INDIANAPOLIS -
The rain prevented it for one day, but not forever.
"I'm intrigued how the IndyCar drives, what driving an IndyCar feels like," said Dale Earnhardt Junior, who was supposed to be on a two-seater ride with Dan Wheldon around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday.
Rain prevented the event from happening on the track, but the staple of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series didn't hesitate his counterpart offered him to take a seat in the Dallara.
"In the first seconds we had out there, I picked his brain as hard as I could," said Earnhardt, who was all ears for Wheldon's description of the readings of the steering wheel and other things around and IndyCar.
Though he'll have his No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet at the Brickyard July 26th, don't think for a second that Earnhardt wouldn't mind taking the open wheel machine out for a spin.
"it definitely interests me," said Earnhardt of the prospect of racing in the Indianapolis 500. "I wouldn't want to run the race in the same day as a 600 like some guys had in the past, but should the schedules work out one day, I think you'd find a lot of guys that were interested in coming out here and running the Indy 500, for sure."
Read: Former IRL Driver Tony Stewart visits Brickyard on Wednesday
Discussion of Earnhardt's curiosity with open wheel racing was apart of his pre-Brickyard 400 media session today, including his tour of the IMS Museum, where the driver claims he saw an F1 car up close for the first time
"If you're a race car driver, that's kind of like being in the same room with a national swimsuit model or something," said Earnhardt of seeing the F1 machine. "Some wild stuff in there that you would never see. You can look at a picture of it on the Internet, but standing next to something like that is so impressive."
The highlight of the tour, however, was his limited time in Wheldon's National Guard car.
"That's all me and Dan would probably do if we had our choice today, was just sit around and talk about it," said Earnhardt car chat time with Wheldon.
"We have two very prominent things in common, one is our love for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway," said Wheldon of Earnhardt. "We both have the supports from the troops in the National Guard."
See: More Racing News
Yet business will be on the mind of Earnhardt when he returns to the Sprint Cup series this Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway and then the Brickyard 400 at the end of July. Earnhardt is enduring one of his roughest seasons in NASCAR's top series, earning just three top 10 finishes while sitting 21st in the point standings.
"Working with a new crew chief (Lance McGrew) over the last couple weeks, and we're seeing some improvement and looking forward to every race that I run the rest of the year," said Earnhardt.
"I'm intrigued how the IndyCar drives, what driving an IndyCar feels like," said Dale Earnhardt Junior, who was supposed to be on a two-seater ride with Dan Wheldon around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday.
Rain prevented the event from happening on the track, but the staple of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series didn't hesitate his counterpart offered him to take a seat in the Dallara.
"In the first seconds we had out there, I picked his brain as hard as I could," said Earnhardt, who was all ears for Wheldon's description of the readings of the steering wheel and other things around and IndyCar.
Though he'll have his No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet at the Brickyard July 26th, don't think for a second that Earnhardt wouldn't mind taking the open wheel machine out for a spin.
"it definitely interests me," said Earnhardt of the prospect of racing in the Indianapolis 500. "I wouldn't want to run the race in the same day as a 600 like some guys had in the past, but should the schedules work out one day, I think you'd find a lot of guys that were interested in coming out here and running the Indy 500, for sure."
Read: Former IRL Driver Tony Stewart visits Brickyard on Wednesday
Discussion of Earnhardt's curiosity with open wheel racing was apart of his pre-Brickyard 400 media session today, including his tour of the IMS Museum, where the driver claims he saw an F1 car up close for the first time
"If you're a race car driver, that's kind of like being in the same room with a national swimsuit model or something," said Earnhardt of seeing the F1 machine. "Some wild stuff in there that you would never see. You can look at a picture of it on the Internet, but standing next to something like that is so impressive."
The highlight of the tour, however, was his limited time in Wheldon's National Guard car.
"That's all me and Dan would probably do if we had our choice today, was just sit around and talk about it," said Earnhardt car chat time with Wheldon.
"We have two very prominent things in common, one is our love for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway," said Wheldon of Earnhardt. "We both have the supports from the troops in the National Guard."
See: More Racing News
Yet business will be on the mind of Earnhardt when he returns to the Sprint Cup series this Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway and then the Brickyard 400 at the end of July. Earnhardt is enduring one of his roughest seasons in NASCAR's top series, earning just three top 10 finishes while sitting 21st in the point standings.
"Working with a new crew chief (Lance McGrew) over the last couple weeks, and we're seeing some improvement and looking forward to every race that I run the rest of the year," said Earnhardt.
