Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global
Breaking news

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s substitute spotter at Phoenix is simply "Awesome"

With TJ Majors under the weather, "Awesome" Bill stepped in to help out.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Covy Moore

When your regular spotter is under the weather, it doesn't hurt to have a substitute who is a NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee and a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.

Oh, and by the way, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a spotter this week who has 16 Most Popular Driver awards to Earnhardt's 11.

Obviously, there's only one person who meets all those criteria. With TJ Majors, who guided Earnhardt to last Sunday's dramatic Daytona 500 win, staying home to recuperate from an intestinal infection, Bill Elliott is spotting for the No. 88 Chevrolet during practice and qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway.

During Sunday's The Profit on CNBC 500 at the one-mile track, Jeff Dickerson take over spotter duties, as he did last year during Majors' illness.

"TJ is good," Earnhardt replied when asked about his spotter's health. "He had some issues with his intestines last year that caused him to miss the Atlanta race. Some of those issues cropped back up—just a small infection. He's back home now. He's out of the hospital, so he's fine.

Spotters
Spotters

Photo by: Kenneth May

"He just hates having to miss it. He's a huge part of our team. We have such great chemistry. It's going to be a difficult situation not having him, but we've got Bill Elliott, of all people, (who) is going to fill in during practice. That's going to be pretty awesome."

And it will be Elliott, coined "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" by his legion of fans, who will guide Earnhardt through the debut of the new group qualifying format, in use in the Cup series for the first time this week.

"A lot of Most Popular Driver awards right there, like 27, or something like that," Earnhardt said. "It'll be interesting going through knockout qualifying, me and Bill both for the first time."

Their first practice together couldn't have gone better. Earnhardt led the session with a lap at 138.723 mph.

Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Earnhardt gaining ground, on Twitter
Next article Tony Stewart discusses how he feels

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global