DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. kicked back in a director's chair outside a nondescript Hendrick Motorsports test hauler, clad in blue jeans and a plain white T-shirt, looking every bit the most contented man in the world. And who could blame him? Here he was, freed from the personal squabbles that characterized last season, surrounded by championship teammates, and about to embark on a new career with the most powerful organization in NASCAR.

If only he had a car to drive.

How badly does Earnhardt want to get behind the wheel of Hendrick equipment? Bad enough that he decided on a whim early Monday morning to fly down to Daytona International Speedway, and just watch as his other three teammates tested cars during the opening session of Preseason Thunder. Earnhardt isn't scheduled to test until the second Sprint Cup session, scheduled for next week. But he wanted to be there on the first day of Car of Tomorrow testing at NASCAR's marquee facility, and soak up as much information as he could.

"I don't have any teammates to test with next week. The COT has never been to Daytona. I wanted to make sure if there were some hurdles, I wanted to see them," Earnhardt said. "It looks like the car took right to the racetrack, and our guys are happy with the way they seem. You learn the most the first day, and you try to be around to hear some of that. There's a lot to learn with this car every day. I want to have that in my memory bank when I come back. I really didn't have anything going on today. I'm relaxing, have no responsibilities today, so it's nice to be at the racetrack."

He had plenty to see. Teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears combined to post four of the seven fastest laps in the morning session, with Johnson fastest at 184.82 mph (speeds). The rest of the Hendrick clan was surprised -- if not shocked -- to see Earnhardt, given how mind-numbing testing can be, and the lengths drivers sometimes go to avoid it. Tony Stewart usually skips Daytona testing altogether, a trend that will end this season as he embarks on his first campaign in a Toyota. But Earnhardt has said since even before last season ended that he would do anything and go anywhere in an effort to make his debut season at Hendrick a success. Monday he lived up to that claim, a fact that did not go unnoticed among his teammates.

"I was surprised. Most drivers, if they're not here testing, they don't want to be here," Gordon said. "So I was surprised. I think it says a lot. And it's smart, you know, on his part. So I'm really proud of him for doing that, because he's going to be here without his teammates next week, however the points thing worked out the way it did. We have three here [this week] and one of us next week. I think it really showed a lot, that he's here. I think that was a really smart thing on his part."

Johnson added that Earnhardt's presence was "a huge, huge credit to his commitment, wanting to be here. It's painful watching other cars go around the track, especially here at this type of test session. For him to come down, show the team how committed he is to being up front, winning races and championships, says a lot to the team, his teammates, to the team members and I think to the general racing public that he's down here, ready to go, ready to get after it." (Continued)