Don’t expect Junior to install a passenger seat in his Cup Series ride anytime soon, though.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is used to driving his No. 88 Chevrolet around Charlotte Motor Speedway by himself, or at least as solo as he can be with thousands of fans cheering him on from the stands and his crew chief and spotter in his ear. This week, though, he had a passenger in the Nationwide car with him, one who just happens to be the head man in one of the world’s most influential companies.
Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Facebook, got to ride along for some hot laps with Junior and drive a few himself in a NASCAR Experience car this week. He also toured the Hendrick Motorsports facility and met with Marcus Smith, president and GM of the track, as part of his initiative to visit all 50 states during 2017 and learn more about how Facebook can continue to work toward positive change in different communities.
Naturally, Zuckerberg captured part of his experience on Facebook Live.
And while it’s unlikely that Earnhardt got the 88 up to top speed, he told the Charlotte Motor Speedway website that he at least wound the Nationwide car up pretty good.
"“It was fun to go out there for a few laps with Mark and to give him an idea of what you feel when you’re in a race car,” Earnhardt said. “We definitely got up to a pretty good speed there.”"
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No word on whether getting to see what it’s like for NASCAR drivers will inspire Facebook to throw some of its considerable financial resources toward sponsorship of the sport, but it certainly can’t hurt Zuckerberg’s impression of stock car racing to ride along with its most popular driver.