Is Dale Earnhardt Jr. a Championship Contender?
If you look at the results and where Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits in points, the obvious answer to this question would be yes. Following a second place finish two weeks ago at Martinsville and a ninth place finish at Texas, more fans believe this to be the obvious answer.
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[/media-credit]Though listening to what Earnhardt has to say about the No. 88 team proves this theory otherwise.
“I ain’t really proved it to myself yet,” he told SBNation.com after the Martinsville race.
“I’ll let you know when I feel like I’m back, personally. Anyone that watched that race today knows that we weren’t a second‑place race car or even a third‑place race car all day. We never were up there to prove that point. So there’s no argument: We got some work to do still.
“We are faster, we are more competitive than last year. But we still got a little ways to go.”
The No. 88 team put themselves in contention through fuel strategy at Martinsville, though the driver wasn’t able to capitalize on it.
With 20 to go, he took the lead from Kyle Busch with a bump-and-run, though lost the lead with four to go to the hands of Kevin Harvick, as the handling went away on the No. 88 Chevy.
“I was just doing the best could I do with the car and trying to make the best out of the situation,” he said. “We had an opportunity to win the race. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get the job done and it will probably bother me more and more as the night goes on. I’ll probably think about it a million times what I probably could have done differently.”
Though beyond these two races, has he proved that he is championship worthy?
He haven’t qualified the greatest most of the year. He got the pole for the Daytona 500, though his highest qualifying effort since then was 22nd at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“The biggest problem we had was qualifying poorly, trying to overcome that all day,” Earnhardt said in the post-race report following Phoenix where he started 35th.
“We had a good enough car with them guys and kind of proved it in a couple of instances. But, you have to get by them. You get stuck behind them, and it’s hard to really show how good the car is. Every time we passed somebody, we just left them.”
“I’ve got to do a better job helping them put a car on the track for qualifying that’s going to get us in the top 15 for qualifying,” he said following Fontana.
“You’re really not helping yourself starting races in 30th. We have really good race cars and don’t want to be doing that.”
If he is going to begin to get himself back in contention, qualifying well is definitely going to be a good start.
Despite the poor qualifying efforts, though, he has managed to finish in the top 12 every week, including two top 10s at Phoenix and Las Vegas.
At Phoenix, he worked his way through the field after starting 35th, played some fuel strategy to get himself in contention for a top 10 and finished 10th on the money.
A week later at Las Vegas, he worked his way through the field throughout the day to finish eighth. Part of this steams back to the relationship that Earnhardt is developing with Steve LeTarte.
“I just kept describing what I was feeling and what I thought I needed and Steve was really hitting right on it every time.” Earnhardt said following Las Vegas.
“I think that’s what he’s great at and that’s what he’s doing right now,” Earnhardt shared during his Bristol media availability on LeTarte helping him.
“He gives you the impression that when you get yourself in a hole or the car isn’t quite going like you want it to go or the car isn’t responding like you think it should, you get the impression that you’ll get it fixed. As long as he doesn’t fool me too many times, yeah. He does a great job at, you know, just keeping you in the game. You’re part of the puzzle, and everybody needs to be pulling in the same direction. He’s good at what he does. Ain’t no doubt about it.”
Another thing that has kept Earnhardt from being a contender is pit road issues. He slid through his stall at Phoenix and was caught speeding on pit road at Bristol.
If he can qualify better, get the pit road issues sorted out and have a strong car throughout the entire race, then he could easily be part of the championship battle during the final 10 races. Though one thing is certain—this is definitely an improvement from where he was last year.
HOORAHS AND WAZZUPS: THE SATURDAY NIGHT TEXAS TWO STEP
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[/media-credit]During the night prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup at the Texas Motor Speedway I was standing on a stage at an American Legion Post, in Ridgecrest-CA, doing my other job: co-owner of a mobile DJ and Karaoke business. When it came time for the obligatory announcements of upcoming events I reminded the audience that the Legion’s NASCAR Club will be gathering on Saturday night to enjoy the Texas race. I also told them that I felt a Roush Fenway Ford was going to win the race. While Carl Edwards was the obvious choice, I officially went on record as saying Matt Kenseth was going to win the Samsung Mobile 500.
HOORAH to your’s truly for being able to claim an extremely rare moment in time when I was in position to say “I told you so.”
Now to the really important business.
HOORAH to Matt Kenseth for a dominating performance, including leading a race high 169 laps, that allowed him to wear the ceremonial cowboy hat, and fire the six shooters, in the Texas victory lane. Anytime you win a Sprint Cup event with a margin of victory in excess of eight seconds, you are indeed “the man.” Kenseth scored his 19th series win but, even more important, he snapped a 76 race win less streak that dates back all the way to California in February of 2009.
HOORAH to crew chief Jimmy Fennig and his team for right on the money adjustment calls and superior pit stops that helped get their car to victory lane. After the race Kenseth came over the radio and told Fennig “I need you to show me where to park this thing.”
