Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he would rather his team go for the wins and the title than to be conservative. Credit: Autostock

Junior eyeing Chase with an aggressive approach

RICHMOND, Va. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn't certain he and his team could do it.

Similar situations in the past fostered bickering, schism. Would it this time?

Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Lineup Pos. Driver Speed Time 1. D. Hamlin 127.986 21.096 2. J. Burton 127.805 21.126 3. J. Gordon 127.690 21.145 4. M. Martin 127.407 21.192 5. K. Harvick 127.316 21.207 6. S. Wimmer 127.215 21.224 7. M. Truex Jr. 127.065 21.249 8. G. Biffle 127.041 21.253 9. C. Edwards 127.023 21.256 10. M. Kenseth 126.981 21.263 • Complete lineup, click here Pole sitterDenny Hamlin secures pole for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Falling shortKasey Kahne has a tough run, qualifying 20th Strong runJeff Burton has a strong run at Richmond, qualifying second Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

After 18 races the No. 8 bunch had risen to within striking distance of the peak. Then, a two-week freefall.

It was early July, and Earnhardt was third in the Nextel Cup standings, fresh off a fifth-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway; riding high, wide and handsome.

Then it got ugly.

Back-to-back 43rd-place finishes -- one after a blown engine, the other the result of an accident -- dropped him to 11th in the championship standings.

There was work to do, and he wasn't wholly certain it was doable.

Indeed it was.

A career-best finish at Indianapolis lifted him to 10th. Maintenance at Watkins Glen and Michigan kept him there. Then came a third-place run at Bristol, inching him to ninth in the standings.

And now, following a career-best California Speedway finish in which he was second to Kasey Kahne, he stands sixth. His cushion over Kahne entering Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 is 77 points.

Six weeks ago he was 15 points out of 10th.

"I was really happy to see that we [rebounded], obviously," Earnhardt said Friday at Richmond International Raceway, where he qualified 33rd for Saturday's race. "We rebounded better than I anticipated, especially over the last three races.

"This has really been a stretch, even though it's three races, it's at two racetracks that we hadn't run that well at. I was really proud of my team."

The engine failure at New Hampshire was especially disconcerting.

"I was really mad and upset about the misfortune in the motors and felt we're a better company than that, a better program than that, and I was glad that we were able to move past it," Earnhardt said.

"If we hadn't have had that misfortune we'd be sitting third in the points."

He remains confident in his equipment, and refuses to meddle in lead engine builder Richie Gilmore's business. He asks just one thing: Don't get conservative.

"You can't rest on being conservative and hope it works out for you," Earnhardt said. "I think we've got to throw it out there and go for it.

"I don't want to be conservative with our motor program. I want to go for the power and go for the win and go for the championship. If I'm getting beat off the corner and have to drive my ass off to finish 15th, we can't win a championship like that. So we've got to really go to it."