[h=2]Earnhardt has to 'keep showing up' for shot at win[/h] Saturday, 29 July 2017


By Kelly Crandall / Image by Getty Images for NASCAR


If Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants to make the playoffs and contend for a championship in his final season he's going to have to win one of the next six races.
And of the races coming up, Earnhardt sees a few where he could pull that off.
"Michigan is a good one, that's a good race for us," Earnhardt, who is 22nd in points, said Saturday at Pocono Raceway. "Bristol? I could probably win there. Darlington? Man, if we come close that is a win. That place is tough, but you never know. We will just have to keep showing up and see what happens.

"You've got to keep trying. I think here and Michigan are tracks that I obviously have got some wins, recent wins, at. So, there is going to be some more expectations going into those or more confidence going into those."
Earnhardt swept the races at Pocono in 2014. He has never won on a road course, which is where the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series visits next weekend. In 16 starts at Watkins Glen International, Earnhardt has three top-10 finishes, including a career-best third in 2003.
"We've got to go into Watkins Glen like we can win," said Earnhardt. "We've got to go in there with that attitude if we want to win. If that opportunity falls in our lap, you have to have your head on straight. We'll go to all these tracks with a great, positive attitude and see how it works out for us, but here and Michigan are probably the ones at the top of the list."
If Earnhardt doesn't make the playoffs, there's always the possibility of grabbing a win before the year is over. In 2014, Earnhardt was eliminated from the playoffs after the second round but then won at Martinsville Speedway.
Martinsville is what came to Earnhardt's mind when he was asked how it would feel to miss the playoffs but still find a way to win a race. After the disappointment of 2014, Earnhardt described Martinsville as a victory celebration like no other.
"You're going to be disappointed if you don't make the playoffs. There'll be a big hurt in your heart because you feel like you deserved to be in that group," Earnhardt said. "You feel like you're good enough and feel like your team is good enough and when you don't make it, it doesn't feel good. But if you can win a race during that time when those other guys are trying to win that championship, it's a bit of a statement I think for everybody that's not in the playoffs.
"It's a great feeling; maybe a better feeling to do that than to win any of the regular season races. So, that would be awesome if we could do that. If we can win any race before the end of the season, just to go back to victory lane and know that feeling one more time before it's over with, that would be awesome."