February 28, 2011
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. began this season in much the same way as last season. He had a strong run in the Daytona 500. Albeit this years result differed somewhat after he was caught up in a wreck in the first Green - White - Checkered attempt.
Earnhardt started Speedweeks off strong by qualifying for the pole position, but was forced to start from the back of the field after crashing in practice and having to go to a backup car. Yet, he had one of the strongest cars in the field all day and ran well, despite not getting the finish that he would have preferred. It was obvious that he was disappointed after the race.
"The guys on the team and back at the shop worked really hard to get us to this point, and we had a fast car and tried to do the best we could [Sunday], but it came down to all the carnage out there," Earnhardt was quoted as saying in a David Caraviello article on nascar.com. "Too much carnage out there."
"We have had some pretty tough luck down here, and didn't get the finish we wanted."
He ran well in last year's Daytona 500, making a charge in the final laps to post a second place finish. Many fans were excited about the prospects of the coming season and his new crew chief, but his performance fell off as the season progressed and he failed to even qualify for the Chase.
This season, after the recent restructuring at Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt has yet another new crew chief in Steve Letarte. The new crew chief of the 88 team appears to have faith in his driver and his new team, which is a good sign going forward.
"The only part of the weekend we were disappointed with was the finish," Letarte was quoted as saying in the Caraviello article. "I thought the team did a remarkable job. I thought the driver did a remarkable job. ... The crash in practice was just circumstances, the crash in the Shootout was just circumstances, and surely the crash in the 500 was circumstances. But [Earnhardt] put us in a lot of good circumstances all week long. The green-white-checkered, we were riding around in fifth before we had a flat tire, and it kind of all went downhill from there."
Being caught up in someone else's wreck is circumstances beyond Earnhardt's control, but the beginning of this season certainly has a bit of a déjà vu feeling to it. If Earnhardt is to have the success that he expects and that the legions of Junior Nation have come to expect, then the difference this season is going to have to be Steve Letarte.
Letarte has a proven track record of success, having guided Jeff Gordon to qualify for the Chase in each of the past five seasons. While it is probably too much to expect the 88 team to win a championship this season, just qualifying for the Chase would be a huge step in the right direction for a team that has had nothing but disappointment since its inception at Hendrick Motorsports.
EDITOR'S NOTE...Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 10th in Sunday's 'Subway Fresh Fit 500' at Phoenix
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