TAKE FIVE: DALE EARNHARDT JR.

Saturday, March 10, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. logged nearly 14,000 miles on his No. 8 Budweiser-sponsored Chevrolet during the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.

It might come as a surprise that Earnhardt, a car enthusiast and collector who counts about a dozen cars in his personal fleet, didn't log nearly that many miles last year on all of his street cars combined.

Despite - or, more accurately, because of - his status as his sport's most popular driver, Earnhardt admits to being something of a homebody. (Of course, that's easily accomplished when you have your own nightclub in the basement of your house.)

"I stay at home quite a bit," he said. "None of my cars has more than 6,000 miles on it. Even my truck, I've had my truck for three years and I'll bet it doesn't have 5,000 miles on it. I don't do too much driving around."

During a recent stop in Las Vegas to promote this weekend's NASCAR races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Earnhardt spent a few minutes talking cars - the street-legal kind - with the Sun.

1. The Inventory

Earnhardt's personal fleet consists of an eclectic mix of vehicles that is heavy on - no surprise here - Chevrolets.

"I have a 2005 Chevy pickup truck, a brand-new Corvette, a '67 Camaro, a 2001 Camaro, a 2003 Camaro, a brand-new Suburban, an '05 Suburban - I'm trying to get rid of the '05 - a '64 Impala and a '55 Bel Air," he says before stopping to take a breath. "I've also got a Jeep Cherokee that I jacked up and painted orange - real crazy looking, a monster. I've got a couple other cars, but nothing special."

2. 'Corners like a dream'

One of the best-handling cars he's owned was a 2002 Mini Cooper, but Earnhardt said he didn't have that car long.

"They're so much fun to drive, but you just look goofy in them. I had one for a year and I sold it because I just couldn't bear to bring myself to drive it into town and let people see me in it.

"I've got this big monster-looking truck with big tires on it and I've got this Corvette and I'm going to drive into town in a Mini Cooper? I eventually sold it just so I wouldn't have to wrestle with it (any) more."

3. Dream machine

Earnhardt didn't hesitate when asked which car he would most like to add to his stable.

"The F1 McLaren street car. It's pretty crazy, it's like a million-dollar car."

So what's stopping one of the richest drivers in NASCAR from getting one?

"A million dollars."

4. Playing favorites

There clearly are two special cars in his garage that Earnhardt said stand above the rest.

"The brand-new Corvette is a great car. They're really, really fast but lightweight. Chevrolet, as a company, finally built the baddest car they could. They had always stayed on the conservative side and they finally let their hair down a little bit with this car and I'm really proud of them for that.

"No. 2 is the '67 Camaro. It's one of my favorites, and I'll never let go of that."

5. Used-car salesman

Earnhardt, an admitted computer geek, turns to the Internet auction site eBay when he needs to unload one of his personal cars.

"That's a great place to sell a car - or anything, for that matter. I sell a lot of (stuff) on eBay because you can get more money for them that way.

"I don't like to be a pack rat. It's a great way to unload your (stuff) because if you don't, you'll just have a bunch of (junk) sitting around."