WAZZUP with that pit road collision that severely hampered the race efforts of Joey Logano and David Reutimann? Logano, whom everyone predicted was going to enjoy a break out season, had to endure another disappointment that found him finishing 24th, three laps down. Reutimann, mentioned as a possible pre season Chase contender, also felt another sting from harsh racing luck and finished 29th, five laps down.
WAZZUP with Logano’s team, as well as Bobby Labonte’s squad, getting penalized for having too many men over the pit wall? Now there’s the subject of a Monday morning team meeting.
WAZZUP with Martin Truex Jr finding himself dealing with another serious crash? The worst incident of the race occurred on lap 216 when a bottle neck in the back turned into a major crash involving the cars of Truex, Mark Martin and Regan Smith. For the second time in six days, Truex found himself slamming into a retaining wall, nose first, and sustaining an extremely hard hit. HOORAH for the mandated safety equipment that allowed the driver to quickly exit his wrecked car uninjured.
However, a major WAZZUP goes out to the fact that the portion of the backstretch wall, where the crash occurred, was not fully equipped with a modern day SAFER barrier designed to absorb the energy of such a hard hit. This is an area that needs to be addressed right away.
Meanwhile on the opposite side of the speedway, the metal posts, that secures the spectator crash fence on the front stretch, were glowing bright yellow to let the fans know that the race was now under the yellow caution flag. I suppose a reluctant HOORAH goes to the modern day, awe struck wonder, technology that came with that idea. However, the money would have been far better spent on SAFER barriers that completely encompasses the racing surface.
WAZZUP with Tony Stewart’s frustrating finish at Texas? After spending much of the race running mid pack, and even a lap down, Stewart and company decided to employ the use of fuel mileage. They had already learned they could stretch a tank of Sunoco 58 green flag laps. Pitting out of sequence, from the other lead lap cars, Stewart came in on lap 276 for his final stop. That was exactly 58 laps from the end of the race while secure in the knowledge that the teams running up front had to make at least one more stop before the end. That’s when NASCAR caught Stewart speeding on pit road. The ensuing drive though penalty sent him to the tail end of the lead lap line. Instead of conserving fuel to steal the win, Stewart had to ride the gas pedal hard to get back to the front. The car ran out of fuel on the white flag lap and Stewart helplessly watched a third place finish slide backwards to 12th.
HOORAH to Carl Edwards for a rock solid driving performance that led to a third place finish as well as placed him on top of the Sprint Cup points standings. This was accomplished despite having to drive with a severe upset stomach.
But, WAZZUP with Edwards ratting out his mom after the race? When asked how he did 500 miles with that much stomach pain, Edwards laughed and said “I was hopped up on Pepto Bismol.” Then he added “I hate to throw my Mom under the bus, but she cooked something last night I don’t think was right.”
HOORAH to second place finishing Clint Bowyer who, during the post race press conference, offered to cook dinner for Edwards next week at Talladega.
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HOORAH to Carl Edwards for another fine performance behind the wheel that led to winning the O’Reilly 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Texas. Edwards led a race high 169 laps. In addition to winning his first race of season, Edwards also presented the Ford Mustang their first Nationwide win.
HOORAH to Brad Keselowski who crossed under the checkers in second just .482 seconds behind the race winner. That effort made for an exciting finish that had many of us wondering if we might be seeing the resolution of some unfinished business between the two drivers. Anyone who denies thinking that probably denies having any evil thoughts whatsoever.
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On a far more serious note, WAZZUP with that mysterious illness that placed Sprint Cup/Nationwide Series driver Trevor Bayne in the hospital the morning following the Texas race? Earlier in the week the 20 year old driver admitted he was not feeling well. By the end of the week he was escorted to the Texas Speedway’s infield medical unit where he was administered antibiotics. By the time the Roush Fenway Racing airplane landed in North Carolina, early Sunday morning, the situation had digressed to the point where Bayne was admitted to the Carolinas Medical Center-University in Charlotte. There was no immediate public comment regarding his precise diagnosis, but a strong clue came via a “Twitter” message the driver sent that read: “not sure if it’s a spider bite or tick bite. But either way I’m in a hospital bed with a needle in my arm. No bueno!” Keep a good thought in hopes Bayne makes a speedy recovery.
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In some final thoughts this week, HOORAH to Sprint Cup driver Kurt Busch for taking some time from his very busy schedule to visit the Marine Corp Base Quantico, the home of the major USMC Training Facility, in Triangle-Virginia. Busch did a meet and greet with the troops, visited the wounded at the base hospital and even got to observe a training exercise at the facility’s mortar pit. “It was a sincere honor to be able to make this visit and show our support,” he said. I’ve said time and again in these columns: there’s just not enough ways to say thank you to the men and women serving in our Armed Forces.
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HOORAH to driver Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing and Fed Ex for their annual effort to raise awareness for the important programs presented by the March Of Dimes. Hamlin’s #11 Fed Ex Toyota had an eye popping special paint scheme that was created by Josh and Jake Aron, two seven year old twins, from Dallas-Texas, who were born premature. The boys got to travel to the Gibbs shop in North Carolina to meet Hamlin and his team where they laid out their plan for the special paint scheme. On Thursday prior to the race, the Aron brothers, along with their dad, were standing in the speedway’s garage area to witness their art work as the car was rolled out of the trailer.
