Earnhardt takes wheel of Hendrick Chevy

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally got to drive a Hendrick Motorsports car during a test Monday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt Jr. at the wheel of the number 5 Hendrick Chevy GM

"I was just really surprised [in April] at how well the car turned and how well the front-end worked (when he subbed for Kyle Busch), and that's the same thing I thought this morning," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I'm really amazed at how smoothly and how well it turned.

"It's been wild how this all has worked out and how much attention it got and how hard some of it was and how much fun some of it was. As exciting as it is, I don't want to go and do it again. Hopefully, we'll have a great time at Rick's and he'll keep me as long as I want to drive."

Earnhardt Jr. wore a uniform with Adidas, one of his personal sponsors, on the front because current sponsor Budweiser and future sponsor Amp Energy Drink (from the makers of Pepsi) are competitors.

"The cars, equipment, the pieces, the pieces of all that are the same," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's just maybe Hendrick does a better job at being organized with it. They have more success. There's some things that are different, obviously, but I'm not aware of them yet.

"Tony, Jr., he's going to make sure the cars are comfortable. That really should be a non-issue, just getting the cars to do right, drive right. The challenge is just going to be getting to know everybody."

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