(By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service)
Posted: Saturday,August 27th, 2011
BRISTOL, Tenn.—If Dale Earnhardt Jr. had his way, the Sprint Cup winless streak that reached 116 races last Sunday at Michigan would end before he races at Richmond on Sept. 10 with a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup on the line.
“That would be really, really, really good, if we could get that done before Richmond, because it’s a lot of pressure to go into that last race sort of on the verge, on the edge,” Earnhardt said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Basically, Earnhardt would rather go to Richmond with a race win in hand and possible avenue to the Chase via NASCAR’s new wild-card provision—open to the two drivers in positions 11-20 in the standings who have the most victories—rather than having to make the top 10 on points alone.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Amp Energy/Bristol 50th Anniversary/National Guard Chevrolet, sits in his car during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 26, 2011 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
“It’s really, really a lot of pressure and takes away a bit of your focus from that specific race and your ability to go out there and really try and win it,” Earnhardt said. “You tend to be a little more cautious than you typically would be in any other situation.
“So I would love to get it out of the way early, but we’re just going to keep trying to do what we can do and control our racecar and drive the best we can and see what happens.”
Earnhardt hasn’t been to victory lane in the Cup series since June 15, 2008, at Michigan in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports.
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