Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS, will be available to members of the media on Saturday, Aug. 5, at 11:30 a.m. local time in the Watkins Glen International media center.
AXALTA RETURNS: After a five-race stretch with Nationwide as the primary partner on the No. 88 Chevrolet SS, the bright red, orange and yellow Axalta colors will return this weekend at The Glen. Axalta will be the primary partner on the No. 88 Chevrolet SS for 13 total races in 2017, including the next three race weekends – Watkins Glen, Michigan and Bristol.
AT THE GLEN: In his last two visits (2014 and 2015) to Watkins Glen International, Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned a pair of 11th-place finishes. In 16 total starts, the driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS has earned two top-five and three top-10 finishes at the road course. According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics since 2005, Earnhardt ranks sixth in the “closers” category, gaining an average of 1.2 positions during the last 10 percent of the race. He ranks among the top 10 in several other categories, including laps led (sixth – 34 laps), average speed early in a run (sixth – 104.157 mph), average speed late in a run (seventh – 103.215 mph), quality passes (eighth – 175 passes) and laps spent in the top 15 (ninth – 530 laps).
NO. 88 HOMESTEAD CAR UNVEIL ON QVC: On Wednesday, Aug. 2, Earnhardt will appear on QVC to unveil his Axalta car for Homestead as part of his #Appreci88ion tour. The celebration show will air at 7 p.m. ET and will also be live-streamed on Earnhardt’s Facebook page. The show will also provide an exclusive opportunity to purchase die-casts of the ride in addition to special apparel. For more information, click here.
RIR VICTORY TOUR: Next week, the driver of the No. 88 Chevy will visit Richmond for his Victory Tour, where in addition to spending time at the racetrack, Earnhardt is scheduled to visit training camp for his favorite NFL team – the Washington Redskins.
ROAD TO RACE DAY: The third installment of “Road to Race Day,” the eight-part docuseries about Hendrick Motorsports, premieres Wednesday on go90and focuses on Earnhardt and the No. 88 team. The episode was filmed during the April 2016 Bristol race weekend, where Peyton Manning visits with the No. 88 team before they wage a nail-biting, unforgettable battle. The series is directed by Cynthia Hill (“A Chef’s Life,” “Private Violence”) and executive produced by Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights,” “Lone Survivor”).
TIES TO HOME: No. 88 spotter and podcast host TJ Majors, who is known for his calls of “Door. Bumper. Clear.” over the in-car radio, lists Watkins Glen International as his home track. He was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania, but grew up in East Bethany, New York, before moving to Mooresville, North Carolina, where he lives with wife Tamela and daughter Madelynn. Majors, who was introduced to Earnhardt via iRacing in 1997, began spotting for the driver at the end of the 2007 season and has continued with the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 team since Earnhardt joined in 2008, in addition to spotting for a variety of teams in other series, including Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports. |