Earnhardt hopes to fulfil potential

Dale Earnhardt Jr has admitted his performance at Hendrick Motorsports so far has not been good enough, but hopes to fulfil his potential with the leading NASCAR Sprint Cup outfit after committing to it until 2017.

NASCAR's most popular driver is currently in his fourth year with the four-car squad, a period in which his team has seen a number of changes, including three crew chiefs.

In his best season with Hendrick back in their first year together in 2008, Earnhardt won two non-points races, then scored a points-paying victory at Michigan and went on to make the Chase only to finish last among the play-off contenders.

The 36-year-old American says he is not content with his performance thus far but is glad he now has the time to prove his worth with Hendrick.

"I would give me barely a passing grade at this time," said Earnhardt when asked how he rated himself at Hendrick thus far. "I'm not content at all and I feel like I've been given some really good opportunities there and just haven't been able to capitalise on it. Haven't been able to go to the racetrack and get on the racetrack and go fast.

"This year we made a lot of changes in the off-season, I've said that damn sentence so many damn times this year, but we had a lot of changes and this year things started to swing upward for me and I started to feel like we might be on the right track and my confidence is up and I feel good about what's going on there.

"I like to see how we can do in the future over the next 12 to 18 months, what kind of growth me and Steve [Letarte] have. I really, really like working with him and I'm satisfied with the performance that he has and how he works and goes about running his race team. I'm satisfied with the way his cars drive.

"I'm not anywhere near at all satisfied with what I've accomplished so far. I feel like that motivates me to try to go in there and do what I want to do and accomplish what I want to accomplish with that company and that's why I feel fortunate to have that opportunity with the new extension."

Earnhardt is currently ninth in the points standings with only two races left before the Chase field is set. He says he would be relieved to be among the title contenders for only the second time since joining Hendrick while admitting he and his team have made a number of costly mistakes during the regular season despite a strong start to the year.

"Everyone expects you to make the chase," said Earnhardt. "If you don't make the chase you get that tag on you. You get labelled when you don't make the chase and I want to avoid being in that situation.

"There are only a few drivers that get to make it, it is a pretty competitive sport but if you can be consistent and be smart... I made a few mistakes and a few driver errors that I really wish I could have back now, that I tried to tell myself not to make all year.

"I did pretty good, then we got along in the middle of the summer there and I started making a couple of mistakes. Blowing the left front tyre coming onto pit road in Kentucky, and a couple of other places like that, that took away finishes that we needed.

"I know that if you can just be smart in the kind of equipment and the kind of team I have I should make the Chase. We are plenty good enough to do that, but we put ourselves in a tough position going into these last two races over the summer time with a couple mistakes that I made and I'm sure Steve might stand up here and tell you he made a couple himself too."

Earnhardt's best season to date since the Chase format was implemented came in the inaugural year of the play-off in 2004. He won six races on the way to fifth in the standings while driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc, the team founded by his legendary father.

Six drivers now safely in Chase

Six drivers are already set to be title contenders in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup, with at least another two possibly securing a place in the play-off this weekend at Atlanta.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch, the current points leader, was the first to lock himself in the Chase with his fourth win of the season two weeks ago at Michigan, while reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, Roush Fenway's Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth also secured a spot in the title battle with strong finishes last weekend at Bristol.

Following closer examination and due to the new wild card Chase placings available to those with one or more wins among 10th and 20th in points next week, NASCAR has also placed two-time winner Jeff Gordon and three-time winner Kevin Harvick among those safely in the play-off.

"Well we are fortunate, the last couple of weeks have not taken in the results as a race team that we would have liked to have seen," said Harvick, whose results have been 22nd-place finishes in the last two weeks.

"It has been a little bit of a panic to everybody at RCR [Richard Childress Racing]. We were there Sunday morning after the race last week trying to backtrack and figure out the things we need to do to get back to where we were several weeks ago.

"We feel like we have chased down some things that we have probably not done right and we have got to do better, and some things that we need to incorporate back to the way we were doing them six months ago. If we go on to win or compete for a championship I think there are a lot of key moments we can look back to over these last three or four weeks."

