"If you just look down the list of our finishes here, it looks horrible. But, I can tell ya that we have always had a better race car than what those finishes show. (In the previous race at NHIS last July), we were great - easily a top-three car-- but I got into it with Todd Bodine and spun out. It always seems to happen that way here: we work our butts off and then we get into a crash in the last 10 laps. We had a great car (in July), and led a lot of laps, so forget whatever our finish was… we'll be good again Sunday. The track was in awful condition then, but I'll keep my mouth shut until we see how it is this week."
        Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Loudon race preview)

Sept. 15: New Hampshire 300, New Hampshire Int'l Speedway, Loudon, NH.
TV: 12:30 p.m. NBC; RADIO: 12:30 p.m. MRN

Dale Jr. at Loudon
Winston Cup starts: 6; best start: 8 (Nov. 2001); best finish: 9 (July, 2001)
This race last year: Start: 8; finish: 24

Dale Jr. and the Bud team led 43 laps in the July race here at Loudon. (From Dale Jr. race preview)

Weekend schedule:
Sept. 13: Bud Pole qualifying, 3 p.m. SPEED/MRN
Sept. 14: NWCS Happy Hour, 11:30 a.m. SPEED
Busch Series off this week. Next race: Dover Downs In'tl Speedway

*All times eastern

"How cool was that Richmond finish?! (fourth place, after dropping two laps behind with a punctured tire) The win in the Busch car (Dale Jr. won Friday night's Busch Series race with his new JR Motorsports/DEI team) was fun, and it was cool, but that car was so awesome my two-year old niece Karsyn could have won with it. Winning is a great feeling, but I really gained a lot of confidence from the Winston Cup race because we did that as a team. We've really been coming together in the last month, and fighting back from that flat tire was something that took the whole Bud team to pull off." (From Loudon race preview)

Sept. 7: Dale Jr. and the Bud team finished 4th at Richmond Int'l Raceway.
Laps led: 0; Started: 24th

2002 Winston Cup stats
    Starts: 26
    Wins: 1
    Top 5s: 8
    Top 10s: 10
    Current points standing: 14th (-524 from leader)

Richmond high point: Friday night lights, and I don't mean high school football. The BGN race was awesome, and seeing Dale Jr. pull into Victory Lane was unforgettable.
Richmond high point 2: Since I don't have a low point, I'm going for another high point: Jr. rallying from 2 laps down to finish 4th, making him eligible for the No Bull 5 promotion at Talladega. Sure wish I could be the lucky fan paired up with him for that!

If you have a high and low point from the weekend you'd like to share,
drop me an e-mail.

None scheduled (at least to my knowledge)

Coverboy
Dale Jr. will be appearing on the cover of the Oct. issue of NASCAR Illustrated, already on newsstands.

Have information on a Dale Jr. appearance? E-mail me and the information will appear in the next newsletter.

Fan of the Week
This week's fan spotlight is on Robin (and cousins) in Michigan: "My cousin, Becky, and her fiance, Scott are big NASCAR fans. They have a daughter together whose name is Haley (she is four). She is a mini-NASCAR fan. Their household is extremely odd because Scott is a huge Jeff Gordon fan and Becky is not. She is a Dale Sr. and Dale Jr. fan." [read more]

Fan photos and stories about their favorite driver can be found at the newsletter's Home site. Tell me why you should be Fan of the Week (think 'How bad have you got it?'). Every newsletter will feature a different fan. Or submit your story and/or photo and you might just see it here as part of a Fan of the Week feature.

Voices
Got something to say? If it's racing-related, it belongs here! Check out the contact section below for submission information.

Where will Dale Jr. claim his next victory? Cast your vote here. The final results will be posted here every week. If you have an idea for a poll question, please e-mail me.

Last week's poll
Would you like to see Dale Jr. race a Bud Light car? 43% of voters said yes, while 37% said no. 20% said "Who cares? Just race!" Thanks to all who voted!

Trivia question
Congrats to Anita J. of Ohio who was the first to correctly answer last week's question: Dale Jr. won his first BGN championship by how many points over Matt Kenseth? 48

This week's trivia
Dale Jr.'s starting position for his BGN debut at Daytona was where? If you know the answer and are the first to reply, you'll see your name here in the next newsletter. (Please include your location.) Submit answer

Challenge
As expected, readers came through when asked to caption a photo. To read some of the captions with the photo, click here. (NOTE: A new window will pop up.)

This week's challenge
This photo needs a caption too! Since the last challenge was so popular, here's another chance to caption a photo! Click here to view the photo, then e-mail me with your caption! I'll select some of the best and include them in the next issue. Have fun!

Jr. put the 'fun' in Funai
How many of you left your TV set during the Funai 250? If you did, you didn't miss much (except, of course, Dale Jr. and Gossamer eating up their competitors one by one), but if you didn't, then you know how fun it was to watch Dale Jr. return to the Series he once dominated and become the 'Dominator' one more time.
If Friday night was any indication, the boys of the Busch Series will have serious competition next season, and not just with Dale Jr. behind the wheel of the #8 car that he co-owns with step-mom Teresa. We saw some major speed, a lot of hard, awesome teamwork, and oh yeah, that one little thing called 'horsepower.' What the heck was in that engine anyway? I can't wait to for next season to begin, and it's only September!

Which brings me to my next topic: the offseason. Yes, that ugly word we racefans hate. (Besides the 'R' word). I'm going to take suggestions from you on ways to curb the withdrawls, the anxieties that come with the offseason. What are you going to do to pass the time? What will you miss most about this season? And most importantly, what are you looking forward to for next season? I'll print some of the answers in upcoming issues. Feel free to say anything you want. It's never too early to plan!

Saturday night's race was some good ol' fashioned night racin'. I was excited to see all 3 DEI guys running well 'most' of the evening. But this is night racing, after all, and that always means something will happen. I wonder how many people banked on Jr. making a hard charge all the way from 2 laps down to finish 4th. That to me says, "Hey, remember me? You will next week when I go home with the trophy!" Way to go, Jr. and team. Once again, you've made us proud.

Til next time, go Junior!
Jackie

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