Archives
Subject: TMS is the place for Junior
Time: 10:57:00 PM CDT
Author: lrpatton
TMS is the place for Junior
By JOHN STURBIN STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Dale Earnhardt Jr. not only drove the wheels off his race car at Martinsville Speedway last Sunday, he also took three of four corners off it.
“Old-school, short-track racing,” Junior said of his fourth-place finish in the DirecTV 500. “That run last week really doesn’t bring a lot to the table here. But we’ve always run well here ... so I feel real confident.”
Confidence is a given for Junior at Texas Motor Speedway, site of his first career NASCAR Busch Series victory in April 1998 and his first career Nextel Cup Series victory in April 2000. That’s ancient history in today’s NASCAR. But buoyed by his third-place finish at sister track Atlanta Motor Speedway last month and last weekend’s result at Martinsville, Junior believes his first Cup victory of 2006 is ... overdue.
“It absolutely could come here,” said Junior, anticipating today’s Samsung/RadioShack 500. “I run good here. I feel like I can really get around this racetrack. I think we have a good shot.”
The odds might be on Junior’s side.
There never has been a repeat Cup winner in 10 events at TMS, including nine spring races.
But Junior has logged six top-10 finishes in seven Cup starts in his No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet at TMS.
He has led a combined 254 laps on the 1.5-mile quadoval. Junior also tested tire compounds here for Goodyear Racing in February, a nice perk in this era of limited open testing.
Add it up and Junior believes he and his oft-maligned team are about to silence their critics.
“We get called ‘overrated’ quite a bit,” said Junior, referring to a team led by crew chief/cousin Tony Eury Jr. “The 8 team takes it once in a while, but me in particular, as a driver I get called ‘overrated’ all the time. So it’s good to get out there and have good runs just to remind people that there’s a little bit of talent there behind the name.”
The son of seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, Junior’s reputation took a serious hit in 2005 when the ballyhooed off-season switch of crew chiefs, crewmen and cars with then-teammate Michael Waltrip blew up in the faces of everyone at Dale Earnhardt Inc.
After the dismissal of crew chief Pete Rondeau, Junior and interim crew chief Steve Hmiel combined for one victory. But the team failed to qualify for the Chase for the Nextel Cup, prompting a late-season reunion with Eury Jr., Dale Jr.’s former car chief, as crew chief.
“I was telling Tony Jr. after the Atlanta race [March 20], that’s the most I’ve ever been complimented on how good a car handled, or looked like it was handling, in my career,” said Junior, winless in 24 Cup starts since his victory on the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway on July 10. “And after Martinsville, I’ve never been complimented more on my driving.
“So, I really feel like I’m in the best position I’ve ever been in when it comes to what I have at my disposal with my crew, my resources, my team, the effort — everything that’s behind me right now is as good as it’s ever been and better in a lot of areas.”
Junior’s observation on handling at AMS is noteworthy, considering he failed to lead a lap on the 1.54-mile quadoval featuring 24-degree-banked turns like TMS.
Dale Jarrett, winner of the Cup race here in 2001, said this racetrack is all about handling.
“You have to get through the corners,” said Jarrett, who qualified 27th in the No. 88 Ford Fusion fielded by Robert Yates Racing. “It’s a very fast racetrack and a lot of fun to drive, but getting your car to handle and keeping the tires on it is the biggest key.”
Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon is the most prominent Cup regular never to have won in Fort Worth, where he is 0-for-10.
“It’s a racetrack that has eluded us,” said Gordon, whose best finish in the No. 24 Chevrolet is second in 2002. “It’s a very fast racetrack. You really need to have a car that’s got a lot of downforce and a lot of balance.
“There’s some pretty big bumps as well. There’s basically one groove. And that’s the bottom.”
Gordon, who has led a combined 119 laps here but only one last spring, said the exit off Turn 2 remains “pretty extreme.”
“The way you come off the corner, you’ve got nice banking, but then it really flattens off,” said Gordon, who will start 11th in his Hendrick Motorsports Monte Carlo SS. “When you’re by yourself, it just makes your car want to drift to the wall. So it really makes it difficult to get side-by-side.”
Junior qualified 15th and ran 29 laps during Saturday’s final Happy Hour practice.
Ready for his second victory at TMS? Moreso, Junior said, than he was as a rookie on April 2, 2000.
“That was pretty fast as far as the amount of races I had ran [12th series start], sort of flukish, if you will,” said Junior, who finished a Cup-record 5.920 seconds ahead of Jeff Burton. “Wewere able to back it up with a couple more wins, and it sort of made a little more sense to me.
“But that day, in Victory Lane, after that win, hours later, that week ... it was really surreal, you know? It didn’t seem real and didn’t make a lot of sense.”
Written by lrpatton Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
-
I am hoping his confidence carries him to victory lane today. He is definitely over due for a win.
Jon
Finish Line
http://thefinishline3.blogspot.com/
4/9/06 9:44 AM
One line my eye....
Lew