TRANSCRIPT COPY:
Dew Crew Press Conference
Mountain Dew
The Mountain Dew Insiders
10/31/12
Moderator (Tom Stern): Good afternoon everyone and welcome
to the
Diet Mountain Dew Crew Press Conference with Dale Earnhardt
Jr.!
Thank you for joining our exclusive Google Hangout today
with the
King of the Dew Crew himself! An even bigger thanks goes out
to the
most influential 6 Diet Mountain Dew Crew Insiders for
participating.
They earned their spot by going above and beyond and showing
their
commitment to Dale Jr. and the Diet Mountain Dew Crew.
As members of the Diet Mountain Dew Crew you were able to
make
real decisions about the #88 team in addition to being part
of an
awesome community of other #88 fans! You blogged, tweeted,
and
chatted about everything Dale Jr. and Diet Dew, and got
access to some
amazing prizes and gear – best of all you now have the
opportunity to
chat with the man himself... Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t
really need an
introduction – he’s had your loyalty and passion since day
one!
You’ve helped vote Mr. Earnhardt in as NASCAR’s most popular
driver
for 9 consecutive seasons. So let’s get started with some
questions. First
up is Lisa Weidknecht from Planet Weidknecht.
The first questions we’re going to have is from Lisa, “Dale
the interview
and letter from you as a teen about your dad was very
inspirational.
Does he come to mind when you're driving?”
Dale: Yeah, I mean I don’t know if I would say he comes to
mind while
I’m driving, but I definitely carry the legacy with me and
it’s important
for me to carry on the family name and honor the family
name. My
father and his father as well, they’ve invested a lot into
the name, and it
carries a certain weight around the sport, and I just want
to kind of add
my niche to it and not do anything to hurt that or harm
that. So yeah, I
think about that when I’m driving and know that the
decisions I make
are going to be a reflection on my family and the legacy.
Moderator: Absolutely, the second questions we have from
Lisa
is, “What is your favorite track to run and why?”
Dale: It’s hard to pick just one because we run on so many
different
race tracks and they’re all really different. There’s
something cool about
each one, and each one has its own character. I like short
tracks a lot,
Bristol and Richmond are tracks that I enjoy racing. I just
like the close
quarters that short tracks provide, there’s always a
competitor close-by
to compete with. On the mile and a half tracks we get a
little spread out
and it’s kind of difficult to enjoy those races as much
because the close-
quarters racing is what I thrive on, you know, what I really
enjoy. But
there’s a different mentality and a different way to race at
different race
tracks and they all, like I said, have their own character.
Moderator: Sure, thanks very much. Dawn Pruitt of Check It
Out with
Dawn, you’re next.
Dawn: Hey Dale, I’m so excited to be able to talk to you. My
first
question is, “What other sports do you participate in?”
Dale: Well me and my friends have a basketball league that
we play
every summer and I’m involved in that and I play softball as
well.
There’s a league in town, and me and a lot of people that
work at JR
Motorsports and the former team we’re a part of that league.
So we go
play with the rest of the community and that’s a lot of fun
as well. It’s
good clean fun and, aside from that I don’t know. I picked
up golf about
a year ago. I’m not very good but I do enjoy getting out on
the course. I
just like how beautiful the courses are and being outdoors
and being out
in nature’s a lot of fun, good relaxing time if you get the
opportunity to
do it.
Dawn: Cool, OK! My second question is, “I just suffered a
house fire
and lost my home in a fire. So my question is, If your house
was burning
down and you could save 1 item, what would it be?”
Dale: I’m sorry to hear about your misfortune. I was in a
house fire
as well when I was about seven years old. Me and my mother
and my
sister lived together in Kannapolis and we woke up one
morning and our
house was on fire. It burnt down and she moved to Norfolk to
be with
her mother and that’s when custody of me and my sister was
given to
my father. So I had quite an interesting childhood, so I can
imagine what
you’re going through. I would definitely have to say my
dogs, Killer,
would be the first thing I’d go looking for.
Dawn: We lost our pets, so that’s a great answer.
Dale: Yes, ma’am.
Moderator: Dawn, thank you so much you had a couple of great
questions there. We’re going to move on to Cristine from
More from
Mom’s Book.
