ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702110013
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
Dale Earnhardt has a new answer to the question about competing with teammate Mike Skinner, who won the pole Saturday for the Daytona 500.
Earnhardt says he doesn't have a teammate.
``I don't really look at him as a teammate,'' Earnhardt said Friday at Daytona International Speedway in a news conference between practice sessions.
The conference came before Saturday's qualifying, where Skinner, the rookie driver for car owner Richard Childress, won the pole for Sunday's Daytona 500 with a speed of 189.813 mph.
If unhappy with that development, Earnhardt certainly wasn't displeased. After all, he now has that stout drafting partner he has sorely needed here the past few years.
``Those guys on the [No.]31 team did a lot of hard work, and I'm glad that one of our cars is sitting on the pole,'' Earnhardt said after Skinner's coup.
But on Friday, Earnhardt had this to say about the new two-car team at Richard Childress Racing: ``A teammate pretty much drives the same car and the other guy gets in when you get out, sort of like they do in that 24-hour race.
``Richard owns two race teams and they're completely different. We share information back and forth.
``If it comes down to it, and we can help each other in a race as far as drafting goes, it'll be great to do,'' Earnhardt added. ``If it comes down to winning, I'm probably going to bend the fenders on that 31 car just like I would on any other car to get to the front.''
But as Earnhardt prepares for his 19th assault on the only big Winston Cup race that has eluded him, he does so with the knowledge that since the beginning of testing in January, he has generally been slower than Skinner.
``I don't think I get more uptight about this race than I do any other race,'' Earnhardt said. ``The hype is like going to Charlotte. It is the all-star race of the year. After 17, 18 years of this, you pretty much learn to relax with it and enjoy it. I've tried to enjoy it as much as I can. I want to enjoy this time as much as I can and look forward to the next race after this year is over.''
Expounding about his injury-plagued 1996 season with greater frankness than before, Earnhardt said he should have rested far more than he did after breaking a shoulder and his sternum in a crash at Talladega last July.
``Driving the race car hurt at Watkins Glen [in early August] was really a stupid mistake on my part,'' he said. ``It was the hero thing to do when I was driving it, but it probably set me back two or three races, or a lot more than that really.
``I probably should have taken a little better care of myself when I was hurt,'' he said. ``It prolonged the healing process. I couldn't sit down and behave myself at home no more than I could in the race car.
``I should have got out of the car at Watkins Glen and put David Green in,'' he said. ``I should have got out of the car at the next race and put somebody else in. I should have had some relief drivers for three or four races and let things heal up. And I didn't do that.''
But Earnhardt also acknowledged that getting out of the car, specifically getting out during the Brickyard 400 six days after his injury, was one of the hardest things he's had to do in his career.
``It pretty much felt the same as it did when I blew the tire out here at Daytona [in 1990] and lost the race to Derrike Cope. I felt our chances were good to win that race [at Indy last year]. To have to get out with all those things going our way, it was just a little bit disappointing.
``But I feel very optimistic with our chances to win the 500,'' he said. Crew chief ``Larry [McReynolds] has been rather a godsend really. He's given the team a whole lot of confidence. Unless I'm very, very wrong, this is going to be a great year for us.''
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Earnhardt KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB