KANNAPOLIS — Dale Earnhardt Jr. has landed on his feet and is doing just fine, thank you.

That was the message delivered Friday night from the Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium parking lot, where the 26-year old race car driver spent two hours hawking NASCAR items for the QVC shopping network.

“I’m OK. I really am,” he said. “And I’ve enjoyed coming here. These are my people, the ones I grew up with. It was nice to come home and do this in front of them.”

Several hundred spectators gave Earnhardt a standing ovation after he completed his TV close-up, a live broadcast transmitted to some 70 million homes worldwide. He came across as a very real, down-to-earth young man — just what you’d expect from someone raised in Kannapolis and residing in Mooresville.

“That’s him,” said Earnhardt publicist Jade Gurss, one of many coordinators for the event. “There’s nothing pretentious about him. He’s very approachable, very easy to talk to.”

Gurss has helped Earnhardt author a book about the driver’s 2000 rookie season, when he captured two races and placed 16th in the Winston Cup points standings. Still untitled, the tome is will be published by Warner Books and made available in January.

“It might surprise some people,” said Earnhardt, a 6-foot, 165-pound southpaw. “It’s about my rookie season, strictly. Nothing else. People may be expecting something about the past several months or life with and without my father. It’s not. I want everybody to understand that so they’re not disappointed.”

Might a future literary effort focus on Dale Sr., the seven time Grand National champion killed late in this season’s first race? “I don’t know,” he said. “There’s a privacy line there that I may not want to cross. I don’t think he would enjoy me writing stories about him.”

Earnhardt, currently 10th in the points standings, has spent the past several days prepping for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. His No. 8 Budweiser Chevy will start from the 19th spot.

“It’s a long, long race and you have to be patient,” he explained. “You can get all excited and put yourself in bad position early, and all that does is make a long race longer. Things evolve, things change throughout the race. What I want to do is sit there and wait for an opportunity.”

Earnhardt said he enjoyed a childhood spent riding go-carts and playing neighborhood baseball games. He called his dad “a great father,” and added: “Ever though he was a very busy man, he made time for me. We went on hunting trips and did lots of things together. Even though his chose career took him away many days out of the year, I still feel like he was there for me.”

Many of Dale Sr.’s fans have adopted Junior as NASCAR’s heir apparent. “He’s going to be real good once he gets past this year,” said Penny Mitchell of Salisbury, a longtime Richard Petty fan. “This has got to be tough for him. But eventually, I look for big things from him.”

Mike Haywood, also of Salisbury, echoed that sentiment. “He’s got his daddy’s blood in him so you know he’s gonna be something,” he said. “Imagine what he went through at that Rockingham race, right after Daytona, when he went out in the first lap. You know it had to be hard to get back in that car.”

Then there was this response from 11-year old Betheny Davidson of Salisbury: “I saw his picture in the paper thought he was so cute. I just had to be here.”

Earnhardt believes the Team Auto Racing Circuit (TRAC) scheduled to launch in 2003 will provide more racing opportunities for smalltown competitors like himself. “I think it will be interesting,” he said. “Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

Also from the things-you-didn’t-know department:

• He denied a rumor that he was recently married in Las Vegas. “I was there, but I didn’t get married. That’s the first time I’ve heard that one.”
• He’s has top-of-the-line stereos installed in all of his vehicles and another at home. “I buy expensive equipment. Well, at least the best I can get at Best Buy’s.”
• His favorite website is CDNow.com and the last CD he played was something by Tupac. “I like rap and alternative.”
• His other interests include baseball, video games and restoring street cars.

Earnhardt has dealt better-than-expected with his family’s tragedy and feels little pressure to succeed simply because of his bloodline.

“I’m having a good time being myself,” he smiled. “There are people who want to place pressure and expectations on me because my name is Earnhardt. I’m not gonna let that bother me. I’m gonna go out there, do the best I can and enjoy myself. And I’m gonna do all of it my way.”

Hmmm. Now that sounds like someone else.