“The balance deal is a critical part of being able to drive a race auto”. As for the Chase bubble, many drivers are continuing to fight.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s status for next week’s race at Watkins Glen International is uncertain, but in case he has to sit out a fourth straight race Jeff Gordon says he is willing to fill-in until Earnhardt can return. But Gordon is invaluable in his role as a consultant for Hendrick Motorsports, and now that he’s behind the wheel of Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet, his opinions of the organization’s performance are all the more informed. “Not speculating about anything at this time, but I wouldn’t be here in Pocono if I wasn’t committed to being there for Hendrick and this team in any way that they need me”. “It was great last Friday to see him say ‘hey I feel good today and made some progress.’ We want to just keep going with how he is feeling”. “I’m really more excited right now about my engagement at Hendrick Motorsports and helping Rick and (general manager) Doug Duchardt and (vice president of competition) Ken Howes and (president) Marshall Carlson and everybody there trying to find out where we can be better, how we can be more competitive and that role in those meetings more so than driving the race auto”. His own health and how soon Earnhardt can get back in his own vehicle.
“Definitely the muscles I haven’t used in a while were on fire Monday and Tuesday”, Gordon said. Alex Bowman substituted July 17 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Beyond that is anyone’s guess, as Earnhardt works to recover from concussion symptoms.
On “The Dale Jr”. But Gordon will be searching for a balance of keeping his former teammate alive for the points, while playing it conservative as well.
“That’s a big priority for me”. On those double-file restarts I was trying to balance out risk versus reward.
“I’ve fought through it the last few years I could fight longer if I had to”. That’s important to Hendrick Motorsports and this team. “And then there is the sponsorship side of it as well”, Gordon said. “I can’t do anything insane or silly to lose this team a bunch of points”. “Some of it I felt like was some handling characteristics and air pressure in the tires, but a lot of it was just me needing to do a little bit better job paying attention to where the runs were coming from behind me or trying to get the runs ahead of me”. But luckily for the six-time Pocono victor, he’s come back to his two best tracks.
“When you’re not in the vehicle week in and week out, it’s hard to get into a rhythm and be consistent”.
“There is the side of who is the best person to be in the auto to get the most points. It’s not easy, but it’s going fairly well”.
Besides nearly relearning how to drive a race auto, Gordon will also be working on restarts, admitting after the race at Indy that he really struggled with them all day long.
Here’s five drivers who could tame the Tricky Triangle this Sunday.
“It’s not about going up through the gears”. That part is easy. But, Kyle (Busch, who won at Indy), I think no matter where he starts is one of the best out there.
“I miss the people more than the driving, to be honest with you”, Earnhardt said.
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“I feel great. This is the kind of track where everything comes into play. We’ve had really good speed this year”, he said. “We stubbed our foot here in June with only getting one lap of practice before qualifying and then qualifying poorly”. It’s the first time since the August 2014 MI race that all three qualified in the top 12.