This weekend at Atlanta both Gordon and Harvick will most likely leave both wildcard entries up for grabs by locking up top-10 places in the points ahead of next week's event at Richmond. Stewart-Haas' Ryan Newman also needs a top-20 finish in order to lock himself in title contention one week in advance, while Penske's Kurt Busch needs a seventh-place finish to clinch a Chase spot on Sunday.

A number of different scenarios could also ensure that his team-mate Brad Keselowski is part of the play-off ahead of Richmond through one of the available wild cards, but he still could potentially break inside the top 10 in the points next week at Richmond and thus leave both wildcards available.

Behind Keselowski in the points, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin and RCR's Paul Menard - both with a win and inside the top-20 - would be the leading eligible candidates for the final two Chase spots under such a scenario.

Although the Penske driver is unlikely to need to break inside the top 10 in the standings to be a play-off contender, if Keselowski does so next week he would be able to use the three bonus points available per each victory towards his Chase berth, a privilege he would forfeit if he enters the play-off as one of the wild cards.

Stewart not panicking over Chase

Tony Stewart hopes two solid weekends can keep him in Chase contention as he continues to look for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup win of the season and his position in the standings comes under growing threat.

Entering this weekend's race at Atlanta, the penultimate event before the play-off field is set, the two-time Cup champion ranks 10th in the standings, 21 points ahead of Penske's Brad Keselowski, who is on a charge that has seen him move up from outside the top 20 to almost breaking inside the top 10 in points in a matter of four weeks.

Stewart, who won a year ago at Atlanta, arrives after an unusually lacklustre performance at Bristol, where he finished 28th and three laps down on winner Keselowski. However Stewart maintained his position in the standings thanks to an equally poor result for Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer, another driver threatening his top 10 placing.

Owner/driver Stewart says that despite many believing he desperately needs a victory, his current position just calls for two trouble-free races at Atlanta and Richmond in order to ensure he makes the Chase. He admits however, that kind of performance will not take him very far in the play-off once he is in it.

"We're still 21 points to the good of where we need to be so we are in the spot we need to be in, we just need to maintain it," said Stewart. "So, obviously if we had a win this weekend we wouldn't have to worry about it next week so it would be a luxury to win the race this week but it's not a necessity.

"It could work against us too. It may not work out after Richmond but at least going into this weekend we are where we need to be. Everybody keeps saying last ditch and we have to make something happen... we don't have to make anything happen, we're in the spot we're supposed to be in and need to be in to be in the Chase so we just have to not have a disaster happen. We just need two solid weeks."

Stewart admits his season has not lived up to his own expectations and says his car has proved to be hard to balance at times, making it a hit-or-miss at certain tracks. This year he has two runner-up finishes but his results have been inconsistent for most of the season. He has the least amount of top-five finishes among the likely Chase contenders.

"It just shows how sensitive I think these cars are," he said. "The window of getting them right is very, very small verses what we've had in the past but that's what makes it also fun. When you have a good day and you do get it in that window that's what makes it gratifying knowing you were able to accomplish that goal. It's the hard part of trying to figure out what you're missing when you're off.

"That's the frustrating part - when you go week in and week out and you can't figure out what that missing piece of the equation is. You see guys that have not been good in the past but all of the sudden are good, they've found something so it's proof that it's there it's just our job to go out and find it and capitalise on it."

Earlier this year Bobby Hutchens was released as the vice president of competition at Stewart Haas Racing but Stewart does not believe that caused his slump. However he reckons his team is in need of a director of competition as Matt Borland, who replaced Hutchens on an interim basis, is now filling in multiple roles.

"We need a competition director right now for sure, that definitely would be a big factor in helping get things going hopefully but I think Matt Borland has done an awesome job of juggling multiple roles," Stewart said. "He's not only had to be the interim competition director but he's still the special projects manager and all the things he's had to do.

"He's working three jobs right now so I think all things considering he's done an awesome job of filling in. Knowing that we've struggled this year, I think he's done a great job of trying to be there and help us get through this time."

Ryan Newman, Stewart's team-mate, is set to lock his place in this year's Chase this weekend at Atlanta, as he currently ranks seventh in the standings. Stewart believes for the time being, his outfit's championship potential hinges on Newman, although he does not place himself out of the title equation just yet.

