Double Duty Season for Jake “The Juice Box” Ott racing in the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup as well as Flamboro Speedway Pro Late Model Division
Dale Earnhardt Jr. keeps momentum rolling in the desert
After Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s big win last weekend in the Daytona 500, the big question was whether he could keep the momentum rolling and do well in The Profit on CNBC 500 this weekend. The critics have been answered as Earnhardt came home with a solid second place finish.
“To be able to run with them as we did all day was a big confidence builder for us,” Earnhardt Jr. said after the race. “Even at the end of the race I thought our laps we put together coming up to the checkered were faster than him.”
Earnhardt Jr. and team put together a solid race as they ran inside the top five the whole day, and ran second behind Kevin Harvick for the majority of the second half of the race.
“Our team is performing so well,” Earnhardt added. “Got a lot of great chemistry and good communication going back and forth. Everybody’s confidence is very high. Everybody’s mood and morale is really high.”
The success shouldn’t be a surprise as Earnhardt had finished fifth and fourth at Phoenix last year, and finished the 2013 season with on a streak of good finishes. In the past 10 races (eight from last year, two from this year), Earnhardt Jr. has an average finish of 4.7 with only one finish outside of the top 10.
“Hopefully we can maintain that and not have any bad luck or make any mistakes and continue to keep working towards winning more races,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “If we run second enough, we’re bound to at least trip into one or two (smiling). We ran second quite a few races in the last 10 or so races we run. I feel really good. I feel like we’re coming around the corner, peaking at the right time this season to try to run for the championship.”
Earnhardt admitted that he was curious today whether he would be able to carry the momentum that they had from last year and how they would do with the new rule package compared to others. He feels that they’re in a good spot, but knows that they have work to do considering how dominant Harvick was.
“Hopefully we can learn what we need to learn rapidly in the next several weeks so we can get up to par and win some races,” Earnhardt Jr. commented. “There’s a couple teams out there that are behind, not onto the new package and new rules. I’m glad that we’re doing pretty well. The performance is there for us.
“Hopefully we can maintain it. We go to a completely different track at Vegas, but we have a whole day Thursday to figure it out. It will be good to have that track time.”
While it was a solid day, one of the things that Earnhardt Jr. will have to work on in the future is his restarts as the final three restarts did not go that well for Earnhardt Jr.
“I tried to go in sync with him. I think the last few restarts, I matched it up. He got a push from the 22,” Earnhardt commented. “I’m on the outside line, which ain’t the preferred line on that corner. The leader really has a great opportunity to maintain the lead here if he doesn’t make any mistakes on the restart.
“But the first several restarts, he was just kicking my butt at the line, then I started seeing what his pattern was, what he had been doing, was able to time it a little better so I didn’t look so foolish.”
Earnhardt Jr. added that when he was able to get a good restart, he tried to pinch Harvick down, but it wasn’t enough with how strong Harvick was today.
Earnhardt Jr. also said later in the session that part of the reason he couldn’t catch Harvick after a restart was it seemed that the car would handle different after a caution than it did before a caution. That has been added to the book of things to work on, with regards to the balance of the car in the future.
“On some restarts I had a loose car for 10 laps, then I would have a car that wouldn’t turn for 10 laps on another restart,” Earnhardt Jr. commented. “I don’t know how that happens or why that happens. Everybody sort of battles a different balance every time we this a restart and get going again, cycle the tire, have a caution, cool the tire off, get going again. Makes the balance of the car a little different.”
Kevin Harvick Destroys Field for Phoenix Victory
Kevin Harvick, though, known as, “The Closer,” for the past couple of seasons, Harvick did it all on Sunday, leading 224 of the 312 laps, as he went on to easily cruise to victory at The Profit for CNBC 500, Presented by Small Business Fueling America.
Over the offseason, after driving for Richard Childress Racing for 13 years, Kevin Harvick switched to Stewart-Haas Racing. In just his second start with his new team, Harvick has already found his way to victory lane. Harvick’s victory was his 24th in 468 career starts in NASCAR’s elite series. Harvick’s win was his fifth at PIR, leading all drivers.
“Enthusiasm is contagious at SHR. You are only as good as the people around you,” Harvick said. “It is quite an honor to be apart of that.”
When asked about the advantages of being a part of SHR, compared to RCR, Harvick mentioned Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, and Danica Patrick. Stewart is a three-time series champion, Kurt Busch won the championship in 2004, and Danica Patrick is a driver that wants to get better. “It’s a hard sport. It’s really hard to win. Celebrate every win like it is your last because you never know when it is going to be your last one.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr., last weeks Daytona 500 champion, finished second, with Brad Keselowski coming home third. “Got to congratulate Kevin. Those guys were two-tenths faster than everyone during practice. That was just phenomenal,” Earnhardt Jr. said. Before the final caution, Earnhardt Jr., had run his fastest lap of the race. However, Jr., could not make any ground on Harvick on the following restart. “We just didn’t have enough laps,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We needed about ten laps and we did not have ten laps.”
Brad Keselowski, who swept the poles for the weekend, was third, leading 4 laps. At the tweet up before the race, Keselowski said, “The cars are easier than ever to drive solo, but harder than ever in traffic.” Keselowski led four laps and praised Kevin Harvick on a dominating win.
Joey Logano finished fourth, following his Team Penske teammate, Keselowski, after a solid weekend in the desert.
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon finished fifth and sixth, as Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Jamie McMurray completing the top 10.
