Dale Earnhardt, Jr knows that many have written him and his Budweiser #8 off in their quest to make The Chase. And he knows that they face an uphill battle and have had terrible luck as of late.
But Earnhardt, Jr isn’t ready to throw in the towel and he enters a 4 race stretch on tracks that have been good to him.
“I’m sure some people are gonna write us off for the Chase after our problems at Watkins Glen. But I think it’s foolish to do so because we’re a great team and we’re gonna do everything we can to scratch and claw and fight for wins and every position on every lap. We have four races coming up at four tracks where we’ve been very, very good lately. No one has been better or more consistent at Michigan than we have the last few years. (See notes below.) We’re taking our favorite car - chassis #39 - that we’ve been using there and it just seems to really get up and go at Michigan. (Crew chief) Tony (Eury) Jr. and the boys have been working on it and updating it just for this race. I can’t wait.
“The last few months, I can’t believe how bad our luck has been because we’ve run up front every week. It feels like we’re like your favorite CD but with a scratch in it. It feels good and sounds great until we hit the scratch and then the song stops before it’s done. If we ever get that disc to play through to the end, we’ll be pretty damn happy. I hate it for our fans that are probably aching as much as we are to celebrate a win.”
Minutiae: Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud team have been superb at Michigan Intl. Speedway in 2006 and 2007. They have the best average finish (4.6 avg. finish) of any team over those races - finishing third and sixth in 2006 then finishing fifth in the race earlier this summer (after recovering from a flat rear tire) at MIS. In the same period, only one other driver (J. Gordon) has three top-10 finishes at Michigan, but has a lower average finish ( 6.3 avg.)… The Bud car has led in the last four Michigan Cup races… This is the only track where Dale Jr. has recorded more than one Bud Pole position in his Cup career… The Bud car will carry special decals honoring the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Chevrolet. This is the second time the Bud car has carried a unique paint scheme at Michigan. Dale Jr. drove a cream-colored No. 8 scheme last summer in honor of his grandfather and namesake, Ralph Earnhardt. The vintage scheme last year also marked the 50-year anniversary of Ralph’s NASCAR sportsman championship… Dale Jr. will make a special appearance this evening (Monday) at Graceland in Memphis, TN, hosting a special night in honor of Elvis Presley. Junior and Bud’s NHRA star Brandon Bernstein will get a private tour of the mansion before an on-stage question-and-answer session. Then Dale Jr. will introduce a special performance of his 10 favorite Elvis songs and the debut of a digitally remastered version of the Elvis’ film ‘Viva Las Vegas…’
Primary Chassis this week: #039 - the team and driver’s favorite chassis for intermediate and two-mile speedways. This is the same chassis that has finished sixth or better in the last three Michigan races. It has also been raced this season at Fontana, Las Vegas, Texas, Charlotte and Chicago.
Bookmark to:
- Dale Earnhardt to be honored today
- Budweiser looks likely to follow Dale Earnhardt, Jr
- GM Statement on Dale Jr./DEI
- ‘Dale’ to premiere on CMT
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Sports Century on DVD
Even if he makes the chase, would it matter? Who cares if you’re an also-ran in the chase or not? I certainly couldn’t care less!
Is the #8 team going to suddenly figure out something that they haven’t figured out in the last 2 seasons, just because they make the chase? No.
Jr’s not my guy, but I like him a lot more than most other drivers, so I’m not trying to bang on him as a driver. Their team just can’t get it done. Be it setup, engines, etc, they just haven’t had it firing on all cylinders, as they say.
Here’s to success in the #5 next year, because I seriously doubt you’ll see it in the #8
Dale….you are toast. Four Toyota’s outqualified you in Michigan and it is a good thing for guaranteed spots.
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Off topic but for anyone who hasn’t seen, here is a link to
DALE JUNIORS NUMBER 81 BUSCH RIDE.
DALE JUNIORS NUMBER 81 BUSCH RIDE.
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/7550/dalejr81yt3.png
It would look good with any sponsor I think.
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Qualifying is meaningless at a track you can run 4 wide at. If the engine doesn’t blow or cow doesn’t run on the track or any other 50 calamity’s
that might happen, JR will be in the top bunch of cars at the end !!!!
“cow doesn’t run on the track”
AHAHA >
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Okay that last comment was me NOT 26Fan. ANDDD half my postage didn’t show up.
Budman, have you seen the durability of the DEI motors over the past few weeks? And they turn darn close to 10,000 RPM at that track. I want to see
Jr. pull one off but I have so little faith in his team.
guaranteed he wont be in the “top bunch of cars” at the end.
Jr’s comments show why he has so many Fans, he never throws in the towel even when the going gets rough and the Jr Hates come out in small a crowd to try and shout him down.
Hey, Dale Jr, I will take ya on my Team any time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! over any driver !!!!!!!!
Jeff burtons blown motor in practice shows there is problems with the TEI/RCR motor program, lets hope Jr. gets good ones the next 4 races.
When you put the engines into perspective….there’s seven cars on the track that run DEI/RCR motors, and most of the failures are limited to one or two. It’s an experiment, they’re gathering notes and information, so it’s safe to say that not every engine is going to be exactly the same. That way, if one blows, the others have a chance that they won’t. They’re not putting all their eggs in one basket, as the saying goes.
Provided Junior’s engine holds out, he WILL be in the top 5. They’re down, but they’re not out by a long shot.