NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. upset at slow practices
Dale Earnhardt Jr., maybe NASCAR’s most popular driver, finished 13th, ninth and 26th in practice speeds before last Sunday’s first Chase for the Cup event at Chicagoland. After he ran in the top five for much of the day, Earnhardt Jr. faded to 11th in the final laps.
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“We had such an awful practice,” Earnhardt Jr. told Fox Sports. “I don’t know why we can’t practice like we race. We never can. Every week we practice awful compared to the speed I see the competitive cars run. We’re a tenth, two tenths off, and in the race we’re fine, competitive. That’s a hell of a thing to have to go through, but mentally for the team, it’s exhausting. I don’t know another crew that could take it on the chin like they do.
“They put up with whatever the damn problem is in practice, and we keep working and we make good race cars on Sunday, so that was what I thought about when we were out there running fourth and fifth. I was like, ‘Yeah, this is the way this team does.'”
Earnhardt Jr. has gone four consecutive races without a top-10 finish for the first time this season,
Starting 13th at Chicagoland after rain washed out qualifying and set the grid based on speeds from Friday’s lone practice, Earnhardt Jr. was fifth by Lap 85, third by Lap 112 and was running fourth at the halfway point of the 267-lap affair.
Earnhardt Jr. is currently fifth in the standings heading into the second race of the Chase at New Hampshire. He’s just 13 points ahead of Ryan Newman, who is in 13th right now and not in position to advance.
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