Jeff Gluck: Dale Earnhardt Jr. stays positive in the face of bad breaks – and bad brakes
Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 25th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. // LaDon George, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
He strolled out of the infield medical center with his head held high and even the hint of a smile on his face.
Yes, the No. 88 car had just gone skidding off the track, through the Watkins Glen gravel trap and into the tire barrier. And yes, it was another poor finish in a miserable season for a team many felt was a lock to make the Chase.
But Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s body language said it all: Through this year of bad breaks and bad brakes (as was the case at the Glen), the sport’s most popular driver remains intent on staying positive.
He laughed lightly with reporters while waiting to be interviewed. He chuckled and shook his head while recounting his latest misfortune.
A positive attitude can go a long way on days like these.
Make no mistake: By no means was Earnhardt Jr. happy. And he certainly doesn’t think his team’s lowly spot in the standings is a joke. But when things like a brake failure happen, isn’t shrugging your shoulders about all you can do?
“Yeah, pretty much,” he said. “It has been a tough year, man. I guess if I sat there and thought about all the bad things and got further down, it would just be a longer climb to get back.”
These days, Earnhardt Jr. could teach a course on optimism. His half-glass-full attitude since new crew chief Lance McGrew joined the team is reflective of his feeling that there are better days ahead.
At least he hopes.
“Somehow you’ve just got to have some kind of positive thoughts and pull something out of it to keep yourself feeling like you’ve got a shot the next weekend and the next weekend,” he said. “We can’t give up. We can’t quit. We’ve just got to keep trying.”
Try though they might, the results have hardly been impressive.
Earnhardt Jr. and McGrew have now had 10 races together. The duo has yet to combine for a top-10 finish (Earnhardt Jr. actually only has three all season) and have as many top-15s as finishes of 36th or worse (three) or a single lap led.
With Tony Eury Jr. at the helm, Earnhardt Jr.’s average finish in the first 12 races of the season was 21.3; since the crew chief change, his average finish has dropped to 24.9.
Fans might argue that their driver has been in position for good finishes only to find bad luck (the road-course race at Sonoma comes to mind), but Earnhardt Jr.’s driver rating has also fallen (from 76.3 to 72.1) during the McGrew Era.
Surely, those numbers will fuel the criticism from those who believe Earnhardt Jr. – not anyone else – has been to blame all along. But I still maintain that anyone who can win 18 Cup races, 22 Nationwide races and make the Chase three times is far from a mediocre driver.
For whatever reason, the performance just isn’t there lately. And in the face of this much adversity and pressure, it would be easy to become a miserable human being.
But knowing how far a positive attitude can carry both yourself and the people around you, Earnhardt Jr. refuses.
“We’ve been through worse stuff,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot to be thankful for and life in general. We’re working hard. It’ll turn around.”
I couldn’t help but wonder though: Had he thought of trying any good-luck charms to speed up the process?
He laughed at the suggestion.
“No,” he said. “I’m all right. I’ll get it going. A lot of bad is coming along right now, but if you want to see any good one day, you’ve got to go through it.”
These aren’t the days Earnhardt Jr. expected when he joined Hendrick Motorsports. But with an outlook like his, at least it makes things a little easier.