"I think Ryan has been more consistent and definitely would have a better opportunity than what we have with our #14 car right now," Stewart said. "The great thing about this sport is it's a week to week situation. You don't know that we might find something this week that may all of a sudden fix everything and that's the hard part about it.

"Ryan has definitely been consistent. I know they have been very cautious the last five or six weeks making sure they are protecting themselves. You know they feel very confident they can have a good championship run. There's always a lot of variables that aren't in your control."

Stewart is currently in a 30-race winless streak in the Cup series, having last won at Fontana last autumn, though this is not his longest win drought.

Earnhardt stays at Hendrick until '17

Dale Earnhardt Jr will remain at Hendrick Motorsports until 2017, having signed a five-year extension with the leading NASCAR Sprint Cup outfit.

Although Earnhardt's current contract expires at the end of next year, NASCAR's most popular driver will continue his relationship with Hendrick Motorsports, which is in its fourth year already.

Earnhardt left Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of 2007 in order to pursue his goal of contending for the Sprint Cup series title with the series' champions and despite a good start to their partnership, winning two non-points events at Daytona, he has only won one Cup race since then - halfway through their first year at Michigan.

Despite his 117-race winless streak, Earnhardt is currently in position to become a Chase contender for only the second time since joining the team, having last made the play-off in 2008.

The new deal comes as a timely vote of confidence from his outfit as he still has to secure his place among the top-12 championship contenders.

"We're excited to have everything formalised and announced," said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "Junior and I had a handshake agreement months ago, and we let other people work out the finer points from there. It was as simple and smooth as it gets.

"My feelings haven't changed since the day he first signed with us. I'm committed as ever to putting him in the best possible situation to be successful and compete for wins and championships."

This year Earnhardt has enjoyed his most consistent season with Hendrick Motorsports following a reshufle of his team, which included taking on Jeff Gordon's former crew chief Steve Letarte and moving his group to work alongside Jimmie Johnson's inside Hendrick headquarters.

"It's great to have it all wrapped up so quickly and far in advance," said Earnhardt. "Rick and I were on the same page from the first time we talked about it, so there wasn't any sense in waiting. There were never any questions or hesitations from either of us. It was just, 'Yeah, let's do it.'

"I'm really happy at Hendrick Motorsports and enjoy working with everyone here. The team's been very competitive this season, and we're all excited about the direction of things. I want to make sure we're giving our fans something to cheer about for a long time."

Last week Earnhardt's NASCAR Nationwide Series team JR Motorsports announced the signing of Danica Patrick for a full assault on the second-tier championship.

His Sprint Cup series boss Rick Hendrick is also a co-owner of Earnhardt's outfit.

Keselowski wins again at Bristol

Brad Keselowski took his recent impressive streak a step further by claiming his third victory of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season on Saturday night at Bristol.

The 27-year-old was a top-five contender all night long and led the race at seven different times, initially thanks to staying out while the leaders pitted under the first caution. He would remain a threat from then on but never looked quite as dominant as both Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth did, the Hendrick driver leading the most laps while his Roush rival was up front for 110 of the 550 laps scheduled.

However Keselowski really surged when the green waved for the last time after a quick four-tyre stop placed him on the front row for the final restart. He quickly disposed of Michael Waltrip Racing's Martin Truex, who had gambled on a two-tyre stop, and as the battle for second got tighter behind him, Keselowski was able to pull away to take his first Cup win at Bristol - a result he found very meaningful.

"The night race at Bristol! This is the race that Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt won, it's the race of champions. I can't believe it," said a stunned Keselowski. "There are races that pay more. There are races that might have a little more prestige, but this is the coolest damn one of them all. We won it!"

Less than four weeks ago it was uncertain whether the Penske racer could complete the distance at Pocono following a testing crash at Road Atlanta, but since then Keselowski has been either first, second or third in every race, and has the best Cup finishing record for that period.

He is also now within reach of securing a Chase spot through being in the top 10 in the points, as he has jumped to 11th in the standings, only 21 points behind two-time champion Stewart, whose chances of making the play-off continue to dwindle every week. Keselowski also continues to be the leading wildcard entry to the Chase and has all but clinched a place in the play-off.

