Earnhardt aiming for 3rd straight Pocono win
LONG POND, PA. >> Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte were as much a comedy team around the garage as they were championship contenders last season.
Carefree and cracking jokes, Earnhardt and his crew chief were best buds, one-liners flowing as often as victory lane champagne.
“Everything’s on the table as far as conversation,” Earnhardt said.
The chemistry on the Hendrick Motorsports team led to Earnhardt’s career renaissance in the No. 88 Chevrolet. He won the Daytona 500, swept Pocono Raceway and was in the thick of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship until the final races.
Like so many great comedy duos, Earnhardt and Letarte split up.
Letarte took his open mic skills to the NBC Sports broadcast booth. Greg Ives, a race engineer for Jimmie Johnson’s record run of five consecutive championships, was team owner Rick Hendrick’s No. 1 choice to replace
Letarte.
Light on laughs, Earnhardt and Ives have clicked on the track. They have eight top 10s, won at Talladega and are fifth in the points standings.
And they’re back Pocono, where Earnhardt reigns as the defending race winner. Earnhardt won both races on the tri-oval track last season and is trying to become the third driver in Pocono history to win here three straight times.
Tim Richmond swept in 1987 and won the June 1987 race and Bobby Allison swept in 1982 and won the June 1983 race.
There’s another streak on the line, as well: Hendrick drivers have won the last five Pocono races (Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne have the other three).
“We’ve just got really good stuff,” Earnhardt said. “Your car really shines here, whereas the driver is a little bit of a factor.”
Earnhardt was a major factor last season and seemed poised to win his first Sprint Cup championship. He stamped himself a legitimate contender at Pocono when he became the first driver to sweep both races at the track since Denny Hamlin in 2006.
In June, Brad Keselowski gift-wrapped the win when he yielded the lead with five laps left in a desperate attempt to clear debris from his grille and cool his overheated engine.
Keselowski’s gamble backfired — he couldn’t get the draft needed from the lapped traffic to clear his car and make one final pass for the win on Earnhardt. Earnhardt led three Hendrick drivers in the top 10.
In August, Earnhardt said before the race the No. 88 was better than his winner in June and he proved it when he held off the hard-charging Kevin Harvick down the stretch for the win. Earnhardt swept a track for the first time since Talladega in 2002.
Earnhardt would love to three-peat — and repeat the sweep — at Pocono.
And maybe have some fun.
“We’re just really all business right now, for the time being,” Earnhardt said. “We win some more races, we can get more jovial.”
Kurt Busch takes pole
Kurt Busch turned a lap at 177.599 mph Friday and won the pole at Pocono Raceway in a bizarre qualifying session that saw five cars fail to complete a lap in the final round.
Denny Hamlin bobbled and lost control of the No. 11 as the qualifying clock ticked down to bring out the red flag. NASCAR scrubbed the rest of qualifying. Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne all failed to record a lap time.
Kurt Busch won his third pole of the season in the No. 41 Chevrolet and 19th of his career.
Carl Edwards joins Kurt Busch on the front row. Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick complete the top five. Earnhardt Jr. will start 20th.
Kurt Busch has one win this season with five top 10s, a nice rebound from a three-race suspension that opened the season because of his offseason legal woes.