For the second consecutive week, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his new 88 team pulled off a solid top ten finish. Although it may not seem like much, it really is something to be confident about for Jr Nation as well as Dale Jr. himself.
"It feels like it's working – and it's obvious that it is working, when you really look at it," he said. "I was sitting there in the middle of the race saying, 'You know, this really ain't a fluke. This is how it's supposed to go and how it should go – and how it went in the past when things were good.'"
It's no secret Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been struggling in his recent years, with multiple crew chiefs and teams, with what is supposed to be the best equipment in the garage. Dale Jr. himself knows that this season is critical for his future in racing.
"Failure at this point is completely unacceptable," he said. "I've got to put it all out on the line to make this work, because if it don't work with him, I've got nowhere else to go. I've got no other options, really – other than to race myself into oblivion with my own team and Tony Jr. and those guys.
"I want this to work. I want to race Cup. I want to be in the COT the rest of my career, and I want to be successful."
He was the head of the Hendrick team today, the only team to finish in the top 10, in fact.
It may be early, but Dale Jr.'s pairing with crew chief Steve Letarte seems to be a good one, and may even become the best Earnhardt has ever had. There is no doubt that confidence is what needs to improve the most with the driver, as Jr. stated on the radio just following the finish. Having more good runs, will increase that confidence incredibly and should even propel the team to victory lane in the near future.
Thanks to Jeff Gluck from SBNation.com for the quotes.
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