Rising from Phoenix, Dale Jr. loves Fontana

“We just go around and gather all the guys up and tell them all that we’re going to go to Fontana and get back on track,” Earnhardt said on Dirty Mo Radio’s “Dale Jr. Download”. “It’s a long season. You’re going to have adversity. You’re going to have problems.”

A blown tire at Phoenix International Raceway resulted in a 43rd-place finish and dropped Earnhardt from second to sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings. Earnhardt said he and the team could stomach the last-place result because it was a mechanical failure.

“It’s a little easier to take when you can kind of understand the problem that you can either fix or it’s something out of your hands, out of your control that’s not part of the race car and something that’s your responsibility,” Earnhardt said. “That’s the best way I can look at it.”

Heading to Auto Club, Earnhardt has top-12 finishes in each of his last four starts, including a runner-up finish in 2013 as he followed Kyle Busch to the finish following Joey Logano‘s tangle with Denny Hamlin. It was one of four top-three results at the track in 22 starts there.

Earnhardt feels groovy about the racing surface and enjoys running next to the wall at the facility.

“I love Fontana, a lot of different grooves, fun race track,” Earnhardt said. “We should be able to go out there and be real competitive. I’m looking forward to it. We run the high line a little bit there which is always fun. It should be a fun race.”

Ives will roll out a brand new chassis, 88-924, for the race.

Earnhardt notes that tires will be key again as NASCAR goes west for one more week.

“It’s a fast track, and you can find speed out there,” Earnhardt said. “The back straightaway is very rough, and if we can manage our tires.”

Next week, Earnhardt returns to Martinsville Speedway, where he claimed his first grandfather clock in the last race at the short track last fall.

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