Broken shifter puts Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Chase brink
CONCORD, N.C. — This is not the way Dale Earnhardt Jr. wanted to celebrate turning 40.
NASCAR's 11-time most popular driver faces a very difficult road to remain in contention for his first Sprint Cup championship after finishing 20th in Saturday night's Bank of America 500 as gear shifter problems plagued Earnhardt Jr. in Charlotte Motor Speedway.
"We had a bad vibration," Earnhardt said after the race. "The vibration broke the shifter in half. It wasn't a good night. The car wasn't handling well and the vibration gave us a lot of problems."
Earnhardt Jr. is tied for last in points with teammate Jimmie Johnson of the 12 Chase drivers in the playoff standings and will now likely have to win next Sunday at Talladega to advance to the next round. The four lowest-ranked drivers in points of the dozen will be eliminated from title contention after next weekend's Geico 500.
Earnhardt Jr. was running in the top 10 137 laps into Saturday's scheduled 334-lap race when he pitted because the shifter in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet broke. Johnson experienced a similar problem in a race at Michigan International Speedway in August.
Earnhardt Jr.'s crew made repairs to the shifter, but they didn't take completely. A bolt fell out and Earnhardt Jr. expressed his frustration on the team radio as he ran with third and fourth gear, falling from ninth to 23rd. Fifty laps later, after another pit stop (and continued work on the shifter), he dropped off the lead lap and was the lowest Chaser on the track. On Lap 222, Josh Wise blew an engine, which allowed for more incremental work on the shifter. The team finally was able to make suitable repairs, but there wasn't enough time left to catch up.
Earnhardt Jr. opened the Chase with runs of 11th at Chicagoland Speedway and ninth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway but was 17th at Dover International Speedway. He opened Round 2 of the Chase with a disappointing 39th at Kansas Speedway after blowing a tire while leading. That finish put him in need of an excellent finish or win at Charlotte or Talladega.