked in Earnhardt's practice run Friday holding a DSLR camera and wearing a No. 88 shirt. Of a handful of fans matching her, none knew whom they will support next year without Earnhardt. Nedley said the decision might require a pros-cons list for each remaining driver.
"Everybody says they bleed green and white for the Eagles or black and gold for the Steelers," Nedley said. "I bleed Nationwide for Dale Jr. This is where I feel at home."
On the track, Earnhardt had a rough Friday. He had to change his engine between practice and qualifying, so he will start Sunday's Pocono 400 in the back of the field.
The mechanical change makes a third victory here difficult. But he is still the most famous driver on the circuit.
"Really makes you feel great," Earnhardt said. "Especially after a difficult day like today, the best medicine for that is to get around the fans, because they're going to be the ones that lift you up."
In 2014, he became the first driver since 2006 to sweep the Pocono races, giving his local audience a memory to cherish. Ray Sheets, 60, had tickets to victory lane that year and has rooted for Dale Jr. since before the driver's father died in the 2001 Daytona 500.
"He's helped so many people," Sheets said. "I think he's had a lot of pressure on him because of his name."
The celebrity status may soon shift to someone else, but for now there is Earnhardt.
"Just in general, I think fans are really wanting to just say thanks to Dale Jr. for being our most popular ambassador of our sport for the last two decades," Kurt Busch said Friday.
The fans did indeed thank Earnhardt, and the driver is grateful too. About 100 fans were waiting with souvenirs on the other side of that fence. Earnhardt appeared to sign every one.
Wallace debuts
Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut Sunday at Pocono, becoming the first black driver to start a Cup race since Bill Lester in 2006.
Wallace, 23, will fill in for the injured Aric Almirola in Richard Petty Motorsports' No. 43 car.
"I'm glad to be leading the forefront of that right now, and it just shows that we're trying to bring in a new demographic," Wallace said on a teleconference Tuesday.
"We're trying to bring in a new face and get a younger generation, no matter what color or what age, we're trying to get everybody involved to bring NASCAR back."
Busch wins pole
For the second straight week, Kyle Busch won the pole position with a 50.237-second lap. He also started on the pole last week at Dover, where he finished 16th.