NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. on joining Twitter: ‘I’m still learning’

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- No sooner had Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Daytona 500 on Sunday night than the popular NASCAR driver finally joined Twitter.

Less than one week later, he has more than 526,000 followers and Earnhardt has been busy tweeting on the social-media site.

“I’m still learning,” he told reporters Friday at Phoenix International Raceway, site of the next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday.

Asked for his general observations about Twitter, Earnhardt said he liked the ability to reach all of his fans but noted that “there’s so much coming at you that you miss a lot of stuff . . . and you want to take it all in.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking, why I didn’t get on there earlier because it’s a great way to tell people things you appreciate,” he said.

Earnhardt also did a question-and-answer session on Twitter while flying to one of his many stops this week for media appearances following his Daytona 500 win.

Regan Smith, who won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona last weekend, told reporters that “it’s been fun for me to watch” Earnhardt on Twitter. “He’s picked it up quick. He was stubborn about [not joining] for a long time.”

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