Earnhardt Jr. frustrated by team's Texas struggles
By SceneDaily Staff
Monday, April 07, 2008
Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images
FORT WORTH, Texas – Dale Earnhardt Jr. started on the pole and led 31 of the first 84 laps at Texas Motor Speedway Sunday. But adjustments made to his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet didn’t work out well for the driver and he settled for a 12th-place finish.
Still, Earnhardt Jr. held on to fourth in the standings after posting just his second finish outside the top-10 in seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season.
Somewhat frustrated and disappointed to still be seeking his first win of the season, Earnhardt Jr. struggled to define exactly what went wrong with his Texas effort.
"We just chased the handling of the car the entire day,” he said. “We had it too tight at the end there. It's frustrating. Just a thousandth of an inch adjustment can just mess things up. We went back and forth all day long."
In the beginning, Earnhardt Jr.’s car was too loose, so crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and his group made adjustments to correct that. Then the car got too tight, so the team made adjustments to try to mirror those on teammate and race leader Jimmie Johnson’s car.
“It kind of backfired on us,” Eury said. “By that time we were a lap down and it was too late. Right at the very end of the race, we did something and it really helped a ton, it was just a matter of it was too late then. We can always put that into our files and we know what to do next time."
Although the team had earned the pole position, Eury said that Saturday’s practice sessions showed that the car was awfully close to the line between working and not. He referred to it as being on a knife edge and said he knew things could go either way in the race. Teammate Jeff Gordon struggled in the race as well, spinning at one point and parking his car while his team made massive adjustments. He used the second half of the race as a virtual test session.
Now, though, Earnhardt Jr.’s team is more prepared for similar races based on what it learned in this event. And it’s trying to keep perspective on the big picture.
“We want to run top-five and win races,” he said. “But if 12th is my worst day, then I am all right with it. But we definitely have to pick it up. This is not the way we want to run.”
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