Junior takes ride with UFC fighter

That uneasy feeling couldn’t have been helped when the man behind the wheel, Ultimate Fighting Championship star Urijah Faber, informed him of an award he won as a high school senior.

“I was voted worst driver at Lincoln High in 1998,” Faber said he told Earnhardt. “I don’t know how Dale felt about that when I told him when we were first starting out. He’s like, ‘Are you serious?’ Yep, I’m serious.”

After a few cautious moments, Faber sent smoke fanning out on the Strip as he ripped off several rotations like a winner’s circle veteran.

“He did great,” Earnhardt said. “He was tenacious. He didn’t give up. He was going to do a good burnout no matter how long it took. He whipped one out there that was kind of impressive, I thought.”

Don’t expect Earnhardt to try out Faber’s profession, at least not without a big payday.

“I’ve wanted to on several occasions,” Earnhardt said with a laugh about fighting. “I guess if I was going to do it, I’d want to get paid for it, but I’m officially a fan now. I look forward to his next fight and hoping he has good fortune and good luck. I definitely have a lot of respect for what they do, man. They put their bodies through tremendous amounts of pain and injury and keep coming back.

“He’s a tough little guy.”

Faber’s driving career likely won’t go much further.

“I would love to do it, but I don’t think I could compete,” Faber said, adding he isn’t even much of a speeder in his regular life.

Earnhardt also took a turn in the driver’s seat with Faber riding along in the event hosted by AMP Energy, which sponsors both athletes.

“It was cool. I was actually getting nauseous,” Faber said. “I don’t know if it was the rubber or the motion or what. It was intense.”

Faber’s next opponent, Scott Jorgensen, might want to figure out a way to spin Faber around in a haze of smoke when they meet April 13 at Mandalay Bay.

■ WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, I GUESS — The Indiana basketball team had no time to sulk about a home loss Tuesday night to Ohio State.

After all, the Hoosiers had some celebrating to do.

An odd scene played out at Assembly Hall as Indiana returned to the court to cut down the nets and try on its Big Ten champion hats.

The Hoosiers clinched at least a share of the league title by virtue of Michigan State and Wisconsin each losing last weekend. Indiana will need to win Sunday at Michigan to claim the outright title.

But there were the players hoisting a trophy after the Senior Night loss Tuesday.

According to Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo! Sports, Indiana coach Tom Crean didn’t seem excited about the festivities.

“This is the epitome of bittersweet,” Crean said. “We’re trying to celebrate what these guys have earned, but at the same time, we didn’t earn it tonight.”

It’s the basketball equivalent of the runner-up becoming Miss Teen Delaware because the real winner was in a porn movie.

COMPILED BY ADAM HILL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL