Despite consecutive runs of 10th and 11th at Las Vegas and Atlanta, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is far from satisfied with his performance and that of his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team this season.
“We are doing about as miserable as we can do without being too upset about it,” said Earnhardt, who twice regained lost laps in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500. “You know, I mean, I would like to run better than that. We struggled all day—we just can’t struggle.
“I look at my teammates (Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin), and they are running better. We should run the way they run. It’s frustrating for me and the team. The only thing you can do is keep working and show up next week with a new attitude.”
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“This weekend off will be good for everybody,” he said. “We are repairing some damage we did early in the season, the first couple of races with these finishes (27th at Daytona and 39th at California), but ... running 11th and struggling all day doesn’t really do much for your confidence.”
Dale Jr., frustrated about a loose left rear wheel, got it fixed but then felt a vibration again. He told his team that the same thing happened a few years ago here and he hit the wall _ hard. He said if the thing broke and he crashed he would whack all his crewmembers with a hammer. Later, he chided crew chief Tony Eury Jr. by saying maybe he needed to taser Eury. So what gives?
Dale Jr: “I would never say anything determined to hurt them or upset them. Part of it is trying to fire me up. Part of it is trying to fire them up. Part of it is just trying to tell everybody I’m still in the game. It’s such a different race from the pits from behind the wheel. Everything about the race and everything the driver sees and understands is totally different than what the crew is feeling and understanding and seeing and it’s hard for me to marry the two. When I was an owner in the Busch series and sit on the pit box you see what their side of the story is and you understand a bit more by what they’re going through during a race because a lot of times as a driver you feel like you’re on an island and you get frustrated.”
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“You’re like “Can’t anybody help me here? Can anybody help me? Am I making sense?’ I’m passionate man. I just get into doing this racing thing. I’m out there on the track, I want to do as good as I can. I think it’s good to get excited.
As for the taser comment: “I was just (messing) with him,’’ Dale Jr. said, laughing. “That was a joke. I would like to taser him. Hey, I don’t think I’ll get my shot.’‘
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