Could you have imagined the late Dale Earnhardt as the Rowdy Burns character in the 1990 stock car racing film ‘Days of Thunder? According to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who on Saturday night will make his last trip around Daytona International Speedway in the # 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, that casting scenario might have been close to the truth. ‘The rumor was they offered Dad the role of Rowdy Burns, Earnhardt said on Friday during a question-and-answer session with reporters. ‘I don’t know if that is really true or not, but that was the rumor. But Dad turned it down because he didn’t want to play the bad guy. Although Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won at Talladega Superspeedway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ most recent restrictor-plate race, the driver of the # 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford isn’t definitively locked into NASCAR’s playoffs – but the odds are heavily in his favor. Assuming Stenhouse makes the playoff, however, he’ll start in a deep hole to Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson, who have accumulated 21, 16 and 13 playoff points, respectively. For practical purposes, Kurt Busch is locked into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Sure, there’s the possibility that a surfeit of race winners – more than 16, to be precise – could eliminate a driver who has been to Victory Lane in the first 26 events. Based on recent history, however, the prospects of that happening are remote, and as the winner of the season-opening Daytona 500, Busch figures to be competing for the championship in the final 10 races. With that in mind, Busch feels his time is best spent preparing for the five 1.5-mile intermediate speedways that populate the playoffs. Only one problem: there’s only one 1.5-mile track on the schedule (July 8 at Kentucky Speedway) between now and the postseason opener at Chicagoland. Before Thursday’s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Daytona International Speedway, Chase Elliott took questions from reporters for the first time announcing a contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports. Though the 21-year-old is still looking for his first victory in the series, his message was emphatic. ‘I’m thankful for the opportunity and the chance to stay at Hendrick Motorsports for another five-and-a-half years, Elliott said. ‘It’s been an honor to work with the men and women that make Hendrick Motorsports go around every day. And as I’ve told everyone before, I owe so much to Mr. Hendrick and what he’s done for me and really just kind of believing in me from the time I met him.(NASCAR Wire Service)[Read More Here]
