Dale Junior Interested In 500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Two dramatically different drivers who love Indy racing and its history came together at a rainy Speedway, swapping stories on their National Guard sponsored cars, as well as life behind the wheel

Dale Earnhardt Junior spent part of Thursday picking Dan Wheldon's brain.  "Any time you're around a racecar and there's a driver that has drove that car, you've gotta ask him what it drives like, what it feels like what it does, what it, how it works, so in the few seconds that we had out there, I picked his brain as hard as I could."

For his part, Wheldon says there's a common bond. " Dale Junior and I have got bosses that understand the significance of representing the National Guard, and that's another thing we have in common. We definitely have different backgrounds, I think we talk with different accents too, but there's a lot of common things amongst the two of us."

Junior's never driven an open wheel car, but the 500 certainly has it's lure.

"Should the schedules work out one day, I think you'd find a lot of guys that are interesting in coming out here and running the Indy 500 for sure."

Despite a season of struggles, he's set to run in his 10th Brickyard 400 later this month, hoping to do better than just leading four different times or finishing as high as 6th.

As for taking checkers, Junior says, "It's an honor to run here, it's an honor to be here at this place and to win at this racetrack, regardless of the series, I think is great for any driver's resume."

A resume that badly needs a shot in the arm.