Earnhardt taking Chase hopes to Talladega
CONCORD, N.C. -- For the past two weeks, luck hasn't been on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s side.
After a tire issue at Kansas Speedway took Earnhardt from the lead to a 39th-place finish, Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway brought more bad news.
Once again, Earnhardt found himself at the front of the pack on multiple occasions, but a constant vibration was bothering the driver of the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet SS.
"The vibration issue was causing a lot of balance issues and grip issues," Earnhardt said. "But we had a good enough car to run in the top 10."
That's exactly what he was doing -- until disaster struck at Lap 137.
"The vibration broke the shifter in half," Earnhardt explained. "I mean it is steel, it shouldn't be breaking, but the vibration was that bad."
The issue sent Earnhardt to pit road on multiple occasions as the No. 88 team tried to solve the problem, eventually putting the car a lap down.
For much of the race, Earnhardt was only able to use third and fourth gear, and his pit crew had to help push him out of his pit stall.
But he salvaged a 20th-place finish in the event, leaving him in 12th place in the Chase standings. He currently sits 26 points behind the eighth-place cutoff spot to advance to the Eliminator Round.
One more race stands between Earnhardt and the next round -- or elimination. So the goal will be simple.
"Go out there and win it," Earnhardt said of next Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway. "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."
That didn't go as planned. Vibration all night. My hands are numb, my feet hurt. Feel like I was working a jack hammer out there.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) October 12, 2014
The season isn't over though. We will take a rocket to Dega and fight till the end. 110% till the checkered @HomesteadMiami.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) October 12, 2014