Amidst chasing his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is keeping close taps on his JR Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series team.
Of course, overall, it’s been a great season for Earnhardt Jr., on both sides of the fence.
The 39-year old gave an early indication of potential paramount success by striking gold in February’s Daytona 500, earning his second victory in the “Great American Race.” A day earlier, his JR Motorsports team won the Nationwide Series season-opener with Regan Smith behind the wheel.
Since then, his team has remained at or near the top of the championship standings and with five races remaining, including Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300, it’s likely that JR Motorsports will be the home of the champion, but what is yet to be determined is who?
Chase Elliott has held the points lead since July at Chicagoland Speedway, the site of his third victory of 2014. His closest title nemesis, teammate Smith has struggled to acquire the points, let alone the finishes to have the opportunity to overtake his rookie teammate.
Just 26 points separate Elliott and Smith, but in order to have any chance of reeling the driver of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro in, Smith, a four-time Nationwide winner knows his team will have to be better, much better.
“I think our performances (have) been good. Been steady. It hasn’t been great,” Smith said. “And in order to gain points and to be where we need to be in the championship hunt, it needs to be great. These last five races we’re going to have to be great. That’s pretty plain and simple.
Smith’s attempt to catch the rookie phenom has seen the good and the bad, but Smith knows as the curtain begins to fall on his third full-time season of Nationwide competition, his race day game has to be brought to an even higher level.
“The team has worked hard, I’ve worked hard. I’ve gotta step my game up,” added Smith, who carries an average finish of 8.4 “We’ve all gotta do everything we can to try and catch them. They haven’t made many mistakes, so with that said, it’s going to be a tough task. When we get to the last five races like this, the pressure ramps up and the stakes ramp up and mistakes are definitely
magnified as big or small as they may be.”
No matter where Smith prevails, he’ll have an opportunity to contend for a championship once again, as Earnhardt Jr. tweeted earlier this week that he had re-signed Smith to remain with the organization in 2015.
“I’m back for next year with them. It’s just a one-year deal. Excited to be back,” said Smith. “I’ve been fortunate to have a great place to call home and a great place to race at with good people, good sponsors and fast racecars. As a driver, that’s something you always look for. It’s important, you wanna have an opportunity to go out there and showcase what you can do every week. I’m fortunate enough to have that.”
For Earnhardt Jr., he’s happy to have Smith secured for another season, but didn’t shy away from the fact that his Mooresville, North Carolina-based team is prone to short-term agreements.
“Well, the Nationwide Series is a year to year deal,” offered Earnhardt Jr., a two-time Nationwide champion himself. “Our sponsorships are short term compared to the Cup level so our relationships with our drivers have to fit in those windows as well. That is nothing unusual about going year to year or every two years with a driver contract. We do the same thing with the sponsorships as well sometimes.
“We would love to have longer agreements, but that just depends on the money just like every other piece of the puzzle. The money really has a big effect on it. I am really happy that we are basically going to have a carbon copy of what we did this year next season. We have had a lot of success and I think we can build on that and everything is going to stay in place and we are going to go on down the road. On down the road is just 12 months.”
Earnhardt Jr. made no reservation about JR Motorsports being a center-fold for his career, once he decides to hang up the helmet from Sprint Cup racing.
“I would like to race for that company one day, so I hope to keep it healthy until that opportunity presents itself. Whenever I’m done Cup racing to jump in a Nationwide car and do that for a couple of years in my own shop.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
