DEI teammates could wind up in a battle for the Chase
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Truex leads 12th-place Kurt Busch by 33 points. Truex’s DEI teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is 13th, trailing Busch by 163 points.
By Reid Spencer / Sporting News Wire Service
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- With Kurt Busch on a roll -- having won two of the past three NASCAR Nextel Cup races -- two Dale Earnhardt Inc. drivers may wind up racing each other for the final spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.
Martin Truex Jr., who drove his No. 1 DEI Chevrolet to a second-place finish in Tuesday’s rain-delayed 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway, is still 11th in points, but he lost ground to race winner Kurt Busch, who also led the most laps.
With three races left before the Chase is set Sept. 8 at Richmond, Truex leads 12th-place Busch by 33 points. Truex’s DEI teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is 13th, trailing Busch by 163 points. It would surprise no one if the driver of the No. 2 Dodge were to climb higher in the standings, leaving Truex and Earnhardt to battle for the final Chase position.
“The 2’s on their game right now,” Truex said after Tuesday’s race.
“It’ll be odd that we’ll have to race the 8 for the last spot, maybe, but it is what it is.”
Earnhardt overshot his pit stall on his final stop and lost precious time as he backed up into the box. He finished 12th.
“It was a big miscue on my part,” said Earnhardt, who will leave DEI to drive for Hendrick Motorsports next year. “(I was) just watching a car in his stall getting his tires changed, and I didn’t realize that my pit was prior to his instead of after -- so I missed my stall. My fault, totally.”
Earnhardt avoided the engine problems that have hurt his Chase chances, but with three races left in the regular season, the No. 8 team can’t afford even small mistakes.
Posted August 21, 2007 , 5:15 pm EST Last Updated August 28, 2007 , 4:50 pm EST
William Van Dorn Sr.August 29, 2007 at 3:21 pm ESTJr. is stell one of the best.
JamesAugust 23, 2007 at 10:07 pm ESTI'm just ready for next year! It's painful to watch this year. There is no way all the stuff going on with DEI isn't messing with Earnhardt's performance. The stress has had to be through the roof for him and everyone else involved. Maybe next year he'll be on top and make a new number famous!
