Dale Earnhardt Jr and Roanoke Police

Dale Earnhardt Junior interrupted his cross country flight from North Carolina to California, to spend a few hours at the Texas Motor Speedway on Wednesday. Earnhardt won his first career NASCAR Busch Series race at this track in 1998, and also won his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race here.

But on this day, track president Eddie Gossage provided him with a different challenge.

"Have you ever run from the cops before?" asked Gossage.

"No I haven't, I promise," said Earnhardt, to which Gossage replied, "I believe that. I'd stick to that story if I were you."

Earnhardt used his stop to talk about the second NEXTEL Cup race here in November, and participated in pursuit training. It didn't take long before you could smell the brakes on his new Corvette, heating up.

Trying to catch Earnhardt on this infield road course, may be asking a little too much for the Roanoke Police Department, so consider it an advanced course of high speed pursuit.

"I'm always running from people on Sunday's but ah," said Earnhardt. "But those sirens, they don't have sirens on their cars on Sunday's, so that was pretty interesting ha ha."

Just as interesting is Earnhardt's season in racing. He is currently 15th, 117-points behind the last spot for the Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship with two races to go. If he doesn't win the next two races in California and Richmond, Earnhardt may miss the Chase entirely.

At the infield media center, Earnhardt took time to talk one on with with television reporters.

"It's not one guy," he said. "We're a hundred points behind, there's a few in between that we also have to be in front off, that we're 20- behind, 30-behind or fifty behind, so circumstances certainly have to go in our favor."

Which brings us back to this demonstration on the infield road course. If only the rest of the NASCAR field were chasing Earnhardt this season.

Robert Crawford from the Roanoke Police Department was the pursuit car, that was trying to catch Earnhardt on the track. "It's our job is to sit back and visualize everything, ah, and once they crash out or run out of gas, or whatever, that's when we're going to take control of the situation." Of course he never caught Earnhardt in the Corvette.

But, if the Roanoke Police Department could add a Corvette to level the playing field, then the outcome might be a little different. "Ah, its very doubtful," said Crawford laughingly. "We might talk to our mayor and city council, but I doubt it."

Earnhardt seemed to enjoy the pursuit. "You see this stuff on TV all the time," he said. "One thing about our job is we have control. one thing about their job is they don't have control of the guy they're after, that's the scary part."

Arnold Payne, photographer for WFAA TV asked, "Maybe you should drive the squad car?"

"Yeah, that's what i'm saying," Earnhardt replied. "I don't know if the insurance would cover it."

Probably not.