Cristine: Hi, my first question is, “I have two little boys
at home, when
did you realize you wanted to be a race car driver and how
old were
you?”
Dale: I guess I was around twelve years old when I realized
that I was
going to make a serious effort and commitment to driving
cars. When I
was really young I wanted to be a football player, and when
I was six or
seven I dreamed of being a football player, but as I got
older I got
exposed to racing and the sport, and what my father was
doing I started
to fall in love with the sport and what he did, and I loved
going to the
races and being around it, and I guess around the age of
twelve or
thirteen is when I sat down and realized, wow, I want to
drive race cars
and I’ve got to wait until I get my driver’s license to do
it. That was
about three or four years, I thought I was going to go crazy
sitting on my
couch waiting on that to happen. Just going and observing
was
becoming really difficult. I was missing something that I
hadn’t even
been a part of yet, but I knew driving was what I wanted to
do and just
being patient and waiting on myself to grow up and mature
was
probably the hardest part.
Cristine: My second question would be, “Do have any pre-race
rituals
that you have to do every time before you get out on the
track?”
Dale: I don’t have any superstitions or rituals. Our
weekends and our
Sundays are really consistent. We have the same sort of
schedule. In the
mornings we’ll get up go do a few meet and greets with our
sponsors,
Mountain Dew, the National Guard, a third with Chevrolet at
the Chevy
Stage which really involves meeting fans and interacting,
taking pictures
with fans and just seeing some of the people that our
companies might
have brought in and enjoy the race. Then, after that I will
go to the
drivers meeting and I’ll have about a 45 minute break in
between the
drivers meeting and the drivers intro where I need to get
something to
eat and to get my uniform on and that’s pretty much, every
weekend’s
similar to that. I kind of like the repetitiveness and
having everything
sort of, I know what I’m getting myself into. I’m the kind
of person who
really doesn’t like surprises, so we’ve sort of got it
structured the way
we like it and, the only thing I’m superstitious about is
probably just the
standard stuff that you get taught when you’re young about
black cats
crossing the road or walking under ladders or breaking
mirrors, you
know those are the kinds of things, I’m definitely
superstitious about
those things.
Cristine: Thank you!
Dale: Yes ma’am
Moderator: Thanks very much, next up is Z. Smith from NASCAR
Race
Mom. Her first question is, “Dale, what was the best piece
of advice
your father gave you?”
Dale: One thing that was important to him was that we finish
school.
He dropped out of school in eighth grade at sixteen years
old and even
though he was able to have a successful career as a race car
driver I
think that he knew as he got older and understood just what
he had
done, I think he understood how limited and how the odds
were stacked
against him to have that type of career and have that kind
of lifestyle
so it was really important to him that myself and Kelly
finished school
and attempt to earn a degree in college. He was really glad
that my
sister went the extra mile to do that. I went to Mitchell,
which is in
Statesville, North Carolina, twenty minutes up the road and
got an
automotive degree because I wanted to work on cars, and at
this time,
when I graduated high school, driving race cars and being a
race car
driver for a living weren’t a guarantee. So I went and got
an automotive
degree to be a mechanic in a dealership, and that’s what I
actually did
for about four years. But, that’s what was most important,
the standard
stuff, stay away from drugs and alcohol and hanging around
with the
wrong crowd. He was always worried about us sort of getting
mixed up
in the wrong things and I just think he knew what the
pitfalls in life were
out there and how dangerously close we were to those and how
easily
affected and impressionable young kids are so he was really
worried that
we make the right choices at that age, but once we got done
with college
we got a lot of freedom, we made the choices we wanted to
make and he
wasn’t quite as concerned after that.
Moderator: Great, well just going along with that, “Dale, do
you feel that
your popularity with the fans carries its own set of
responsibilities?”
Dale: Yeah absolutely. I guess I’m always cognizant of the
decisions I
make, what I say, how I react because I know that it has
repercussions
whether good or bad, and I have to represent not only myself
but the
sponsors that we have, the guys that work on my car,
everything that
you do is a reflection of everything around you and I don’t
want to upset
my sponsors, I don’t want to embarrass the guys that work on
my team
and are trying to help me, I don’t want to upset my mother.
