Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s victory in the season-opening Daytona 500 took much of the pressure off his team throughout the first 26 races. But Junior knows the time has come to crank the intensity back up.
“We’ve been sort of on vacation for 20 weeks. It’s time to get to it,” said Earnhardt, who started 24th and finished 12th at Richmond.
In addition to his Daytona win, Earnhardt swept the Sprint Cup Series races at Pocono Raceway and will be joined by teammates Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne in the Chase.
“I’ve had a blast this year,” Earnhardt said. “Our company has been doing so many great things. Hopefully we can put our best foot forward in the Chase and be one of those teams in the battle going into (the season finale) at Homestead.”
The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup kicks off Sept. 14 at Chicagoland Speedway (2 p.m. ET on ESPN).
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