If there is a driver who knows what it takes to win at Talladega Superspeedway it would be Dale Earnhardt Jr., a five-time winner on NASCAR’s most imposing track.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Talladega strategy: Don’t eat ‘bad fish or junk food’
Eating right and being at the front are Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s keys to winning Sunday at Talladega.
Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports
What is Earnhardt’s secret to success? How will he go about game planning for Sunday’s Geico 500, a must-win if Earnhardt is to advance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup?
“Nothing. I’ve been racing here a long time. I got it,” Earnhardt said. “Just have to get my suit on and get in the car. There isn’t much to do it. You get in there and do it. I just don’t need to eat any bad fish or junk food.”
Despite facing possible Chase elimination Earnhardt was in a jovial mood, incorporating amusing analogies when he met with reporters Saturday. A sampling:
- “We’ve got some sort of an issue that we need to resolve. It’s like a ghost. It’s hard to find,” Earnhardt said, referring to two broken gear shifters, which plagued him last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
- “These (Talladega) races are like snowflakes at this place. They all play out differently and the people and players up front are a little different every time.”
- “The car is real smooth; like a bass boat across the lake at 5 a.m. It was smooth as glass.”
After a crash at Kansas Speedway and a mechanical failure at Charlotte, Earnhardt is 12th in the standings. If he is to advance out of Round 2 the likeliest means is via a victory -- not easy at Talladega where the field is leveled out by the draft and restrictor-plates.
All-or-Nothing
“I wish we were in a better position to achieve what we want to achieve and be able to move forward,” Earnhardt said. “I wish we had to finish x or better but we have only one route and that’s to Victory Lane, and that’s the only way we can get forward into the Chase. It’s definitely a tall order but we have nothing to lose.”
To achieve victory, Earnhardt is planning on running near the front of the field because of how difficult it is to pass. It’s a lesson learned from what happened in May at Talladega. In that race the No. 88 car was among the fastest, but a late call to pit for fuel dropped Earnhardt towards the back. He could never recoup the lost track position and finished 26th.
With so much at stake, being mired in traffic is something Earnhardt will have to avoid Sunday.
“We need to be in the front and we need to be controlling the restarts at the end of the race,” Earnhardt said. “With this particular package, the leader is not impossible to pass but he really has the upper hand. With our cars and how capable I know our cars are and have been throughout the season at plate tracks, I know we can fend off pretty much most challenges that we’re presented with.”
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