You think
about all those things when you’re out there working and
doing what
you’re trying to do, and the fans are willing to support you
and they’ll
go through thick and thin to stand by your side and they’ll
argue with
their coworkers and argue with their other family members
about your
abilities and your talent and all that stuff, and so you
want to do things
that make them proud and you don’t want to do anything that
goes
against what they believe, and sort of, you don’t want to
insult their
intelligence or do anything that’s going to upset them in
any way. So
yeah I’m really cognizant of that and I think it’s important
that you are
aware of what you’re doing, and know that everything you say
and do
has repercussions and you have to be smart about that.
Moderator: Most definitely. Thank you very much to those
questions
from Z. Smith! Dale, several influencers were unable to
attend today’s
press conference due to hurricane Sandy, but we’d like to
pass several of
their questions along. To everyone out there affected, we
sincerely hope
that you and your families are safe and we’re wishing you
the best of
luck!
First up, we have a question from Susan of Susan Heim on
Parenting.
She asks, “Dale, what is your favorite flavor of Mountain
Dew?”
Dale: I like Diet Mountain Dew. I think it was the blueberry
or whatever
they came out with for the Dark Knight movie was really,
really good.
I drank a lot of that on Sunday in Michigan. But, Diet
Mountain Dew
is my favorite and I like Orange Amp as well. They’re coming
back out
with the Orange Amp so I’m excited about that.
Moderator (on behalf of Dawn): Excellent. Next up we have a
question
from Dawn, from With a Side of Thriftiness. She asks, “What
is the
fastest speed you’ve driven?”
Dale: I really don’t know. Our cars don’t have speedometers
in them
so it’s hard to know for sure exactly how fast we went, but
I believe at
Michigan this year with the repave that we ran, 200 miles an
hour as an
average lap. So, I would say that at the end of the
straightaway we were
running about 217 to 218 miles an hour and that’s probably
as fast as
I’ve ever driven, 218.
Moderator (on behalf of Tony): Wow, our next question comes
from
Tony, of The Tunnel Turn. He asks, “Have you ever disguised
yourself
so that you could go outside without being recognized? If so
how far
will you go to go unnoticed?”
Dale: I have done that before. When we leave the night races
at
Richmond on Saturday night we park our car way out in front
of the
race track across the street so we have to walk through the
grandstands
and basically, as the fans are exiting the racetrack we’re
kind of walking
right through that. So, earlier in the day I will go to a
souvenir rig and
buy souvenirs from another driver and sort of dress up as a
race fan for
someone else like Bobby Labonte, and I’ve done that before.
I carry a
seat cushion and put on my Bobby Labonte gear and head on
out of the
racetrack with all of the fans, and I’m cheering for Bobby.
Moderator (on behalf of Kim): Alright great. Dale, we’ve got
one more
questions for you. Our final question for the day comes from
Kim, from
2 Kids and A Coupon. Kim asks, “In your recent letter to
your sixteen-
year old self, you talk about how your dad encouraged your
career. What
do you think that today’s parents can do to help nurture
their children’s
hopes and dreams?”
Dale: Well, I think you just need to be supportive and
encouraging, and
remarks are really what matters the most and the delivery is
everything
when you’re talking to your child. I remember when I was
young it
was the delivery and how your father talked to you or how
your mother
talked to you, and most times it really wasn’t even the
words they said
but it was the tone and the way they spoke to you, that was
really what
influenced me the most. I would either get disheartened or
get fired up
and excited depending on really that tone. The tone of the
voice and the
delivery in what you’re trying to say I think, that’s the
key starting point.
Moderator: Well, that concludes the Diet Mountain Dew Crew
Press
Conference with Dale Earnhardt Jr.! Thanks to all the
influencers
for participating and expecially to Dale for taking the time
out of his
busy schedule to chat with us! Check back on the Diet
Mountain Dew
Facebook page for more exciting things to come in 2013!
YAYYYYYYYYYY WTG Lisa!!!
ReplyDeleteWTG..Thanks Lisa..I saw the whole poem on ESPN one day and it really made a difference in the way I look at life
ReplyDeleteDale earn hard dt interview transcript is shown on the post here. Know details from here
ReplyDelete