Discouraged, disappointed and trying to ride it out
Friday, Oct. 16, 2009
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HAMPTON, GA - SEPTEMBER 05: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet, walks to his car during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 5, 2009 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) hits into the wall late in the first Chase race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Sandy Macys)
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DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 26: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet, waits in his car during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 26, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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LOUDON, NH - SEPTEMBER 18: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet stands on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 18, 2009 in Loudon, New Hampshire (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Getty Images for NASCAR
LOUDON, NH - SEPTEMBER 18: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (right), driver of the #88 AMP Energy drink/National Guard Chevrolet, talks with crew chief Lance McGrew (left) during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 18, 2009 in Loudon, New Hampshire (Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)
When Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t looking forward to returning to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, you know he’s having a tough season.
That may have been obvious before Friday, but it certainly was cemented with Earnhardt’s comments at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
“It’s really encouraging one day and then the next day it’s equally discouraging. That’s getting really old,” Earnhardt said. “I’m at the end of my rope.
“I’ve been riding it out, but there comes a point where you don’t want to ride it out any more. I’ve just had enough. It’s been a long year.”
Earnhardt has been running better the last several weeks, but has been getting caught up in on-track incidents not of his doing and had poor finishes. He failed to make the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup and is now 22nd in points.
Asked his opinion about NASCAR’s change to a smaller restrictor plate to slow the cars at Talladega in two weeks, Earnhardt was not very receptive.
“You all know what sells tickets. I don’t want to be flipping across the start/finish line every week,” he said. “The measures of raising the fences are good but cars go through them fences.
“The smaller the plate, the more on top of each other we race and the more we are going to wreck. Every time that plate gets smaller, it’s more dangerous.”
Earnhardt has five wins at Talladega, including four in a row between 2001 and 2003, and finished second there in the spring – his best finish of the 2009 season.
“The smaller you make the plate, you can’t pass. You run three- or four-(expletive) wide and if you are in the second or third lane you are boxed in and have nowhere to go,” he said. “You can’t do anything about your position and go in there and hope to push your lane forward.
“That sucks, that’s boring.”
Also discouraging to Earnhardt was his qualifying effort Thursday night. He will start 39th in Saturday night’s race.
“I went out to qualify after being top 15 in practice and we ended up being one of the worst cars here. All the other cars backed their times up from practice and we weren’t even close,” he said.
“We looked ridiculous.”
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