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Standings? Earnhardt keeps checking after each race but No. 13 is unlucky
For the whole year - despite turmoil over his contract negotiations with DEI, the subsequent announced move to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, wrangling over a car number and his fractured relationship with stepmother Teresa - Dale Earnhardt Jr. has maintained that he would be one of the 12 drivers to make the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.
Now, with one race to go before the Chase for the Championship field is set, his hopes are slim. He enters Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway in 13th, 128 points separating him from the Chase.
Still, NASCAR's most popular driver and sought-after icon remains composed and realistic.
"What do people expect me to say when they keep asking me about the point standings? I check the standings right after each race and then I forget about it," said Earnhardt, adding all he can do is go out and get all the points he can.
Kevin Harvick is sitting in the final Chase spot.
Should Harvick finish last, Earnhardt will have to finish fourth and lead at least one lap to bounce the Daytona 500 winner from the Chase.
Even if Earnhardt leads the most laps and wins, Harvick still needs only to finish 32nd or better to keep his spot.
Kurt Busch, in 11th, is the only other driver in the top 12 who has yet to qualify for the Chase.
If Busch finishes at least 36th, he is in, regardless of what Earnhardt does. (No. 10 Martin Truex Jr. and No. 11 Clint Bowyer technically aren't in the Chase. But all they need to do is start the race to qualify.)
"If we make the Chase, great! But, we know it's the longest of long shots," Earnhardt said. "If we don't make it, I'll be sad for our fans and sponsors. ... I want them to know that no matter what, me and the team are giving everything we've got."
Richmond is a good track for Earnhardt to attempt the improbable. He has three wins and nine top 10s in 16 races at RIR. The only track he has had more success on is Talladega, where he has five wins.
"I always love going to Richmond, and we seem to have a superb setup there every time we show up," he said. "Even way back in the Busch Series days, Tony Jr. (Eury, crew chief) had a knack for this place."
Unfortunately for Earnhardt, so has Harvick, who is the defending champion of Saturday night's race and has been solid there the past three years.
He has five straight top 10s dating back to 2005 and was seventh in the May race (Earnhardt was 13th).
In fact, Harvick has only one Busch finish and three Cup finishes outside of the top 10 at RIR since 2003.
Saturday's race also has a lot of significance to Bowyer, a teammate of Harvick's at Richard Childress Racing.
Bowyer is hoping to earn his first career Cup win and the Chase bonus points that go with it.
Bowyer, in his second year, is the only driver in the top 12 without a victory in 2007.
When the points are reset to 5,000 for the top 12 after Saturday night's race, 10 additional points are awarded for every win a driver has.
"We need to get a win," Bowyer said. "I don't want to be the only guy in the Chase that hasn't won. If we are, certainly that isn't a bad thing.
"Just the last month, month and a half, we've had to be so conservative with everything we've done ... everybody had to make sure that we didn't have any trouble and just got a solid finish. Now the focus isn't on 'we've just got to have a top 10 now.' We've got to win."
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