WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International lasted 22 laps.
Early into Sunday afternoon’s I LOVE NEW YORK 355 at The Glen, Earnhardt reported that he had a problem with his No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet as he began to lose power and positions around the 2.45-mile road course.
The Hendrick Motorsports team hoped to further diagnose and repair the issue under the Stage 1 caution, but the team deemed the problem as terminal sending them to the garage and the only car that did not finish the 90-lap race.
Earnhardt said a problem in the valvetrain put him out of his 17th and likely final Cup race in the Finger Lakes of New York.
“We had a problem with the valvetrain and it is something we can’t repair,” said Earnhardt Jr. “I hope they figure out exactly what went wrong. Got on all the data, and everything looked good so it is just a failure. The car hasn’t been all that great all weekend.
“We struggled with it. The guys changed everything on the car overnight twice now. Have done a lot of work. Made some small gains, but nothing like what we need. Had a good car at Sonoma so I am surprised at how we ran this weekend. With the repave and the new tires, the two tracks are farther apart and we need to understand what direction we need to go to be a better next year. “
Being candid last week at Pocono Raceway, Earnhardt said again Sunday that his No. 88 team is still lacking the speed that they need to contend for stronger finishes. With only four races left in the regular season, Earnhardt’s only way into the post-season playoffs is a win.
“It’s been a really difficult week,” he said. “We’ve been way down on speed and we had a pretty good car at Sonoma, so I was kind of looking forward to coming here. But, the guys worked really hard. We changed this car inside and out twice this weekend. And, we had made it better and we were kind of hanging in there. I think we had a shot at maybe a top 20 at best. But man, we showed up and we were about four seconds off.
“I don’t know. It’s been a little frustrating this weekend. This doesn’t make it much better. But, I sure have enjoyed racing here and really appreciate the fans here; and the track and the staff. They’ve treated us so good every time we’ve been here, so it’s been a blessing.”
Still searching for his fifth top-10 of 2017 and first since Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June, Earnhardt still remains upbeat about the remaining races and the time left as a full-time driver with his Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 team.
“You pull together as a group,” he said. “You get all the guys together and you ask everybody if they are in and if they are ready to push hard the rest of the season and stay motivated and stay plugged in. These guys are. But we have to hold each other up and lift each other up, when it gets difficult like this.
“We’re a pretty close group. I don’t anticipate the challenges and adversity we are facing to be detrimental to our team going forward. We have to be able to deal with stuff like this. This is racing and you are going to have to go through these kind of days. It has been a difficult year, but I’ve had more challenging times for sure.
“I still feel like we will have some things to be proud of before the end of the season. It is just not going to be this weekend.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
