Kenny Bruce: Dale Earnhardt Jr. not the only driver looking for answers
Richard Petty Motorsports' Kasey Kahne is one of the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers trying to move into championship contention. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
Clearly the NASCAR world has come to something of a standstill, largely because of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 19th-place position in the Sprint Cup Series point standings.
But for those who haven’t noticed, the sport’s most popular driver is far from the only one dealing with a lack of success this season. One third of the Cup season is official, run and done and put away, and it’s likely that the field is full of drivers and teams who are probably wondering how things went so wrong so soon.
Earnhardt Jr. is one of four drivers who were coasting along at this time a year ago but who now find themselves struggling to climb back into the thick of battle as the months of summer loom just over the horizon.
Twelve races into the 2008 season, Earnhardt Jr. was third in points and probably still enjoying that new-car smell that came with the move to Hendrick Motorsports. Recent results, though (or maybe it’s a lack of them) read 27th, 27th, 40th. Junior Nation has been in a funk. The newness is gone and reality is starting to set in.
In an effort to put some sizzle back in the No. 88 team, Lance McGrew has replaced Tony Eury Jr. as Earnhardt’s Jr.’s crew chief on an interim basis, beginning with next week’s stop at Pocono. Team manager Brian Whitesell is scheduled to be atop the pit box this weekend in Dover, Del.
Earnhardt Jr.’s team is in trouble. But so, too, are others.
Kasey Kahne’s fortunes haven’t been quite as disappointing – the Richard Petty Motorsports driver is just three spots off his 2008 pace. But his seventh-place finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway was his first top-10 in his last seven starts. As a result, he’s sitting 15th and said to be pondering his future at RPM.
He’s nearly a year removed from his last win, and maybe you don’t forget the how-to-win part, but this year the No. 9 team has not been close enough to prove that one way or the other.
Two spots behind Kahne is Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer. Fifth after 12 races a year ago, Bowyer has been as high as second in the point standings this year. Those were the good times. Then came Texas, and the beginning of a run of poor finishes that have dropped Bowyer and his No. 33 team to 17th in points. His average finishing position in the last six races has been about as bad as it gets (28.6) for a team that was expected to contend.
OK, maybe not. Kevin Harvick, Bowyer’s teammate, has an average finish of 30th in the last six races. A year ago, Harvick was cruising along, seventh in points through 12 races. This year has already seen one entire crew swap with teammate Casey Mears, but after three races, the jury’s still out on that move. He’ll head into this weekend’s stop 23rd in points, the deepest he has been in the standings since the sixth race of 2006 when he was also 23rd.
In many instances, teams take a major tumble because of a high number of DNFs. But that has not really been the case for any one of these four drivers. In fact, Kahne has yet to post a DNF this year, and each of the others has failed to finish only one race this season. Ahead of them are drivers with two, even three DNFs.
Which would seem to indicate that these particular teams have simply failed to run competitively on a consistent basis. They aren’t falling out of races. Just falling.
A solid top-five finish every now and then isn’t nearly enough to make up for a handful of subpar performances. In the meantime, those ahead of them in the point standings keep pulling further and further away.
Time hasn’t run out for Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Bowyer or Harvick. But the clock is ticking.
