Dale Earnhardt Jr. not worrying about fellow Chase contenders at Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he and his Hendrick Motorsports team feel prepared for the races at the 1.5-mile tracks that remain in the Chase For The Sprint Cup.
There are five races at tracks of that length in the 10-race Chase, with the first coming Sunday at Kansas Speedway - where Earnhardt Jr. will start 11th in the Camping World RV 400.
After spending most of the season in the top five in the standings, Earnhardt Jr. has slipped to ninth. But he's not letting his new position hinder his optimism.
“It’s really early still," he said. "I think [our] chances are still pretty good. The team is very confident and our cars are looking great and they’re driving really good with the exception of last week. I’m anticipating that we’ll finish strong.”
Part of that confidence comes from the team testing at Kentucky Speedway to prepare for these type of tracks. That has added confidence for the Tony Eury Jr.- led team.
"We feel pretty prepared for those," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We’ve been running good at those tracks all year long. We’ll just have to see how it works out for us. We feel like we know what we need to do. We just have to make sure we keep our heads on straight and make the right decisions.”
That begins with today's practices at Kansas.
Earnhardt Jr. says the track has aged over the years, making the racing groove move higher so that drivers can run higher on the track. He plans to test that theory throughout practices today.
"With this car, it tends to like running higher as it gets tight and slick on the bottom," he said. "I saw a lot of guys falling off dramatically in their race practice speeds on the long runs. I’m hoping I can test a little bit [today] with the top groove and see how the car likes it up there. I think a lot of guys will be looking up there on Sunday to find some speed.
"The race is gonna end up on the bottom as the track cools down around four o’clock or so near the end of the race but I think you can maintain and do really well for the first three quarters of the race running up high.”
Despite his slide in the standings, Earnhardt Jr. is planning to focus only on his own effort and not the competition.
He says he will not be watching to see where other Chase contenders are during the race or keeping an eye on them with eight races still remaining in the Chase. He'll be concentrating on improving his own points position - and staying in championship contention.
"The race unfolds around you and whatever happens to those other guys, you can leapfrog four or five guys any given week," he said. "I feel like you really have to keep an eye on the distance between you and number one. That’s really what you’ve got to pay a lot of attention to. You got other guys that are in second and third that could feasibly go on a winning streak as well. Even if you finish in the top five you still don’t gain anything. You just have to charge hard and make the best of it.”
