Earnhardt looking for redemption
Driver still haunted by Talladega effort
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — It had been 31 years since a driver won both Daytona races in the same season when Jimmie Johnson pulled off the Sprint Cup Series sweep. A year later, his teammate wants to complete the feat.
But for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the Coke Zero 400, he can’t race the way he did at Talladega Superspeedway in May.
The Daytona 500 winner went to Talladega thinking he’d win another restrictor plate race, but instead finished 26th in a performance that still haunted him Thursday when he showed up at Daytona International Speedway.
“It’s embarrassing man, I hate to talk about it,” Earnhardt said before the first of two practice sessions for Saturday night’s race.
“The way we ran and what I chose to do at the end of the race was just uncharacteristic really of anybody that is in the field trying to compete. I just got really frustrated with the way things were working out for us and lost sight of the overall big picture and what you’re out there trying to do and who all is out there depending on you to do what you need to do. “I learned some lessons.” He’ll attempt to apply the lessons in the 400-miler Saturday night, where he’ll most likely race hard and try to lead much the same way he did when he won the seasonopening Daytona 500.
The February race had a frantic pace because of a rain stoppage that lasted 6 hours, 22 minutes. When the racing resumed, Earnhardt was determined to win his second Daytona 500.
Earnhardt led six times for a racehigh 54 laps — all after the rain delay — and ended a 55-race losing streak that dated to 2012 with the win.
But at Talladega, he wasn’t at all the same racer.
Earnhardt led 26 laps early and gambled he’d have no trouble making it back through the traffic when he was shuffled to the rear.
When it became clear he had his work cut out for him, Earnhardt opted to take it easy and nurse his Chevrolet home for a clean finish. Fans were livid. “I think I got real selfish at Talladega and what the result and how the result affected anyone I never took into account,” he said.
“I really just was out there thinking more about me and what I thought and what I wanted to do and how frustrated I was.