Dale Jr.'s health; a Gordon-Evernham reunion? And more

Many NASCAR fans think Dale Earnhardt Jr. is remarkable. In some ways he is. In other ways he's just like you.

Earnhardt says that he has 20/13 vision in both eyes, but he also admits that his cholesterol level "got a little bit higher, so I'm trying to eat better and not eat as many fried foods. I'm trying to drink a lot more water, too. I drink too many sodas.''

But Earnhardt's strongest comments during Thursday's media day at Daytona came in regards to track owners, some have said that drivers need to do more to help tracks sell tickets.

"They have got to take a litlte responsibility for themselves,'' Earnhardt said Thursdays during media day at Daytona International Speedway. "We can push all we can push, but they've got to get a little more creative. They can't expect people to come back and spend that kind of money in this economy.''

# Jeff Gordon was asked about former crew chief Ray Evernham, who no longer is a part owner of what is now called Richard Petty Motorsports and if they would ever work together. Here's what Gordon said:

"We've always stayed great friends and I admire him and he's a sharp guy and he's done a lot, obviously, in this sport,'' Gordon said. "We're always looking to find ways to make ourselves better. If (an Evernham reunion) was ever the case, it wouldn't be in a crew chief role. If it's an engineer, if it's a team manager, whatever options are out there for anybody we always take them serious. With my experience with Ray being so positive in the past, I certainly woudln't throw it out. It's not something that is happening, but it's not something that I would ever say never would.''

Don't be surprised that if Gordon struggles early in the season that Evernham might come on board in some fashion. That said, if Gordon starts out the season well, there might not be as big of a push for such a reunion.

# There's been a lot of talk about the how the top 35 in car owner points are locked in for the first five races, including the Daytona 500 and how teams have been trying to get those car owner points from others that are not racing. Clint Bowyer with the No. 33 car will be guaranteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500 even though that is a new team and had no car owner points until recently. How did he do it? Bobby Ginn.

You remember Ginn, don't you? He's the real estate guy who came in bought MB2 Motorsports but things didn't work out there and he merged with DEI. He remained a minority owner at DEI so DEI could use the car owner points a couple of his teams had. Well, Richard Childress Racing has made Ginn a minority owner in the team so that Bowyer can get the car owner points for the 01 car (Regan Smith last year). So, Ginn, who hasn't been visible at a track in more than a year plays a role in who is getting in and who might not make the Daytona 500. This has been going on the past few weeks. Bill Davis, who sold all his stuff and got out of the business, suddenly has become a minority owner at Penske. Why? To get the car owner points from Davis' car, the No. 22 car, and apply that to Sam Hornish's team, so Hornish is guaranteed a starting spot in the 500 and the first five races.

I asked NASCAR Chairman Brian France about his feelings on what is being done in regards to car owner points and the top 35. Here's what he said:

"My feeling is it's taking on a lot of different dimensions and we are looking at that carefully to make sure that the intention of the policy of what we started out with is where we ended up,'' he said. "It's fair to say with all the things that are going on around that, it's still not quite settled yet going into Daytona. My sense of it is it would be nicer if it were more simple to understand the policy and sometimes we've announced something and we work on it. We'll be looking at it as we go along.''

But nothing will change for this year, correct?

"We're not going to change anything tomorrow for the Daytona 500,'' France said, "but as we go along we'll be looking at the top 35. We'll be looking at it and mindful of the complexities its taken on.''

While anything can happen, the guess here is that NASCAR will come out with a different policy for next year. NASCAR can go one of two ways. It can either say anything is fair game and that way wouldn't have to legislate it or it can say such an exchange can happen under only certain circumstances to limit what can happen. It will be interesting to see what path NASCAR chooses.

# Denny Hamlin said he will be purchasing at least four seats per race to offer fans on his website. Construction is still ongoing on the site but Denny said the address to check out will be www.dennyhamlin.com/seats. He also said that the seats are available to all fans, not just Hamlin fans.

# Joey Logano, who is 18 years old and set to become the youngest Daytona 500 starter, on if he ever questioned his readiness for Cup: "Things like that go through your mind, but then you have to think J.D. (Gibbs, team president) and Joe (Gibbs, owner) aren't going to put you in if you're not ready. They know what they're doing. They've won championships. So, if they say you're ready, you must be ready. We're going to go with what they said.''

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.