(By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service)
Posted: Saturday,October 29th, 2011
MARTINSVILLE, Va.—So much for riding around at the back at Talladega Superspeedway and trying to stay out of trouble.
Less than a week after getting skunked by that strategy, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates had learned their lessons. With no time to improve their positions in a two-lap dash at the end of last Sunday’s Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, drafting partners Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson finished 25th and 26th, respectively.
Jeff Gordon, who lost his help when Trevor Bayne left his bumper to work with Matt Kenseth, finished 27th.
Earnhardt was asked Friday at Martinsville Speedway what his father, 10-time Talladega winner Dale Earnhardt, would have thought about drivers riding around at the back of the field.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. drives the #88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 29, 2011 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)
“Well, I don’t really want to answer that because I think you know the answer,” Earnhardt said. “So, I was part of that team decision. I wasn’t a victim of it. I bought into the same idea that the two crew chiefs and Jimmie had, and we all did that together; and we all made the choices that got us our poor finish together. And no one person outruled or overruled the other. Everybody sort of collectively sunk the ship as the race went on.”
It didn’t take Earnhardt and the Hendrick brain trust long to reevaluate the approach to the race.
“At the end of the race, we collectively decided that we learned our lesson and that we won’t do that again. Given the opportunity to run that race over, we would have just thrown ourselves into the fight and tried to run as hard as we could and taken whatever risks needed to be taken to stay toward the front. Hindsight is 20-20, but when we get that opportunity again, I don’t think that’s a strategy we’ll ever use again.
“But I’m certain that a lot of things would be different if the old man was still around. We might not even be having to ask that question of guys riding around in the back.”
Share on Facebook - Email this page: 
Rate this article:
What's Your Take?You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