Behind Keselowski, Truex was able to hold off a charging Gordon as his tyre gamble paid off. The four-time Cup champion was probably the fastest during the night but better pitstops from rivals seemed to hamper his chances of claiming his third win of the season.

"It felt like we had the car to beat; but you know what, we just didn't get the position that we needed to on that last pitstop," said Gordon. "Our pit crew was awesome. Pit road is an interesting place here. We fought hard. That was just a great battle; a lot of fun racing, but just didn't quite have it there at the end."

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson also led laps and was a top-five contender, beating Earnhardt Ganassi's impressive Jamie McMurray to fifth in the end, ahead of Kenseth. Both Johnson and Kenseth secured Chase spots with their finishes, as did Kenseth's team-mate Edwards with his ninth place at the flag.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin recovered from a spin to finish seventh, also moving up one spot in the points while provisionally hanging on to the final wildcard entry into the Chase only two weeks before the cut-off. Polesitter Ryan Newman was eighth while his Stewart Haas team-mate Stewart had a lacklustre night, finishing three laps down in 28th.

Australian Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top 10 for Richard Petty Motorsports in yet another good run at the half-mile concrete oval.

Points leader Kyle Busch finished 14th, recovering from contact after hitting the wall 85 laps from the end while fighting for position with Truex. His brother Kurt, also a Bristol specialist, was 17th after two pit road penalties hampered his efforts.

Results - 500 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 2h45m16.000s 2. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota + 0.951s 3. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet + 1.014s 4. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet + 2.382s 5. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 2.822s 6. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford + 2.931s 7. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota + 7.773s 8. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 8.651s 9. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford + 8.822s 10. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford + 9.049s 11. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota + 9.235s 12. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford + 9.795s 13. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota + 10.305s 14. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota + 12.208s 15. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet + 13.410s 16. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet + 13.958s 17. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge + 15.568s 18. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet + 15.593s 19. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 16.597s 20. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford + 16.789s 21. Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota + 1 lap 22. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet + 1 lap 23. Casey Mears Germain Toyota + 1 lap 24. David Gilliland Front Row Ford + 2 laps 25. Andy Lally TRG Chevrolet + 2 laps 26. Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet + 2 laps 27. David Starr Leavine Ford + 3 laps 28. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 3 laps 29. Mike Bliss Phoenix Chevrolet + 3 laps 30. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet + 4 laps 31. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford + 4 laps 32. David Stremme Inception Chevrolet + 6 laps 33. Terry Labonte FAS Lane Ford + 6 laps Retirements: Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 471 laps Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 457 laps David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota 430 laps* Travis Kvapil Front Row Ford 371 laps* Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet 363 laps Michael McDowell HP Toyota 49 laps Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 42 laps Mike Skinner Germain Toyota 28 laps Scott Speed Whitney Ford 28 laps Robby Gordon Gordon Dodge 10 laps * Running again at finish

Busch sets Nationwide win record

Kyle Busch reached another milestone by setting a record for NASCAR Nationwide Series career wins with his 50th at Bristol on Friday night.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver beat his team-mate Joey Logano in a close finish at the half-mile venue, breaking Mark Martin's record of wins in the second-tier series, which the veteran held since 1997.

Busch's maiden Nationwide win came in 2004 at Richmond at the age of 19 while driving for Hendrick Motorsports. He has now competed in 219 events in the series, meaning he has won 22 per cent of the races he has entered.

In 2008, he tied the record for victories in a single season with 10, matching two-time champion Sam Ard, while in 2010, he broke that record by winning 13 times. He was also the 2009 champion.

"There's an awful lot of accomplishments and it's hard to pinpoint exactly where they fall but certainly tonight's a pretty big one," said Busch. "Just being able to race that hard and race against a team-mate like that, knowing that he had just as good of stuff as I did.

"Certainly, it was great to have Mark [Martin] with us in victory lane in Loudon and take some photos with him for tying him. Tonight was our night.

"Being able to beat him and get atop the all-time win list in the Nationwide Series was special for us as a team and for me as a driver and [wife] Samantha as well.

"This is cool and hopefully we can come back and perform again tomorrow night and do the same thing."

