Dale Earnhardt Jr. not unnerved by must-win proposition

Despite finding himself in a virtual must-win situation following a cavalcade of calamity in the first Round 2 playoff race last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a message for his legion of supporters.

“You can sit there and put it in a negative light and think about how crappy the position you’re in, but you’re not going to advance with that attitude,” Earnhardt said on his weekly “Dale Jr. Download” podcast. “You’ve got to go in there thinking about the positives and how you’re in a good place.

“Shake it off, man. One minute spent worrying about what just happened and being negative is one minute wasted. Let’s get after it.”

Earnhardt trails Brad Keselowski by 19 points for the final transfer spot with two races remaining in the second bracket of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. If Earnhardt cannot overcome the deficit, he will need to win either Sunday at Kansas Speedway or Oct. 25 at Talladega Superspeedway to avoid Round 2 elimination for the second straight year.

That Earnhardt is in a sizeable hole is due to a series of incidents throughout the Bank of America 500 resulting in a 28th-place finish. The problems began when Carl Edwards and Earnhardt made contact entering Turn 1, which sent Earnhardt into the wall.

Earnhardt said he doesn’t blame Edwards outright for the accident, calling it “both of our responsibility” and will not seek any kind of retribution, preferring to focus on retaining Chase eligibility.

“We’re not going to worry about Carl, it’s over and done,” Earnhardt said.

And though he incurred considerable right-side body damage and had to make an unscheduled pit stop, which cost him a lap, Earnhardt said his No. 88 car was still good enough to finish in the top 10.

Any chance, however, of a salvaging a good result evaporated when Earnhardt ran through an oil slick caused by Justin Allgaier’s punctured radiator and again smacked the wall. The fluid went undetected by officials despite several drivers -- including Kyle Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. -- scraping the Turn 2 wall -- with Earnhardt and Busch critical of NASCAR’s failure to adequately clean the track.

“I got into the corner and hit oil and it was like ice -- the car flew into the wall,” Earnhardt said.

Because of his current points ranking, Earnhardt will have to concern himself more with winning, not racing for points. The prospect of racing “with nothing to lose” entices Earnhardt, who won in May at Talladega and the following week finished third at Kansas and believes an aggressive mindset can pay dividends.

“These other guys are going to just try to take care of themselves, try to survive,” Earnhardt said. “A few of us will be out there for blood, trying to claw our way back in. I like being able to race like that. I hate being nervous and worried.”