|
 From 2001-04, Earnhardt rattled off a track-record four
consecutive victories, followed by two straight runner-up finishes
and a fifth checkered flag. But that run 10-plus years ago seems
like decades to No. 88.
A decade has passed since Earnhardt's last win at 'Dega (Oct. 3,
2004). Still, his five visits to Victory Lane rank third on the
track's all-time list.
Currently sitting at 12th in the standings -- 26 points behind his
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne for the final Eliminator
Round spot -- Earnhardt will need to rekindle some of his old
Talladega magic in Sunday''s GEICO 500 cutoff race (2 p.m. ET,
ESPN).
Barring epic collapses from at least four drivers in front of him --
a distinct possibility at the 2.66-mile restrictor plate track known
for its treachery -- he must win Sunday to move onward in the Chase.
Earnhardt is fully aware of his mission at Talladega.
"Go out there and win it," he said. "We can do it; we have won there
a lot of times. I know what we need to do. We will just have to
build a fast car and hope that we don't have any gremlins and try to
go out there and win it."
NASCAR's 11-time most popular driver has still performed well
throughout his 19-race 'Dega drought. He has recorded a respectable
six top-10 finishes, including two runner-ups, the most recent in
last fall's Talladega tussle. Earnhardt also boasts the
third-highest driver rating (90.3) at the Alabama track over that
stretch.
A rejuvenated Junior has proven anything can happen this year. His
three victories so far in the 2014 campaign outnumber his win total
from the last seven seasons combined.
"The season isn't over," Earnhardt posted on Twitter after
Charlotte. "We will take a rocket to Dega and fight till the end.
110% till the checkered at Homestead." Crafton won't talk
championship
Equipped with a commanding 19-point lead over his ThorSport teammate
Johnny Sauter with five races left in the season, Matt Crafton seems
well on his way to becoming the first repeat champion in the 20-year
history of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
[to top of second column] |
Despite his lead and momentum from a trio of consecutive top-three
finishes, the 38-year-old does not want to set his sights on his
second driver points championship just yet.
"I'm looking forward to the next thing we're going to do at
Talladega. We get through that and then I'll start looking (towards
Homestead)," Crafton said. "I'm not even going to worry about it to
be honest. I'm going to go into each and every race to just go to
win. If we get through Talladega, I'll feel a lot better at that
point."
Crafton has struggled at Talladega throughout his career.
In eight starts at the 2.66-mile track, he claims an average finish
of 15.5, almost four places lower than his career mark of 11.8. The
driver most likely to catch him, Sauter, boasts a 7.0 average finish
at Talladega and took the checkered flag in last year's race there.
"I'm not even a little bit worried about 19 points," Crafton said.
"It could be one point. I could be 19 points back. I'm not even
worried about that to be totally honest. I'm worried about just
going each and every week, do what we keep doing, do what we started
doing at the beginning of the year, go there to win races and the
points will come."
-----------------------------------------------
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
