Headline Surfer® YouTube download / DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows how to get the job done when it comes to racing at Daytona as the countdown begins for Speedweeks ands the 500 race on Feb. 22. But Earnhardt was nervous as all heck in the hours leading up to his appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in September to hype NASCAR's Chase championship format.
Junior told USA Today he was really nervous about his Sept. 7 appearance, even though he's been on TV numerous times, including appearing on Letterman after his second Daytona 500. victory, but once he got going, he was fine.
"As soon as you step in the room, you're like, 'Oh yeah, this is great!'" Earnhardt told the newspaper. "I totally get it wrong every time. I go to all those deals kicking and screaming, and (then) I'm like, 'Man, this is the best thing! Why do I not like this?'
As shown in this 2:20 video clip from the show that Headline Surfer® downloaded from YouTube for this story, Kimmel and Junior share laughs on NASCAR's wacky point system for The Chase and wrecking other drivers.
"Three wins, no tickets for texting while driving," Kimmel says in a teasing way, to which Junior tells him it's bad to text and drive in this tongue-and-cheek interview.
Kimmel leads Earnhardt into the complicated point system for "The Chase," to which Junior responds, "You're asking the wrong guy," before he explains it just as good as any sports broadcaster would.
Then Kimmel gets into the nitty gritty of NASCAR racing: "You ever bump another car just for the hell of it, just for fun? " Junior responds, Ah, not for fun, you do it, you get mad sometimes."
Then Kimmel gets into the nitty gritty of NASCAR racing: "You ever bump another car just for the hell of it, just for fun? " Junior responds, Ah, not for fun, you do it, you get mad sometimes."
Photos for Headline Surfer® /Earnhardt then goes on to explain in a hilarious way how one particular wreck was misinterpreted because of a nose bleed.
Earnhardt told USA Today he didn't really want to go to Los Angeles, but NASCAR sent him as part of its 16-driver "Chase Across America" media blitz.
The North Carolina native told the newspaper he "wondered why drivers didn't just get to visit their hometowns and "rally the troops, so to speak."
Earnhardt told USA Today he didn't really want to go to Los Angeles, but NASCAR sent him as part of its 16-driver "Chase Across America" media blitz.
The North Carolina native told the newspaper he "wondered why drivers didn't just get to visit their hometowns and "rally the troops, so to speak."
But after jet-setting to Los Angeles, Earnhardt, then-39, said he enjoyed the experience and enjoyed the bantering with Kimmel in particular despite his initial trepidation.
The 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship was eventually won by Kevin Harvick with winless Ryan Newman finishing second overall in the standings in "The Chase" format tinkering that was the brain-trust of NASCAR CEO Brian France.
Despite winning the Daytona 500 for the second time in a decade, described by NASCAR as the "Superbowl of Racing" even though it's the first race of the season, and three other races during the 2014 campaign, Earnhardt finished eighth in the final Sprint Cup championship rankings.
Denny Hamlin finished third, Joey Logano fourth, Brad Kezelowski fifth, Jeff Gordon sixth and Matt Kenseth seventh.
Rounding out the top 10 after Earnhardt in eighth were Carl Edwards who finished ninth and Kyle Busch in 10th place,
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