DARLINGTON, S.C. — Kyle Busch just might have a little “Intimidator” in him.
And that’s from someone who’d know best, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It was only a few days ago Busch and Earnhardt Jr. collided chasing victory at Richmond International Raceway. Dale Jr. admitted with a smile that Busch’s racing style reminded him of his old man’s earlier, hard-charging stock-car days.
“On the racetrack, there may be some comparisons there,” Earnhardt Jr. said Thursday. “He’s fast … he’s slick, he’s aggressive.”
“That’s the way dad raced and Kyle has that same style,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “Very aggressive.”
Earnhardt Jr. was at Darlington Raceway on Thursday, preparing for Saturday night’s Dodge Challenger 500.
Dale Jr. fans everywhere thought their hero’s two-year winless drought — Earnhardt’s last victory came at Richmond in May 2006 — was about to end as he fought Busch for the win less than two miles from the checkered flag.
The cars hit and Earnhardt spun into the wall. Busch, with little damage, recovered to take second behind Clint Bowyer.
Earnhardt wound up 15th — a finish that unleashed the full wrath of “Little E” fans on Busch, the 23-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
Earnhardt could’ve stoked the flames more with a few incendiary words. Instead, he chose to put the crash and lost opportunity behind him this week at Darlington.
“I’ve got more important things to worry about,” Earnhardt said. “If I let that get under my skin, everything I do this week is going to be a pain in my butt, make for a long week.”
Earnhardt wants to concentrate on conquering Darlington, where his father is second all time with nine victories at the track “Too Tough To Tame.”
Earnhardt Jr. has four top 10s his last five times here. His new team, Hendrick Motorsports, has won 10 times here since the 1995 Southern 500.
“The team’s been great. The car’s been good,” Earnhardt said. “I’m very confident.”
All the drivers will have to handle Darlington’s repaved surface. The track used $10 million in capital improvement funds give the track a new coat of blacktop for the first time since 1995.
Earnhardt’s Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman took part in a Goodyear tire test here in March that saw speeds on the fastest part of the track hit 200 mph — unheard of at Darlington since NASCAR took steps to slow their machines for safety’s sake.
The 10 fastest racers in Thursday’s first Sprint Cup practice session surpassed the 12-year-old track qualifying record set by Ward Burton in 1996. Burton’s record lap came in the first race after the track’s last repaving.
Newman doesn’t think the new surface will change the way drivers race on the quirky, 1.366-mile layout.
“We never saw much side-by-side racing here,” he said. “I don’t expect that will be different this weekend.”
Maybe that’ll mean no round two for Earnhardt-Busch.
Earnhardt put things behind him when he returned to work this week. He was impressed by Busch’s response.
And Earnhardt didn’t deny the high drama of a budding rivalry thrills race fans: Busch the rising star cast aside in the Hendrick garage to make room for Earnhardt, NASCAR’s most popular driver.
“It was a big deal,” Earnhardt said. “It was a bad deal for me and I was pretty frustrated by it. But it’s exciting for the sport and whether I want to deny it or not, there a lot of people out there who enjoyed it.”
Sounds like Junior’s got his father in him, as well.
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