Dale Earnhardt Jr., will rumble into TaxSlayer Bowl

It was kind of an odd sight from my sixth-floor downtown Jacksonville hotel room.

The familiar No. 88 Camaro driven on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit by Dale Earnhardt Jr., was below me Wednesday, revved up and ready to roll on the streets of this city.

Dennis Ritchie, a longtime NASCAR crew member, drove the 88 as a crew filmed it for a video that will be used before the TaxSlayer Bowl. The video boards at EverBank Field are 362 feet, and are thus allegedly the world's largest TV screens.

Before Earnhardt drives that car onto the field and then officiates the coin toss before the Iowa-Tennessee game, a video will be shown in the stadium making it appear that Earnhardt had driven from the Hyatt Regency to the stadium.

In reality, Dale Jr., will just drive from a stadium tunnelway onto the field before a crowd expected to be over 61,000.

TaxSlayer.com is one of Earnhardt's sponsors.

Here's a little video I shot of Ritchie beginning his trek through downtown Wednesday.