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After being crashed out of Monday’s Sprint Cup race in California, Dale Earnhardt Jr. could be seen walking the infield wearing much the same look as always.
It was a blank look.
But inside, he had to be very interested. His wreck gave him a 40th-place finish. It knocked him back to 23rd in points.
While the season still has 34 points races to go, and while Earnhardt has shown good speed when his car is running, his season of high expectations had taken a hit. Earnhardt, like a fat handful of other drivers, suddenly finds himself in a hole.
Some say they are not at all worried by being in that hole just two races into the season.
Denny Hamlin, a Chase participant the last two seasons, finds himself heading to Las Vegas for this weekend’s race in 31st place.
But he’s not worried.
“The last couple of seasons we’ve come off of Daytona looking up at the leaders and then gradually chipped away at the standings as the season went along, so we know we can do that again,” Hamlin said.
“There are a lot points left in this season and with the separation between us and the teams ahead of us being so small, one good race can give you a big boost. If we can run our race and finish the way we know we are capable of, the points will take care of themselves.”
Others know that some of the talk like that can be just talk.
Defending champion Jimmie Johnson got off to a rough start to 2008 when he finished 27th at Daytona. He said there was no panic, but there was plenty of concern.
“The last thing we want to do is get off to a slow start,” Johnson said. “I look at some of my teammates and the situation they’re in at after the crash the (car number) 5 (Casey Mears) and the 88 (Earnhardt) had. That’s a position we didn’t want to find ourselves in as the 48 team. If you get behind early, it’s really tough to make up time and make up points as we get rolling here.”
Johnson responded to a poor week one with a terrific week two — he finished second at California and moved up 17 spots in the standings to eighth.
Keeping calm and keeping positive, he said, is key for hole teams right now.
Robby Gordon, who has been set back by penalties from NASCAR and is 32nd, is doing just that.
“That,” he said of being 32nd, “is still not a representation of where our car is running. Our car is a top-15 car.”
But at some point — sooner the better — all teams that have fallen out of sight of the top 12 are going to have to show they can dig their way back.
| Driver | Standing |
| Reed Sorenson | 17th |
| Clint Bowyer | 19th |
| Jamie McMurray | 22nd |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 23rd |
| Juan Montoya | 27th |
| Dave Blaney | 37th |
| Casey Mears | 42nd |
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