 | | Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 42nd on Sunday at Sonoma. Credit: Autostock |
By B. Duane Cross, NASCAR.COM
June 27, 2005
04:20 PM EDT (20:20 GMT)
It is the question. It's the one query everyone -- for different reasons -- wants answered. Is Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the Chase for the Nextel Cup? Can it be, the Earnhardt Nation wonders? Hell yeah, answers the anti-Junior faction. In reality, no -- Junior is not out of the Chase.  |  | | Credit: Autostock |
| |
| Inside the Numbers |
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s
career stats
at the next 10 racetracks |
| Track |
Races |
T-10 |
Avg. |
| Daytona |
11 |
7 |
12.4 |
| Chicago |
4 |
1 |
20.2 |
| Loudon |
11 |
4 |
18.8 |
| Pocono |
11 |
4 |
15.8 |
| Indianapolis |
5 |
1 |
17.2 |
| Watkins Glen |
5 |
2 |
19.0 |
| Michigan |
12 |
2 |
20.8 |
| Bristol |
11 |
5 |
13.8 |
| Fontana |
7 |
2 |
20.3 |
| Richmond |
12 |
8 |
9.2 |
|
 |
Will it be an uphill climb? Yes, but he can do it. The No. 8 team needs to pick up 143 points in the next 10 races. An average of 15 points more than the leaders per race and it's Mission: Accomplished (sans the aircraft carrier). But will he do it? Junior is 18th in the series standings, 543 points out, he has been in the top 10 after only three of the 16 races and has finished 14th or worse in seven of his last eight races. On Sunday, the team rolled the dice on a new transmission. They're still digging, trying to get the car's performance up to par; that's a good sign. But the tranny experiment backfired. "It was like musical gears: shift, no gear; shift, gear; shift again, no gear; shift, gear," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It finally went out completely at the end of the first lap. ... That's frustrating because it was a brand-new type of transmission. We were trying some new trick stuff and it just failed. They put a second gearbox in it and it was great the rest of the day." Now it's back to Daytona, which may not be the best barometer for those looking for the inside track to the final 10 races to the Chase. Junior has two wins and seven top-10s in 11 races at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, so we expect him to be competitive in Saturday night's Pepsi 400, which will be his 200th career Cup start. He also has finished seventh or better, including one victory, in his last four races at Daytona. It's the other nine races that will tell the tale. That and Greg Biffle, who isn't making it easy on anyone when it comes to picking up points on the leader. Biffle -- with 10 top-10 finishes, six top-fives, five wins and an average finish of 11.7 in 16 races -- assumed the points lead Sunday and is as dialed-in as any driver in the Cup series. Knifing into Biffle's advantage will be paramount for any driver hoping to remain (or get into) in the Chase. So will Junior charge into the fray and force his way into the Chase? Well, there's always next year ... Flags • Red -- Carl Edwards' first road course race resulted in a five-spot plummet, to ninth, in the point standings. Nonetheless, he's still one of four Roush drivers in the top 10. • Yellow -- Rusty Wallace moved up two spots, to sixth, in the standings. He has finished 11th or better in his past five races, including four top-10s. • Green -- With most of the attention on Boris Said and Scott Pruett, wouldn't you know it would be Ron Fellows and Brian Simo who'd steal the spotlight at Sonoma. • Quote, Unquote "It was definitely a wild ride that got everyone's attention, but the important thing is that we are all safe and we have that to be thankful for." -- Todd Braun, owner of the Busch Series' No. 32 Braun Racing/Winfuel team Team members, including owner Braun and crew chief Todd Lohse, were on the team plane en route to Milwaukee early Friday morning, when one of the engines experience problems and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in Cincinnati. Everyone reached the terra firma safely, but they would not arrive in Milwaukee until late Friday night. That left hauler driver Mike Davis to get the team's car prepared and pushed through technical inspection before the garage closed for the day. Thanks to help from numerous friends in the garage area, the No. 32 successfully cleared tech and was ready for Saturday's events. Around the Track • Greg Biffle has seven top-15 finishes in the past eight races and moved into the point lead for the first time in his Cup career. |  | DODGE/SAVE MART 350 | |
|
• Jimmie Johnson is the only driver who has ranked in the top 10 in the Cup point standings after every race in 2005. • Elliott Sadler's sixth-place finish at Sonoma was his 12th top-15 this season, including nine top-10 finishes. Up Next Daytona International Speedway • Rusty Wallace, Ken Schrader, Michael Waltrip, Ricky Rudd and Mark Martin have each competed in all 70 restrictor-plate races. • Greg Biffle has finished 12th or worse in four of his five races at Daytona. His only top-10 finish: his first career Cup win in July 2003. • In 26 restrictor-plate races, Tony Stewart has 14 top-10s, including five runner-up finishes, but has yet to score a plate victory. Mail Call You said that you think some of the old timers might do well [ at Sonoma]. I agree, but to say "even Rudd " is a grave underestimation of Ricky's talent and the Wood Brothers organization. I would love to see what Rudd would do to some of these young'uns with multi-team test dates and equipment.
-- Kevin Sweeney, Parts Unknown (and a Rudd fan since '78) |  | EMAIL | |
|
A second-place run by Rudd at Infineon; I cannot take umbrage with your argument, Kevin. I can't help but wonder how and why NASCAR has acted so different from what happened with the No. 29 team [at Las Vegas] and what happened with the No. 9 team [at Michigan]. Point is, both teams got caught cheating. However, one team is treated much different than the other. I don't get it.
-- Jeff, Memphis, Tenn. The No. 29 team was busted for an unapproved fuel filler and fuel cell vent, found during post-qualifying inspection. The No. 9 team had an unapproved front air dam extension, which was discovered before qualifying. It's splitting hairs; cheating is cheating. Fantasy Perspective • Jeff Gordon, one of four different race winners in the last four races at Daytona, leads active drivers with six wins at the track. • Among active drivers with at least five starts at Daytona, Jamie McMurray has the worst average finish: 34.6. • Four of the last eight races at Daytona have been won from a top-10 starting position. The other four were won from 13th or worse. |
| Fantasy Racing |
NASCAR.COM's Duane Cross takes part in a weekly
fantasy racing segment on 790 The Ball in High Point, N.C.
The season-to-date standings: |
| Player |
Points |
Last Week ... |
Show host
Marc Amazon |
247 |
10 for Stewart, whiffed on J. Gordon, Martin, Nemechek and Johnson |
NASCAR.COM's
Duane Cross |
241 |
10 for Stewart, 2 for Newman, blanked on J. Gordon, Martin and Harvick |
Update anchor
Bill Kimm |
227 |
7 for Wallace, shutout on J. Gordon, Martin, McMurray and Biffle |
790 The Ball
Listeners |
218 |
10 for Stewart, zippo on J. Gordon, Martin, R. Gordon and Said |
|
|
. | 
© 2001-2012 NASCAR | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
NASCAR.COM is part of Turner Sports Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network.
