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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Junior Hoping To End Drought
Dale Earnhardt Jr. went on vacation last weekend promising to “raise a little hell”...
John Sturbin  |  Posted April 16, 2009   Fort Worth, TX
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s stats to-date are consistent in their mediocrity – zero poles, zero wins, zero top-fives and two top-10s, highlighted by an eighth-place finish at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. went on vacation last weekend promising to “raise a little hell.” What could it hurt? Considering Junior’s lackluster start to the 2009 Sprint Cup season, perhaps some sort of personal exorcism was in order for NASCAR’s most scrutinized star.

“I don’t know. You tell me,” Junior joked before exiting Texas Motor Speedway. Junior started and finished 20th in the Samsung 500, one lap down to Hendrick Motorsports teammate and race-winner Jeff Gordon. A four-time series champion, Gordon scored his first victory on TMS’ 1.5-mile quadoval in his 17th attempt and also ended a career-worst 47-race winless streak. He was followed across the finish line by Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson, the three-time/reigning series champion.

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Gordon and Johnson now stand 1-2 in the driver standings, separated by 162 points. Junior, meanwhile, is mired in 16th – 386 points off of Gordon’s pace through seven events. “We were running good all day. We were really fast,” said Junior, driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet Impala SS. “We just started way back there and you can’t pass. You’ve got to start up front, or you won’t finish here.”

Earlier in the weekend, Junior detailed the mounting frustration he and embattled crew chief Tony Eury Jr. continue to experience with NASCAR’s Car of Today. Heading to Phoenix International Raceway for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 on Saturday night, Junior strongly suggested that he and his cousin need to re-invent their game plan for the typical race weekend. And that begins with qualifying.

“I think we have to be wise and open-minded to what our teammates are learning and what they’re doing to go fast,” Junior said. “You have to all the time, especially when they’re fast. Tony Jr., it’s his job to be smart enough to know what to do. He’s the crew chief and he’s the leader of the team in that essence. The one thing you must not do when you have teammates is let your ego stand in the way of understanding what they’re doing and how they’re making something work. I don’t think Tony Jr. does that.”

For the record, Junior’s average qualifying position this season is 24.7; his average finishing position is 18.4. In comparison, Gordon’s average starting position is 9.4 and his average finishing position is 4.7. For Johnson, the numbers are 5.7 and 11.2, respectively. Junior’s most recent pole? April 4, 2008 at TMS…36 races ago. He has started no higher than 14th, and that was via a qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway.

“Yeah, we’ve actually been thinking about that, too,” said Junior, speaking of his qualifying slump. “We’ve been working toward showing up in qualifying trim. We used to show up in race trim and run a half-hour in that first Friday practice. And now we’re just going to show up in qualifying trim for a while and try to get better. Really, it’s so challenging and so hard to pass, especially at a place like this (intermediate layout). Starting up front helps the cars drive a lot better when they’re up in clean air. Our teammates always did it and I wondered why we never did. So we’re doing what they’re doing.”


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