No. 88 Team Is ‘Not A Lost Cause,’ Insists Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Following several weeks of appearing frustrated and discouraged, a more upbeat Dale Earnhardt Jr. greeted reporters at Richmond after qualifying ninth for Saturday night’s race.

Earnhardt Jr. answered questions about his goals for the rest of the season, and said he’s determined to show that his team “is not a lost cause.”

“I’m taking everybody’s advice that’s close and around me that sees what’s going on – trying to do what I can to be a part of the solution, not part of the problem,” he said. “Nothing’s really clicking right yet. But it’s not a lost cause. I still feel like there’s some potential in our team. We’ve worked hard enough to deserve it.”

Earnhardt Jr.‘s No. 88 team began the season with high hopes after missing the Chase last season and making some personnel moves in the offseason that everyone at Hendrick Motorsports hoped would pay dividends.

And Earnhardt Jr. said particularly in the first part of the season, the team felt like, “OK, yeah, here’s some things happening that are good.”

“But from the halfway point on, we’ve been the same team we were last year,” he said. “So hopefully in the next 10 races, we can try to see what it is that’s missing.”

Whether it’s trying a setup Chase teammates Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson have requested or experimenting with a setup crew chief Lance McGrew wants to try for the 88 car, Earnhardt Jr. said fans should expect to see his team “really going crazy, trying all kinds of stuff.”

“We’re going to do as much testing as we can and just try to be a better team,” he said. “I don’t really know what the answer is to make ourselves better yet. Hopefully in the next couple months, we can figure out some of those things.”

Asked if Earnhardt Jr. felt his team was perhaps only one personnel move away from winning races again, he shook his head no.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I’m not sure about that. I don’t have that feeling.”

Because he doesn’t feel close to running up front again and because of his prolonged slump, Earnhardt Jr. said it’s been “real hard” to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But he said he looks at the drivers who are around him in points and feels he’s in good company in terms of talent.

“I don’t think I’m flailing about in the back of the pack,” he said. “It’s just real hard to get better for some reason.”

NASCAR has reportedly told teams it is considering expanding the Chase to 15 teams next season, leading some to say officials would institute such a rule in order to get Earnhardt Jr.‘s team in the playoff field.

The driver said he understands why people would say the rule is to get his team in the Chase, but called such talk “a big burden for me.”

“We’ve been struggling and we sort of put ourselves in position to be the scapegoat for all that,” he said. ”...We put ourselves in position to be the punchline to that joke – and a lot of other jokes, to be honest.

“We’ve just gotta work harder and even if they make it 15 next year, try to finish in the top 10 and make that argument a moot point.”

Earnhardt Jr. said he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get better and said he remains committed to NASCAR (“I love this sport and I love being around it,” he said).

“You listen to (advice from) the people that are close, and people in the (Hendrick) company – other drivers, other crew chiefs,” he said. “I believe in whatever any of those guys say. I’ll do whatever they tell me to do. I want to get our team better, so you’re going to listen to people around you.

“Really the people that know the most about it are the people in the organization. So I trust what they tell me.”