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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Breakthrough Near For Earnhardt?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t finished a NASCAR Sprint Cup race in the top 10 since Talladega Superspeedway in April...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted July 25, 2009   Speedway, IN
Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t finished a NASCAR Sprint Cup race in the top 10 since Talladega Superspeedway in April. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t finished a NASCAR Sprint Cup race in the top 10 since Talladega Superspeedway in April. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s troubles have made headlines for so long this season that they are no longer news. By all objective measures, the 2009 season has been a colossal disappointment for Earnhardt and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard weekend started awfully, too.

But there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

After suffering through some type stomach bug or 24-hour flu on Friday, on Saturday Earnhardt qualified third for the Brickyard race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. More importantly, perhaps, he did so in the first new car that interim crew chief Lance McGrew has built for him.

Maybe, just maybe, better days are ahead for Earnhardt, who hasn’t finished in the top 10 for 10 consecutive races and is 21st in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings.

And while Earnhardt no doubt benefitted from a favorable early draw in qualifying, there was no question that he’s feeling extremely positive about the latest addition to the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS fleet. He’s also feeling much better physically, although he will have Brad Keselowski standing by as a relief driver if needed on Sunday.

For now, though, it’s full speed ahead.

“It's been a good weekend for us,” said Earnhardt. “Lance built a brand new car to bring here. He's really excited about it, has been talking about it for the last couple weeks, about how excited he was to bring it here, looking forward to see how it would work. Seems to be doing really good.”

According to Earnhardt, his Hendrick squad is making progress since McGrew came aboard as interim crew chief at Dover International Speedway in late May.

“We are doing better,” Earnhardt said after qualifying third at IMS on Saturday. “We are seeing some signs of improvement. The team's mentality and everybody's personality, including myself, has turned around for the better. We just still have a little ways to go. We still have some work to do and still have a lot more to achieve.”

One of the biggest improvements, Earnhardt said, has been in his communications with McGrew, at least relative to the often angry and chaotic mid-race exchanges he frequently had with his cousin and former crew chief, Tony Eury Jr.

“I kind of like the way we're able to communicate,” Earnhardt said of McGrew. “Right now we can talk to each other without taking things personally or letting things become too personal. Hopefully we can keep it that way.”

While Earnhardt said he is happy with McGrew, he still wants to see the team’s performance issues fixed this year.

“We got more to do. We're not where we want to be,” said Earnhardt. “We got more to get. Like I said, the races can't get here fast enough. I think even if we came out here and won this weekend, I'd still be itching to see four or five more weeks of racing to know what are those four or five weeks gonna look like, you know, to get a real good grade or gauge of how much better we've gotten or how much more we're improving.”

The real test, of course, will begin on Sunday. In nine previous Brickyard starts, Earnhardt has never finished higher than sixth here. But he’s hoping that the new car McGrew built for him will allow for a better result on Sunday.

“I guess I like it because if he feels this way or feels that much confidence and he knows the car as well as he does, then I have the ability to feel a little more confident in his decisions during practice and during the race on what to change, what he's trying to do to improve the car,” said Earnhardt. “I feel like he'll know the car better. Every crew chief has an idea and an approach to what a car needs to do. He has his approach. We're gonna try it out this weekend.”




Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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