Dale Earnhardt Jr. gives honest assessment of his season

After hitting a rough patch the last month, Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t shy away from how bad he has been.

After a strong season last year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t had as much success thus far in the 2016 season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has yet to win a race this season, which means he has yet to lock up a spot in the Chase.

With NASCAR getting ready for the annual All-Star Race and then the Coca-Cola 600 the week after, Earnhardt Jr. took time to reflect on his season to date on his weekly podcast and he wasn’t afraid to be critical of his performance.

“If we get into this Chase, we can’t run running like this,’’ Earnhardt Jr. said while discussing his entire season to date via Dustin Long of NBC Sports “That ain’t going to work. Clearly disappointed. All the guys on the team are in the same boat. All the guys on the team also are very positive. You have to be for us to be able to get better. We’ve all got to work together.

Currently he is 11th in the point standings. While that would be good enough to get into the Chase, he can’t rely on points to get in and if he does, then he could face a quick elimination based on where he would be starting in the standings.

He also has had races this season where he has failed to finish, which has really hurt him in points. The good news for Earnhardt Jr. is that he’s not the only driver that has faced plenty of struggles this year and there is certainly plenty of time for him to turn it around.

The Coca-Cola 600 could be a great turning point to the season and Earnhardt Jr. has typically ran well in Charlotte. He’s got a tremendous crew around him and he has the ability. Like many seasons for Earnhardt Jr., it’s simply about putting it all together.

If he can get a string of good runs going, it should lead to the momentum he needs. Until then, he’s not afraid to call it like he sees it.

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