Dale Earnhardt Jr. Looking Forward To Daytona 500

There are just under 50 days to go until this year's Daytona 500 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is already psyched up and ready to go.

Earnhardt made an appearance on Friday in Florida a little over an hour north of the Daytona International Speedway. He was at the TaxSlayer Bowl college football game in Jacksonville.

Earnhardt is the defending Daytona 500 champion and indicated that he is going into this year's 500 with a little more confidence since he won the race last year.

Earnhardt drove one of his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets onto the field prior to the start of the game at which the Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 45-28.

Although he would love to win back-to-back Daytona 500s, Earnhardt knows it will be tough to do. The last driver to win two 500s in a row was Sterling Marlin in 1994-95.