Junior is on the right track

In need of victory, Talladega perfect place for Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt Jr. cried the last time he rolled into Talladega.

He was in Victory Lane, just a few days after his late father would have celebrated another birthday. Bittersweet memories of a place that the Earnhardt family cherishes. Dale Jr. used to come here years ago with his dad, and Dale would stick $100 in his son’s pocket so he could go race gokarts with his friends. He now races in a stock car for much higher stakes. A NASCAR Cup title. Earnhardt will go to Talladega this weekend facing a win-or-go-home scenario in the postseason Chase. His 21stplace finish at Kansas last weekend did him no favors.

He is 31 points behind Martin Truex Jr. for the final transfer spot heading into the last phase of the Contender Round of NASCAR’s playoffs. The lowest fourranked drivers without a victory will be eliminated from the Chase after Talladega.

“If I had to go to Talladega next week with one car, one driver and one shot, I’d want it to be with Dale Jr.,” said Darrell Waltrip, a three-time Cup champion and now an analyst with Fox Sports.

It’s not just a hopeful sentimental twist on Sunday’s plot line. Dale Earnhardt won 10 times at Talladega . Dale Jr. has won six times, including a dominant performance in May when he led a race-high 67 laps.

“I wouldn’t rather be going anywhere else than Talladega for the next race if we need a win,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “That is a good opportunity for us. Even over Daytona, I think we can go to Talladega and do the job.”

There are others in a pinch as well. Matt Kenseth is 35 points behind the final transfer spot and needs a win as well. Ryan Newman is eight points back. Kyle Busch is six points behind Truex Jr. But all eyes will be on Earnhardt. “Dale Earnhardt’s biggest goal in his career has been to add to the Earnhardt legacy,” Waltrip said. “The Earnhardt legacy at Talladega and Daytona is unmatched. And he likes adding numbers to that legacy.”

As always, this is a man-and-machine deal. The odds are stacked in his favor as well if you consider those variables.

“I know that one race, one opportunity, one chance makes the odds feel bad, but we won there this year. And we went to and ran third in the (Daytona) 500 and we won our 125 (qualifying race),” said Earnhardt, who also won Daytona’s rain-delayed late-night summer race.

Talladega will always involve random chaos. A driver could be coasting with a fast car and a smooth ride when the pack makes a run for the front, somebody gets discombobulated and, next thing you know, you’re flying upside down at 200 mph.

But there are good variables too. Talladega. Earnhardt. Look it up.

“If you lived around Dale Earnhardt Sr., you heard him talk about Talladega,” Waltrip said. “You were there with him, you watched him, you observed. You can learn a lot that way.

“All these guys whose fathers were racers, you take things that you can absorb and apply once you get behind the wheel of a car.”

It’s time for Dale Jr. to use that applied science big-time on Sunday.

On auto racing

gdiaz@tribpub.com