Earnhardt Jr. fights through tough race for strong finish

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was hard on crew chief Tony Eury Jr. during Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

He admits that now, but says that his car was simply out of control for most of the Kobalt Tools 500, leaving him to battle it into position. After the race, he realized that lots of drivers were in that same position.

“That was interesting today to be out there,” he said. “I do say that. I’m glad that’s over with.”

Despite the rough run, Earnhardt Jr. continues to lead the Hendrick Motorsports contingent and is still still the team's only driver in the top 10 in the standings.

Asked about the tire that Goodyear brought to the race, Earnhardt Jr. said that the company does a good job overall, but that a poor choice was made when it came to selecting a tire for this race. While the tire is safe, he says that drivers were unable to really race and that they had to let competitors pass them instead of racing for position or else they would have wrecked.

Making matters worse was that Earnhardt Jr. and Eury didn’t seem to agree with the decisions made throughout the race. Earnhardt Jr. kept asking for the car to be set up so that it would drive the way it did in the opening segment of the race, but that didn’t seem to be happening.

“You sort of figure what your game plan is as far as, [do] you want to go stiffer on the right front [tire] or let the right front fall out from
under it as the race goes?” he said. “They don’t make a tire that’s exactly the same as every other tire, so you can’t have the same exact set every set. They’re going to change some.”

So the crew chief puts them in a sequence after deciding which way to go with the change, then can flip that if the driver complains. Earnhardt Jr. said his group went the wrong way at the start of the race, making for a long race for the driver and crew chief.

“I just made it really hard on him,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “You know, just in his ear all the time about trying to get on his ‘A’ game, help me out, help me out, because the car was just out of control. And you just don’t like driving cars like that.

“But he’s my cousin. He’s tough. That’s why I guess more than anything, besides his talent, I guess that’s why I got him – because he’s the only one that would put up with me.”

Despite the criticism, Earnhardt Jr. fought to stay in contention and rallied to a third-place finish.

He’s off to a strong start to the year with only a crash at California to mar his opening four races. Earnhardt Jr. is sixth in the standings – and intent on staying there. While the Hendrick driver has dismissed talk of the pressure he’s facing this season, he’s clearly intent on getting back into championship contention.

“I’m desperate, you know, just to get in the top five and the top 10 every week when the car’s capable of doing it,” he said. “There’s a real sense of desperation there the last half of the race not to mess it up. We had a good finish going.

“So I don’t want to miss the Chase. The sky might fall.”