Dale Earnhardt Jr. quietly continues comeback season
While one of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates was doing celebratory burnouts, another licking his wounds in the garage, and the other fighting it out with Brad Keselowski on pit road, Dale Earnhardt Jr. quietly left Texas Motor Speedway this weekend with a sixth-place finish in the AAA Texas 500.
No longer in championship contention, Earnhardt and his Steve Letarte-led team have shown no signs of slowing down. They went out and scored the grandfather clock trophy last weekend at Martinsville Speedway and backed that up with 19th top-10 finish of the season Sunday in Texas.
"We ran great there at the end," Earnhardt Jr. said after Sunday's race. "Our car was great those last several laps. We had a car that could pass some guys that were running up front. I'm pretty happy. I'm proud of the way our cars are running, and the way the team is performing."
The sixth-place finish could have potentially been even better, but in the closing laps Jamie McMurray blocked a huge run by Earnhardt Jr. down the backstretch as they raced into Turn 3. After the race Earnhardt let him know his displeasure, but in a much more civil manner than teammate Jeff Gordon did with Brad Keselowski.
Felt @jamiemcmurray blocked me hard on the backstretch. Didn't like it. Let him know. Won't be no issues going forward. Already in the past.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) November 3, 2014
Now a four-time winner on the season, Earnhardt Jr. has been having a banner year, but the wheels came off his championship hopes during the Challenger Round of the Chase.
Despite having just four finishes of 20th or worse through the first 29 races of the season, Earnhardt Jr. finished each of the Challenger Round races at Kansas, Charlotte and Talladega.
However, not contending for the title has not kept this team from fighting for wins and stealing the Chase thunder.
After scoring the win and spoiling the Chase party at Martinsville, the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was not willing to look back and think 'what if?'
"I don't believe in fairytales. It's only destiny in hindsight, you know," he said. "This wasn't our year. It's only magical after the fact when you see it happen. But it just wasn't our year, man. It feels good not to sit there and watch everybody else just finish the year off. I'm glad we were able to get a win, remind ourselves that if we keep working hard, keep trying, maybe we will win the championship like we want to.
"We're definitely a good enough team," he said. "We got to get them breaks, got to keep working, got to stay positive. You can't get beat down."
Earnhardt Jr. was certainly not beat down at Texas on Sunday, as he quietly and methodically worked his way up from his 12th-place starting spot to finish the day in the sixth spot.
"We are running good. We've had a strong car all year," Earnhardt Jr. said Sunday in Texas. "We had a slump there right before and when the Chase started, but we're kind of getting back into our groove here."
With only two races left in the season, Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte and not done racing for wins. This is the most successful season Earnhardt Jr. has had in 10 years, and although his hopes at a first Sprint Cup championship are over, his desire to race hard and compete for wins certainly is not.
Despite that desire and drive, with little pressure and just two races left in the season, Earnhardt Jr. took some time with girlfriend Amy Reimann to hit the woods and relax with some camping before heading to Phoenix International Raceway for this weekend's race.
.@Amy_Reimann and I are gonna sit here a few days and drink some cold ones. #CampedOut pic.twitter.com/YsNiNAMxXl
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) November 3, 2014
Mornin fire and cinnamon rolls. Someone bid 15k on the gloves. It's gonna be a good day. pic.twitter.com/BoPwtPY6AX
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) November 4, 2014
Relaxed and refreshed, Earnhardt Jr. may be in a solid spot to finish off the year with another win or two, continuing to spoil the Chase party dominating the headlines.