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HOORAH to the Texas Motor Speedway for presenting one of their track flags to NASA Astronaut Doug Hurley during the NASCAR weekend. Hurley will have the flag with him when he boards the space shuttle Atlantis later this summer for the final flight that will officially close out the 30 year shuttle program. Hurley, a long time race fan and Texas Motor Speedway annual ticket holder, plans to re present the flag back to the speedway when he returns there for their November race.
This is one of the many reasons why I admire speedway President Eddie Gossage. The man never fails to miss an opportunity to promote his race track in a Texas sized manner.
By the way, HOORAH to the Texas Motor Speedway for packing in 168,000 plus fans for their NASCAR Sprint Cup race. In a time when our country is still plagued with economic down turns, those are very impressive numbers.
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The absolute final HOORAH goes to the SPEED Channel for the debut of their new on air segment, “R V There Yet?” hosted by the very funny, and often crazy, Kyle Petty and Rutledge Wood. Their first guest was driver A J Allmendinger and the hosts refused to get his name right calling him C M, A M, M J and everything except A J. The entire segment was well prepared and timed comedy that even included a Chinese fire drill in the middle of the interview.
Directly related to this is a HOORAH to SPEED’s Kenny Wallace. After watching “R V There Yet?”, Wallace quipped “hey, I thought his name was pull my finger Allmendinger.”
IZOD IndyCar Series: Are Double File Restarts The Way To Go?
This year, the IZOD IndyCar Series adapted a new rule of using double-file restarts.
So far this year, it has produced some interesting race as it has caused accidents in both the season opener at St. Petersburg and this past weekend at Alabama.
“I still believe we need to try to take care of each other a little more,” Tony Kanaan said after the race. “I mean, every one of them we had a crash, so it’s not a coincidence. But every one of them we have a lot of passing too, so it’s a trade there. It’s only the second race. I would give us a chance for us to settle in and make sure that that’s going to work. Do I like it? I mean, it plays in my favor big time, but no, I don’t. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to work for it and make it. If it’s exciting for racing and for all of us, why not. We’re going to have to figure it out.
“We’re driving the cars. It’s not like we crash all the time. Well, you’re driving it. You have to take care of each other. You have to to give each other room. Things are going to happen, but I’m 50‑50 right now. I would say, yeah, it’s playing in my favor right now. If it was single file, would I have passed that many cars? I don’t think so. So we’ll try to make it work. I got told that the fans liked it, so we’ll see. We’ll see how the crowd looked at it. I’m just a driver. They tell me what I’m going to do, and I’m going to have to do it, you know.”
Looking at a lap-by-lap analysis of Alabama, you can tell see how the restarts played a big role in incidents happening throughout the day.
On lap 1, JR Hildebrand and Raphael Matos made contact causing Matos to spin.
On the lap 41 restart for the lap 37 caution, Simona de Silvestro, James Hinscliffe and EJ Viso wrecked. Helio Castroneves made it three-wide, which made things tight, causing drivers to make contact with each other.
The restart came on lap 46, which another incident then took place as Mike Conway got hooked into the wall by his teammate Danica Patrick.
The restart came on lap 50, and then six laps later, Ryan Hunter-Reay bounced off the curb into Ryan Briscoe.
The restart came on lap 62, which then on lap 63, Justin Wilson wrecked after he hit Rapael Matos, causing him to turn back into him.
The good side of it is that it has provided some solid side-by-side racing, including Kanaan passing 10 cars in four laps.
It has also helped in creating rivaleries and solid competition between drivers, as displayed by Scott Dixon and Will Power. Dixon felt that Power was breaking one of the restart rules with how he was swapping lines after crossing the start-finish line. He complained to series officials while his team owner Chip Ganassi went down to Power’s pit and threatened to wreck him if he did it again.
“Brian as usual does nothing about it,” Dixon said after the race. “So if they’re going to implement these rules and tell you in the drivers’ meeting that the person on the left has to be to the left center of the line, then enforce it. At least tell them. I spoke to Will after the race, and he said well, I never heard anything on the radio. But if you look at the restarts, I’m pretty much on the grass almost. And he’s even over the center line on the right part of the center line. I know why he’s doing it. He’s trying to get out of the dirty side. But you can’t have the best of both worlds. If you’re going to pick the inside and then run the car on the right that’s not how it should be. All in all, I don’t think it would change much, but I think it’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
“I think that the rule is that you can be anywhere on the track after the start/finish line,” Power said. “Simple as that. That’s what I was told on the start/finish line. I was told on the radio he was upset with me for putting him almost in the grass. I would have given him more room. I didn’t realize that’s what the problem was. All he did is come up beside me and take a big weave at me. If they told me what the problem was, I would have helped him out there.”
Double-file restarts may not be a good deal on a road course as you have to turn left and right so therefore you have people crowding each other as they try to manuever the course. This is a solid rule that has been a plus for the IZOD IndyCar Series, though maybe its something that should be saved for ovals as that way you don’t have the issue of people getting crowded.
