Earnhardt: Locking into Chase field early would help

Earnhardt: Locking into Chase field early would help

May 5, 2012

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Nine races into the season may be too early to focus on the points standings, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. already is looking ahead to the end of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' 26-race regular season.

Currently second in the standings, four points behind leader Greg Biffle, Earnhardt would like nothing better than to secure his place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup before the 26th race Sept. 8 at Richmond.

"I'm just trying to put together good races, one after the other," Earnhardt said Saturday morning at Talladega Superspeedway. "Complete races, finish every lap, finish as good as the car can, steal a couple of spots here and there when we can -- like we did last weekend (at Richmond) -- and just total points and keep putting points on the board.

"The best scenario for us would be to be able to go into the last few races before the Chase already locked in, so we can try to do some things that we typically wouldn't do and take some chances that we typically wouldn't take on the racecar itself and learn and understand some new things about the car that we can't really try yet, for fear of having a failure or a bad run with it."

Though Earnhardt has won five times at Talladega, he doesn't feel that breaking his 138-race drought in Sunday's Aaron's 499 will constitute definitive proof he's back to top form -- at least in the eyes of his fans and his critics.

"I (can) guess what the critics' opinion would be, should we win here and break the streak," Earnhardt said. " 'Obviously, it's a plate track, and go win somewhere and prove to us really that you've got it all turned around.'

"I don't know -- but that kind of is in the back of your mind a little bit."

SPONSORSHIP EXTENDS BAYNE'S SCHEDULE

For 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, the announcement of Good Sam/Camping World's sponsorship of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford represents both welcome news and unfinished business.

Wood Brothers Racing announced Saturday that Good Sam/Camping World will sponsor Bayne in four races this season, expanding Bayne's Sprint Cup schedule from 12 to 16 races. Bayne will race under Good Sam/Camping World colors at the May 19 Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte and in Cup points races at Atlanta (Sept. 2), Chicagoland (Sept. 16) and Charlotte (Oct. 13).

Bayne has run three Cup races this season, with a best finish of ninth at Las Vegas. He started the first five Nationwide Series races of the season in Roush Fenway Racing's No. 60 Ford, but a lack of sponsorship curtailed his participation after that.

Bayne was supposed to run the All-Star Race with Good Sam/Camping World last year, but an illness believed to have resulted from a tick bite kept him out of action in May.

"I wound up in the hospital and was really bummed about that," Bayne said.

HAMLIN EXPECTS GOOD THINGS FROM FORMER CREW CHIEF

Denny Hamlin was shocked that Mike Ford, his crew chief through the end of last season, didn't land a new job after being released from Joe Gibbs Racing last year.

Now that Ford has signed on with Richard Petty Motorsports, however, Hamlin expects his former pit boss to advance the career of driver Aric Almirola.

"Waiting for the right opportunity, and given the right opportunity, he can be very, very successful," Hamlin said. "He, in my opinion, is one of the top five crew chiefs in this garage. I think he is the reason we won so many races when we were together."

All told, Hamlin won 17 Cup races with Ford, starting with a pair of victories in his rookie season in 2006. Hamlin has won at least one race each year since then.

This season Hamlin already has two wins with new crew chief Darian Grubb calling the shots in his pit.