NASCAR Charlotte 2014: Confident Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinking win

Upbeat and confident, there were no telltale signs that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in a desperate situation in the Chase for the Sprint Cup when he met with reporters Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt enters the weekend, the second of three races in the Contender Round, 11th in the standings and likely needs to win Saturday’s race at Charlotte or Oct. 19 at Talladega Superspeedway to avoid elimination.

“I just think that we have a shot and I feel good about it,” Earnhardt said. “I think our team is good. I think we are good enough. I think we should go out there and win. I believe we will.”

That Earnhardt finds himself on the brink of elimination unless he can win at Charlotte or Talladega is due to what transpired a week ago at Kansas Speedway. A blown tire as Earnhardt was leading caused him to slam into the wall and finish 39th.

But Earnhardt says he’s comfortable in the precarious position he currently finds himself in. Because he won the season-opening Daytona 500 and virtually clinched a Chase spot, the No. 88 team led by crew chief Steve Letarte was able to aggressively pursue wins via pit strategy throughout the regular season. Racing for points met little.

And it’s that aggressiveness, according to Earnhardt, that best suits his team. When the Chase began, the 88 team played it conservative and the results on the track reflected that, with Earnhardt posting a Round 1 average finish of 12.3.

“When we are in this situation where nothing matters is when we are doing that the best,” Earnhardt said. “When this Chase started we reverted back toward being reserved and calculative on our choices and it netted us average results.

“We are back in a situation we have our backs against the wall, but we are in a situation where we can be aggressive again, as hard and crazy as we want to be on pit calls and fuel mileage and all those things. That is where Steve is at his best.”

If Earnhardt can win Charlotte, it would be his first points victory on his home track and would be a nice birthday to himself, as NASCAR’s most popular driver turns 40 on Friday.

Girlfriend Amy Reimann pulled off a surprise birthday party for her beau on Monday. An unsuspecting Earnhardt (he was told one of his appearances had been canceled at the last minute) walked into his home to find family and friends gathered in his basement.

“I didn’t have any clue,” Earnhardt said. “I was trying to look at my calendar; I’ve got something going on just about every single day. I don’t have any days off this month. That was really the way they got me.

“They got me, man. It was good. It was real good.”

Earnhardt would like to be similarly surprised Saturday night.

“I guess there are still some surprises to come,” Earnhardt said. “But we will hopefully win the race and that will be the biggest surprise.”