Earnhardt Jr. ready to add Martinsville to his list of victories
By Jared Turner – SceneDaily Staff Writer
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Chris Trotman / Getty Images
MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. is being touted as a popular pick to win Sunday’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway, but the first-year Hendrick Motorsports driver remembers a time when he and the 0.526-mile facility didn’t exactly get along.
“The first several starts were embarrassing,” said Earnhardt Jr., who left Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of last season for Hendrick.
After failing to finish better than 11th in their first four outings at the paperclip-shaped oval, Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Tony Eury Jr., who moved with Earnhardt Jr. to Hendrick this year, decided enough was enough.
“We just came here and tested and worked really hard at a test a long time ago,” NASCAR’s most popular driver said. “We’ve used that information and improved on that information, and we do fine now. You just can’t overdo it. ... You’ve just got to be patient and work on the car and get the car better. It’s real important.”
Earnhardt Jr.’s early struggles at Martinsville seem far behind him now. In his last 12 starts, he has posted seven top-five finishes, including a career best pair of third-place efforts in the spring of 2003 and 2004.
He has also grown fond of the track, which is often discussed as a candidate to eventually lose one or both of its race dates to a venue in a bigger market.
“Absolutely, man," Earnhardt Jr. said when asked if Martinsville deserved a place on the Sprint Cup schedule. “We can’t lose any more short tracks. They’re not building short tracks.”
Earnhardt Jr.’s new team affiliation might be just what he needs to finally score a Martinsville victory. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have won four of the last five races at the track. Johnson has won the last three in a row.
“They’re running good, we’re running really good. They’ve always run really good and won races here,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We’ve seemed to have been able to run in the top-five quite often. I do like the track, and I would like to win me a [ceremonial winner's] clock. Tony Jr. says he wants a clock. We’ve come kinda close a couple times. We’ve got some third place finishes and been real close. It’s just up to us to make the right calls on pit road and do the right things on the race track. We’ve got a good shot.”
Of course a win just about anywhere would please Earnhardt Jr. The 33-year-old hasn’t been to victory lane for a points race since Richmond in May 2006, a stretch of 67 winless races. But he has been solid in the season's first five races with his new team, finishing no worse than fifth in the last three events. He’s also fifth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings, placing him solidly in contention for NASCAR’s 10-race title Chase that begins in September.
But he's still ready for a win.
“We’re just going to keep trying and see what happens,” he said. “I enjoy running good. I enjoy running up front and really being consistent. That’s something I haven’t been called in a long time.”