The 26-year-old American is currently the Sprint Cup series leader, and potentially tops the Chase standings thanks to his four wins thus far this season. He is the only driver to have already locked himself in the championship play-off with his victory at Michigan last week.

Newman takes pole at Bristol

Ryan Newman claimed pole position for Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol.

The Stewart Haas driver set the benchmark with a lap time of 15.624 seconds in his Chevrolet, beating the previous mark set by Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon.

Carl Edwards was last in the order for his run after topping both practice sessions earlier in the day, the Roush Fenway Ford driver coming closest to Newman on his way to the outside of the front row of the grid.

"It was a good lap but it didn't feel that fast, I will tell you that," said Newman, who won a sprint car race at Bristol just 48 hours ago.

"Momentum is a part of it but we're in a good position right now and we've just got to make the most of it. We've got a lot of things going our way. This is a track position race, starting up front and having a good pit selection, we'll just need to keep our nose clean tomorrow night."

Newman's pole is his second of the season in the Cup, the first coming last month at New Hampshire when he led an all Stewart Haas front row and went on to win.

This time though it was a bittersweet day for the team as Newman's team-mate Tony Stewart aborted his qualifying run and will start from the back of the grid.

Edwards' team-mate Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon will start from the second row while veteran Mark Martin - the most consistent driver on race pace in final practice - rounded out the top five ahead of Earnhardt Ganassi's Jamie McMurray and Richard Childress driver Paul Menard.

Penske's Brad Keselowski continued to carry momentum with eighth place on the grid in his Dodge as he continues to close on a Chase spot. He showed the best consistency of all in the first practice session of the day.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Joey Logano was the best of the Toyota's in ninth ahead of Keselowski's team-mate Kurt Busch.

Joe Nemechek was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers in 28th. Scott Speed was 36th on his Cup return with Whitney Motorsports while TJ Bell, JJ Yeley and Jeff Green - who spun on his qualifying run - failed to make the field.

Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet 15.624s 2. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 15.642s + 0.018s 3. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 15.643s + 0.019s 4. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 15.654s + 0.030s 5. Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet 15.658s + 0.034s 6. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 15.659s + 0.035s 7. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 15.676s + 0.052s 8. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 15.683s + 0.059s 9. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 15.688s + 0.064s 10. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge 15.699s + 0.075s 11. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 15.715s + 0.091s 12. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 15.721s + 0.097s 13. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 15.725s + 0.101s 14. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 15.725s + 0.101s 15. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 15.727s + 0.103s 16. Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet 15.727s + 0.103s 17. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 15.736s + 0.112s 18. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford 15.738s + 0.114s 19. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 15.755s + 0.131s 20. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota 15.760s + 0.136s 21. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 15.765s + 0.141s 22. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 15.775s + 0.151s 23. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 15.785s + 0.161s 24. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford 15.787s + 0.163s 25. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 15.793s + 0.169s 26. Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 15.820s + 0.196s 27. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 15.822s + 0.198s 28. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 15.835s + 0.211s 29. Casey Mears Germain Toyota 15.839s + 0.215s 30. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 15.843s + 0.219s 31. David Stremme Inception Chevrolet 15.875s + 0.251s 32. Michael McDowell HP Toyota 15.879s + 0.255s 33. Travis Kvapil Front Row Ford 15.894s + 0.270s 34. David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota 15.901s + 0.277s 35. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 15.930s + 0.306s 36. Scott Speed Whitney Ford 15.949s + 0.325s 37. David Starr Leavine Ford 15.970s + 0.346s 38. Andy Lally TRG Chevrolet 16.012s + 0.388s 39. Robby Gordon Gordon Dodge 16.012s + 0.388s 40. Mike Bliss Phoenix Chevrolet 16.049s + 0.425s 41. Terry Labonte FAS Lane Ford 16.306s + 0.682s 42. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet 16.485s + 0.861s 43. Landon Cassill Germain Toyota 16.089s + 0.465s Did not qualify: TJ Bell LTD Toyota 16.103s + 0.479s JJ Yeley Front Row Ford 16.116s + 0.492s Tony Raines Front Row Ford 16.302s + 0.678s