Dale Jr. likes odds, has car for Las Vegas win

Last year, Earnhardt earned his third runner-up result at Las Vegas in 15 starts, leading 51 laps before relinquishing the top spot to winner Brad Keselowski when the No. 88 car ran out of Sunoco Green E-15 on the final circuit.

“I almost had a win there last year,” Earnhardt said. “Ran out of gas on the backstretch. I remember we had about a fifth- to 10th-place car. Once we gambled on fuel mileage and got track position, the car was fast enough to lead and stay out there.

“If we can improve on that just a little bit, we should be good.”

Crew chief Steve Letarte’s strategy nearly led to a second trip to Victory Lane in 2014 after winning the Daytona 500 to start the season two weeks earlier. This year, Earnhardt says the NBC Sports analyst is rooting for his former team with new crew chief Greg Ives, who is quickly gaining favor with his driver.

“I miss working with Steve,” Earnhardt said. “Worked with him for so long and he texted me and Greg after the race, told us (we did) a good job. He’s a closet fan now, being one of them broadcasters.

“But we’re going to be alright with Greg. He’s going to do a good job for us. It’s going to be fun to work with him for the next several years. See how he improves and see how this team continues to get better and better.”

Earnhardt said that he and Ives have built on the strong foundation laid at Daytona, and his current pit boss reminds Dale Jr. of the man Ives replaced.

“He’s actually a pretty good cheerleader, (which) follows right into what Letarte’s always been great at,” Earnhardt said. “I think he’s done a good job of pumping me up on the race track and definitely he does a good job of keeping the crew fired up and giving everybody positive reinforcement. That’s so important.

“Regardless of whether I need it as a driver or not. It really helps the team to hear that. You like to hear that out of everybody working on the car and involved in the program, that they’ve got a positive outlook and they’re excited about what’s going on. He does a good job of that. That’s going to really benefit us down the road. He’s just really excited. It’s been fun to work with him.”

The No. 88’s win in last year’s Great American Race locked the team into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and allowed the team to experiment for the next 25 regular-season races. Earnhardt hopes to get a win soon, but appreciates the strong start that finds him four points out of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points lead in fourth place.

“We’d love to win races and lock ourselves into the Chase and go ahead and get aggressive on the rest of our strategy and stuff with that win under our belt just for Greg, new crew chief, new car chief, new engineers, a lot of new guys on the over-the-wall gang,” Earnhardt said. “It’s good to get a couple of good finishes under your belt.”

As Earnhardt noted on Twitter this week, the car he’ll be driving knows the way to Victory Lane, breaking through for two wins at Pocono Raceway last summer.

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