Dale Earnhardt Jr. won't predict Texas win
Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn't ready to predict his nearly four year winless drought will end in Saturday night's Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Although Junior is second in the point standings and has been running extremely well in the opening six races of the season, the Hendrick Motorsports driver said Thursday he's not about to call his shot for a trip to victory lane on Saturday night.
“People know I'm not Nostradamus, so they don't ask me questions about the future," Earnhardt said. "But I feel like we're six points out of the point's lead. We're second in points. We're a competitive team in this sport. So I think it's a pretty easy argument to win that we're better this year than we were last year; and better than the year before that. So we're getting closer. I feel like we're getting closer."
Earnhardt got off to a good start last year as well and made the Chase, but saw things tail off performance-wise as the season wound down. But he feels the No. 88 team is stronger this year and despite not winning yet believes things are pointing in the right direction.
"I don't really know what the measuring stick is but I think hopefully it's real close," he said. "I'm ready to win and ready to go to victory lane. I've been working with these guys and they are working so hard. They are giving me really good cars. They deserve to win races. And I think the team deserves it. I'm ready to make that happen. We're going to just keep trying. We're getting closer though; at least that's the bright spot of the deal.”
Although Junior is second in the point standings and has been running extremely well in the opening six races of the season, the Hendrick Motorsports driver said Thursday he's not about to call his shot for a trip to victory lane on Saturday night.
“People know I'm not Nostradamus, so they don't ask me questions about the future," Earnhardt said. "But I feel like we're six points out of the point's lead. We're second in points. We're a competitive team in this sport. So I think it's a pretty easy argument to win that we're better this year than we were last year; and better than the year before that. So we're getting closer. I feel like we're getting closer."
Earnhardt got off to a good start last year as well and made the Chase, but saw things tail off performance-wise as the season wound down. But he feels the No. 88 team is stronger this year and despite not winning yet believes things are pointing in the right direction.
"I don't really know what the measuring stick is but I think hopefully it's real close," he said. "I'm ready to win and ready to go to victory lane. I've been working with these guys and they are working so hard. They are giving me really good cars. They deserve to win races. And I think the team deserves it. I'm ready to make that happen. We're going to just keep trying. We're getting closer though; at least that's the bright spot of the deal.”
