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Earnhardt is taking a cautious approach
Hendrick driver hopeful he can avoid mistakes that would eliminate him
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Published: September 26, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Kan.
Flat-out, wide-open, and get the heck out of my way, or eat my bumper. That's the approach Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards are taking in this championship chase.
But Tony Eury Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief, has another approach -- get through the first few races without making any major mistakes or taking a big hit in the points. Not that that strategy would have saved Kyle Busch, after two mechanical problems in less than two weeks, all but out of the title hunt heading into this afternoon's pole runs for Sunday's Camping World RV 400.
"We've got to start off with one goal -- getting top-5s," Eury said.
"Then your second goal is to win a race.
"But you've got to get that first one (goal) under your belt: Get us a good solid top-five, because those stats will stack up real early here in the first five races, which I think is most important."
Of course that's the game plan Jeff Gordon used last year, and it almost worked.
But Johnson's go-for-broke charge was too much.
Rivals kept waiting for Johnson to falter or break, and he didn't. In fact, Johnson actually got stronger as the chase went on.
That's the game plan Biffle, Johnson and Edwards appear to have right now. And they're hot.
But will they break? Will they falter?
Or, more correctly, will all three make big mistakes and stumble?
Not likely.
Greg Erwin, crew chief for Biffle, says that it may take as many as three wins to win the championship. If so, Erwin and Biffle are already two-thirds of the way there.
So what to make of Earnhardt and Eury?
They're 129 points behind leader Edwards heading into the third race of the 10-race chase.
This is their first season with car owner Rick Hendrick, and it's been somewhat of a success. They've been much more consistent during the season than when at Dale Earnhardt Inc. But they've not dominated races, they've not pushed people around, they've not muscled their way to Victory Lane. Their lone tour win was on gas mileage at Michigan in June.
Changing that Jeff Gordon approach may not come easy. But it better come fast.
Earnhardt has done a great job this season becoming a team player, not easy at a powerhouse operation where, despite his credentials, Earnhardt comes in as the No. 3 player on the roster.
Actually the battle at Hendrick Motorsports would seem to be between Earnhardt and Gordon for the No. 2 spot in the rankings, since Johnson clearly has a lock on No. 1.
"I think a lot of people were arguing whether we would make the chase this year," Earnhardt said. "We felt all along we would make the chase. And we made the chase easier than I anticipated.
"It was a relief. But you can also take that as a confidence builder.
"Now we have an everything to gain and nothing to lose mentality."
Well, maybe not. Remember Earnhardt has been running the Cup tour since 2000 and only once has he made any bid for the title.
To win the championship Earnhardt and Eury may have to get a lot more aggressive. Yes, Earnhardt has led a lot of laps (875). But on any given Sunday he's not been a major threat to win.
And so far Hendrick seems more concerned about keeping Earnhardt from "falling off the ledge" rather than pushing him to get up front and start rooting and gouging.
Teams that just try to protect what they've got usually don't win championships.
The Kansas Speedway should be like raw meat for Earnhardt. Second at Las Vegas, third at Atlanta, 12th at Texas, and fifth at Concord during the spring, Earnhardt started the year strong at these places. But he's faded. In the second half he ran 16th at Chicago and 23rd at Michigan. And Earnhardt and Eury don't seem to have that championship spark yet.
Sunday's race may be a key to see if they can really get something going, because Concord, Hampton, Texas and Homestead, all similar tracks, are ahead.
■ Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com.
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