Panthers Linebacker Goes For Ride Along With Junior

Earnhardt and Davis helmets

Pete McCole/AR1.com

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. takes a lot of ribbing from his friends whenever his beloved Washington Redskins get a beatdown at the hands of the hometown Carolina Panthers.

On Tuesday afternoon, Earnhardt, Jr. got a chance to do a little ribbing himself, when Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis strapped into a two-seater no. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet for a full-tile ride along on the high banks of Charlotte Motor Speedway.

"I've got a lot of real, real close friends who are Panthers fans, and they make it real hard to root for the Panthers the way they act and cheer for their team," Earnhardt said. "Some of my close buddies, they just don't have any class when it comes to the Panthers, especially when they beat the Redskins. I have to hear about it years and years later. I mean, they beat 'em two years ago, and I still hear about that."

Davis, the NFL’s “Walter Payton Man of the Year" award winner for 2014, was on hand to be put through his paces behind the wheel of a Toyota Camry pace car in preparation for his role as the honorary pace car driver for this Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

After some brief instruction from NASCAR pace car driver Buster Auton, Davis ran a couple of pace laps to get a feel for the track so he’ll be ready to go on Sunday.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]“I always perform well on Sundays," said Davis. “It was a great experience. I’m truly excited about coming out here on Sunday and being part of this. It’s a dream come true. You sit around and you think about doing stuff like this, but when you actually get to do it, it’s amazing. It’s a lot like being able to run out and hear our fans cheering – the same kind of adrenaline rush.

“I only got to about 110 (in the pace car). The curves kind of made me a little nervous, but other than that, I tried to open it up as much as I could."

After his pace car practice, Davis got a chance to see how the pros do it in NASCAR, as he and Earnhardt, Jr. took to the track for a couple of fast laps in a Richard Petty Driving Experience car dressed up like Earnhardt, Jr.’s Sprint Cup car.

If Earnhardt, Jr. thought he was going to put a scare into the 235-pound, 6-foot-1 former All American, he was sadly mistaken.

"I don’t scare too easy," said Davis.

Davis, in fact, pulled out his cell phone and recorded the entire ride and posted it on his Twitter feed – all while doing about 180 mph around the 1.5-mile oval.

“I figured he was going to be hard to scare," Earnhardt said. “He was filming the whole thing with his phone like we were going down the interstate.

“I was glad that we got to do this today, so he can get not only the experience of driving the pace car and leading the field to green, but kind of get an idea of what being in the car is like, and what we’re dealing with as drivers out there. I think we gave him a good example."

Earnhardt Jr. and Davis

Pete McCole/AR1.com

Before their ride-along, David presented Earnhardt, Jr. , die-hard Redskins fan, with a new souvenir for his collection – a Carolina Panthers helmet.

"I've been hearing a lot of talk about you being a Redskins fan, so we'll give you some good hardware to take home," said Davis.

Earnhardt admits he’ll always be a ‘Skins fan, but after meeting Davis and some of the other players on the team, the Panthers are growing on him – slowly but surely.

“I got to get to know [Panthers tight end Greg] Olsen really good working together with him on some stuff for our charities, and he restored my faith in the football team," said Earnhardt, Jr. “I really appreciate what they do for the Charlotte community and the area.

“I’ll always, always pull for the Redskins No. 1, but I’m definitely warming up to the Panthers after meeting some of the players. They’ve got some genuine, quality people on their team, and Thomas is one of them."

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