NASCAR Cup Series

Junior needs to pick up the pace

Published Jul. 14, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

Larry McReynolds

You just have to feel for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The man has been on a big downward slide as of late. In the last four NASCAR Sprint Cup races, his best finish has been 19th. Most of the setbacks have not been of his making. Now Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway, well he simply didn’t run well. He and his Hendrick Motorsports team fought that car from the minute they unloaded it.

We all know and saw what happened with the left-front tire problem that relegated him to a 30th-place finish. Looking at it objectively, even without the blown tire, it was going to be a stretch for them to even be a top 15 car at Kentucky.

I don’t know if these last four races are a complete measuring stick to where these guys are performance-wise. What has to be a real concern is how badly they performed at Kentucky. I say that because of the similarities Kentucky Speedway has with tracks still to come on our 2011 schedule.

With 18 races to go in the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, the tracks Michigan International Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway are the ones that come to mind for me that now have to be a concern for the No. 88 camp, based on how they ran last Saturday night.

Dale Jr. has to really focus on putting together a string of good runs to keep him in the top 10 in points. He doesn’t have a win yet and we already know that it will take a win or two to secure one of those two wild-card slots available in the Chase for the Sprint Cup for drivers who are outside the top 10 in points and inside the top 20.

If Dale Jr. can stay in the top 10 in points, then he doesn’t have to worry about it since he will be locked into the Chase.

Ryan Newman is another one that is flirting with that cutoff point of 10th spot. While he isn’t running well enough yet to win a race, he did have his best finish of the season last Saturday night. That fourth-place finish gave him a little cushion in the points, moving him to ninth.

The other interesting dynamic that is developing is the role one win will have on those wild-card spots. I am not sold on the notion that a single win will guarantee you one of those two slots. You know that getting that second win was front and center on Brad Keselowski’s mind Saturday night.

Now sure, his immediate goal has to be to get into the top 20 in points. Remember that even with his single win, he cannot even be eligible for the wild-card spots until he is in the top 20 in points. I truly believe he and his team will get there.

Clint Bowyer just had a miserable race Saturday night. He is one driver I bet that couldn’t leave the track fast enough. Now the bright spot for him comes this weekend. In the last 12 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Clint is the only driver to have multiple wins.

NASCAR has to be thrilled with the excitement the new format has created. No longer can you sit back in 11th, 12th or 13th in the points and put on cruise control. If you do, someone like a Keselowski, who is much farther back in the points, but again has the win, can very easily and quickly upset a lot of apple carts.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I really think the changes in the Chase format and creating these two wild-card slots is the most exciting change NASCAR made for 2011.