NASCAR Cup Series

Earnhardt still searching for answers to slump

Published May. 28, 2010 2:07 a.m. ET

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“The Franchise” has been fodder for talk radio all season. For the past decade, Junior has enjoyed a sheltered relationship. But now even his own fans are starting to question his dedication and effort.

"Oh, I'm sure a lot of people do. Ain't nothing I can do about that. I'm not going to argue with them. It ain't going to change some people's feelings about you."

Earnhardt started the season strong at Daytona with a second-place finish. But over the next 11 races he posted just two top-10 finishes, led a total of 58 laps and earned an average finish of 16.6.

He appears as baffled about his situation as the rest of the garage.

"I don't know what to tell people other than as a driver I'm putting forth my best effort,” Earnhardt said. “I feel like (crew chief) Lance (McGrew) does the same.

"The team all gets behind Lance and gets behind me. We're just working really hard. We aren't leaving any stones unturned to find where the competitiveness has gone.”

Earnhardt qualified 24th at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. His Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon posted the fifth, 11th and 15th fastest qualifying efforts, respectively.

Following Earnhardt’s dismal showing at Dover, he dropped out of the Chase Zone — where his three teammates reside — to 16th in the point standings.

“Dover was all my fault,” Earnhardt said. “I went in there and didn’t understand what my car was doing and made a lot of bad judgments as a driver.”

But Junior insists he’s far from giving up. He continues to work on the communication side of his relationship with McGrew and identify what the team needs to progress.

"We have a lot of great resources,” Earnhardt said. “As we continue to get outpaced by our teammates, we have been getting more honest about what we feel our weaknesses are and what we need to work on.

"I definitely am not satisfied with running poorly and I don't think a driver in the garage is and I'm no different than those other guys. I want to run better and it beats me up pretty bad not to run good."

Hot and bothered

It was more of the same for Roush Fenway Racing on Thursday.

Yes, the RFR cars pulled early draws for Coca-Cola 600 qualifying. But Greg Biffle's performance was so bad he admitted he was “embarrassed” by his lap. Biffle rolled off second for his qualifying lap and posted the 45th fastest time (29.721 seconds). Only Travis Kvapil and Kevin Conway were slower than the No. 16 Ford.

Sure, Biffle’s average qualifying effort for Charlotte Motor Speedway is 20th. But just two years ago, he started both races at CMS in the top five.

“It is always tough going at the beginning, and especially today,” Biffle said of starting out at the hottest point of the section. “That is just the way it is. Luck of the draw I guess. You have to run the same speed as the cars that you are going out around and he is three-tenths faster than we are. That is going to be trouble.”

First a coach, now a referee

But given the tension stemming from the All-Star race between his two competitive yet mercurial racers and the comments from Denny Hamlin’s media availability, it was not surprising to see Coach in attendance.

When Hamlin was asked if he could work with teammate Kyle Busch on Thursday, he replied, “I’m not going to put too much effort in it, to be honest with you. Kyle brings this stuff up himself and he gets mad at the media for asking him questions about his blow-ups and stuff, but he does it to himself.

“I don’t want to be part of it. Any drama that he wants to create or anything is on him. Anything he says on the radio is on him. All I’m going to say -- and I’m going to be done with it -- each year I think Kyle’s going to grow out of it and he just doesn’t. Until he puts it all together, that’s when he’ll become a champion. Right now he just doesn’t have himself all together.”

Numbers game

Ryan Newman won his ninth pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a lap of 187.548 mph. His 46th career pole ties him for 10th on the all-time list with Junior Johnson, who Newman featured on the No. 39 Chevrolet for the All-Star race last weekend. Newman’s 6.5 average starting position at CMS was the tour’s top entering the weekend. Newman’s accomplishment makes this the 10th consecutive season that he’s won a pole in the Sprint Cup Series.

Say what?

Brad Keselowski was one of the unfortunate drivers that crumpled his car during qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Thursday night. But the Penske Racing newcomer did the humble thing and assisted the team with prepping the backup car.

“This is a team sport. The key word being ’team.’ I busted my butt. It was my fault, so I owe them one.”
 

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