iNSIDE SCOOP: Tweet Emotion

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to capitulate last week after winning the Daytona 500. He made a promise that if he won the Daytona 500, he would start Tweeting, and it blew the darn thing up.

Earnhardt Jr. is sort of private, not much for the hoo-raw unless he knows you. He’ll kick it ‘til the morning light, don’t get me wrong, but you have to be in the inner circle to see it. I’m talking Dirty Mo Posse inside.

Twitter, for those of us who live there, is a way to say stuff without having to actually be in the room, and it suits Junior to a T.

“Well, I’m still learning,” he said Friday at Phoenix. “There are still a lot of questions about how to use the software, how to physically use the software.  There is quite a difference between the iPhone version and iPad version so trying to work between the two, just simple stuff like that.  I mean I never used it before.  I got (Mike) Hoag and Laura (Scott) and them helping me so I don’t look like an idiot.”

Hardly. He has 520,000 followers and counting, and it’s surprised him how much fun it is.

“It’s been fun to interact with the fans,” he said. “Doing that Q&A on the way to Austin or wherever we were headed was fun.  That was kind of just a spur of the moment idea and it was enjoyable to be able to plug in like that whenever you feel like it.  Hopefully the fans appreciate that.”

Oh, they do. They do.

In a way, Junior said, it’s electronic fan mail.

“Back in ’04, ’03, ’02 Dad’s fan mail room was just piled.  I’m like how do you decipher all that?  How do you get through all that?  It’s just a lot coming at you and you want to take it all in and you don’t want to miss anything. “

One of the most popular things he’s done is something called Throwback Thursday, where he Tweets old photos of his dad and himself. 

“Throwback Thursday is pretty cool,” he said. “I’ve got a photo stream on my phone that is like 500 old pictures of my Dad and Ralph (Earnhardt) and Jimmy Means.  It’s just a photo stream that I just collect photos that I find.  There are a ton of people on that, but I got throwback Thursday for years.  I’m in good shape there that is going to be fun.”

In a way, as cathartic as his Daytona victory was, the step to Twitter has been nearly equal.

“Like (Mike) Hoag and them will come up to me and be like ‘man, such and such tweeted you.’ I’m like ‘what?  Where?  What the hell? How did I miss that?  Why am I missing that?’  (Laughs) I’ve got a lot to learn.  

“A guy from MRO (Motor Racing Outreach) brought me that picture of the verse that Stevie (Waltrip) gave me and I know it would make DW’s (Darrell Waltrip) day if I tweeted how much I appreciate that.  Just being able to do that.”

For a guy who once thought his career path led from the garage bays at Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet to maybe the sales manager’s job, it’s a way for him to give a little of himself back to those who appreciate him. 

“I don’t know what I was thinking why I didn’t get on there earlier because it’s a great way to tell people things you appreciate.  It’s instant.  So I’m learning, taking all kinds of advice if anybody wants to give me any advice if I get going in the wrong direction.”

Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.