The McLaren CEO Zak Brown made true of his bet at Circuit of the Americas
Back in March, McLaren CEO Zak Brown said that if Daniel Ricciardo was able to bring the team a podium finish then the driver would be able to drive a classic Earnhardt machine. Ricciardo took it a step further, grabbed a win. And as of yesterday, he got to drive the Earnhardt machine.
Brown has a wide range of historic race cars. The 1984 Dale Earnhardt car is one of those machine.
The car now lives in England. However, Brown had it transported back to America to be unloaded at Circuit of the Americas.
F1 is running COTA this weekend. On Saturday, ahead of F1 practice, Ricciardo took the machine for a drive. He’s scheduled to do it again on Sunday morning.
Daniel Ricciardo comments on the Earnhardt car
“Earnhardt was an absolute hero of mine,” Ricciardo stated ahead of the run.
“To be able to drive the ’84 Earnhardt car, I believe he won 5 races in that car. It’s special. The livery is amazing. The Wrangler Jeans, blue and yellow, the big 3 on it.”
“It’s a crazy. In this calendar year, I got to drive a hero in Senna’s car in the Goodwood and boy in a few days time I’m going to drive an Earnhardt. So, it’s a real pinch me kind of moment right now.”
Zak Brown comments on the Earnhardt car
“That’s a special car,” said Brown on Friday. “That started off life in 1983. It’s actually Ricky Rudd’s car that won at Riverside. I was at that race. And then it got converted to Dale Earnhardt Sr’s car in the ’84 and ’85 season, and won a handful of races, so it’s the real deal.
“We flew it out here from England where it lives, and Daniel’s going to give it a go. He did a seat fitting, which was I think more of just making sure that the seat-belts fit,” added Brown.
Ricciardo’s #3 design has matched the Earnhardt styling. He’s regularly seen wearing Earnhardt shirts and ahead of the drive, he brought a special #3 helmet which says, “McLaren Service Plus.”
I regards to seeing Riccardo on the Dale Jr podcast, Jr stated, “We have and will continue to try to get him there.”
You can watch a video of the drive here.
Ricciardo talks Dale Earnhardt
Dale Earnhardt car at COTA
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Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | Dale Earnhardt | F1 | NASCAR
