CONCORD, N.C.— When is a 39th-place finish at Kansas Speedway like a victory in the Daytona 500?
Answer: When it takes the pressure off Dale Earnhardt Jr.
No, that’s not a joke. Though a blown tire and a hard shot into the Turn 4 wall at Kansas made staying in the Chase an uphill battle for the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet, Earnhardt comes to Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a clearly defined set of circumstances and, consequently, a lower degree of stress.
At this point, the surest way for Earnhardt to survive elimination from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is to win one of the next two races.
“I feel less pressure now, I think, than I did before the race at Kansas,” Earnhardt said on Thursday before opening practice at Charlotte. “Even, I think, if we had run in the top five last week… I think today still, under the circumstances now, I still feel less pressure for some reason.
“It’s weird. I just think that we have a shot, and I feel good about it. I think our team is good. I think we’re good enough. I think we should go out there and win. I believe we will.”
After winning the season-opening Daytona 500 in February, Earnhardt and crew chief Steve Letarte operated with an unprecedented sense of freedom, knowing they were all but assured of a place in the Chase.
But when the Chase started, the pressure returned.
“When we’re in this situation where nothing matters is when we’re doing that (getting out front) the best,” Earnhardt said. “When we won the Daytona 500, we could be so risky and aggressive on our calls, and it paid off all year long to do that. When this Chase started we reverted back toward being reserved and calculative on our choices and it netted us average results.
“We’re back in a situation (where) we have our backs against the wall, but we’re in a situation where we can be aggressive again, as hard and crazy as we want to be on pit calls and fuel mileage and all those things. That’s where Steve is at his best. I’ve got a lot of confidence that, if the car is competitive and we do the right thing as far as getting the setup in there, we can be around at the end of this thing with a shot.”
JOEY LOGANO LIKES LEADER’S ROLE:
Joey Logano won his fifth race of the season last week at Kansas, but from his perspective he also accomplished an important “first” that went beyond earning a guaranteed spot in the eliminator round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
With points reset after the first round of the Chase, Logano’s win last week put the 24-year-old Team Penske driver on top of the standings of NASCAR’s premier division for the first time in his career.
Not that he wouldn’t have been there anyway. With two victories and two fourth-place finishes in the first four Chase races, Logano boasts an average finish of 2.5, best in the series.
“I’m enjoying the fact of being in the point lead for the first time and seeing some of the results of the hard work that you’ve put in over the last few years—to see that,” Logano said. “That part is really nice, but I guess I’m never where I want to be.”
Despite his youth, Logano already has learned that resting on success is the quickest way to lose ground.
“If you ever feel like you’re there, it’s only going to be a couple weeks until somebody passes you, so you’ve always got to be looking ahead, and I think that’s the attitude that I’ve had my whole life,” Logano said.
JIMMIE JOHNSON STILL SEARCHING FOR SPEED:
Jeff Gordon has been fast all season long. Dale Earnhardt Jr. picked up his pace last week at Kansas and was the fastest car on the track before he hit the Turn 4 wall.
But Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson still hasn’t found the extra edge that could propel his No. 48 Chevrolet to the front of the field. Uncharacteristically, seven races have passed since Johnson last led a lap.
“We’re just not where we want to be,” Johnson said on Friday at Charlotte. “We’re working very hard to get there. This sport is not forgiving. What you’ve accomplished in the past doesn’t buy you a damn thing for the present. You have to go out there and earn it and make the most of it.
“We’ve been a third- to fifth-place car, and we can finish there and run there, but we haven’t been a dominant car. We’re certainly hoping that, when we come to tracks that have been very good for the No. 48, that we’re able to find that little bit—find that extra 10th (of a second) that (can) put us in that position and get our mojo going the right way.”
Even though Johnson dominated the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, he feels the technology of the Gen-6 cars has advanced significantly since the spring.
“We feel like, if we came back with the May setup in the car, we’d probably be two or three more tenths off,” Johnson said. “It seems that we’re taking track records down by a couple of 10ths, even from a spring race to a fall race…
“You don’t have a chance to sit still in this sport. You have to keep moving and progressing your race cars.”
Source: Reid Spencer / NASCAR Wire Service
