Is Dale Jr. worthy of spot in the Chase?

BROOKLYN, Mich.

Four races, four final chances for NASCAR’s most popular driver to earn a transfer position for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

Certainly, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s qualifying for the sport’s playoff would make Earnhardt Nation happy – as well as NASCAR’s bosses in Daytona Beach, Fla.

But is a driver with just two top-five finishes this season truly Chase worthy?

Earnhardt is 16th in the point standings, 121 points outside of the Chase Zone. His average finish is 17th for the season, and he has led just 68 laps. The last time Earnhardt was among the top 12 was following his fourth-place finish at Daytona — four races ago. Since then, Earnhardt’s average finish has been 25.75.

Just how badly does Earnhardt want it? Has he made the most of the opportunities that have fallen his way?

"Well, we got lucky last week with Clint (Bowyer’s) misfortune,” said Earnhardt, who finished 26th at Watkins Glen. “We were better than (Mark Martin) in the race and just didn't drive as hard as he did on the last restarts or get the breaks going down into Turn 1 in getting the right line; hell, it's three- or four-wide through there, and you just have to hope you were in the right position. You're going to gain four spots or lose four. I didn't do very well with that. But we were better than him and should have beat him, being a teammate.

“We're still racing for the final Chase spot. We lost to some guys that were right behind us that ended up passing us in the points. I mean, I feel like it's not impossible. I remember, it just seemed like it was six races ago that we had just passed Carl (Edwards) for 12th. And now he's 300 points ahead of us. So I mean the points are there, if you can get the car going and you can get it done. The problem is, if we keep running like we're running, that ain't going to get it done.”

Although Bowyer, who is 13th in points entering this weekend, had issues last weekend, he scored two top fives in the three weeks prior. And under the same roof at the 5/88 Hendrick Motorsports shop, Martin, who holds the 12th spot right now, has an average finish of 13th in the past four races.

Martin’s crew chief Alan Gustafson has witnessed the challenges the No. 88 has faced since Earnhardt’s arrival. While Gustafson is consumed with getting the No. 5 team into the Chase, he has sacrificed his own time and team engineers to help Earnhardt’s crew chief Lance McGrew get the No. 88 Chevrolet up to speed.

Gustafson knows first-hand the problems can’t be fixed overnight.

“I think people want instant gratification on that car,” Gustafson said. “They want to go out and just flip a light switch, and that’s not ever going to happen. It takes time to improve and go through the peaks and valleys and get your team in a situation where it can compete for a championship. I’ve been struggling and working on the six years that I’ve been a crew chief.

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“I’ve tried to help the 88 — what I can. I have my hands full right now, but when I don‘t, I still try to help them. I know Lance is working hard to get to that point. There have been times when they’ve been right there and times when they’ve slipped. I think they’ve done a good job. I know there are areas that they need to improve on just like we do. I think the 88 is going in the right direction. Would we like to be going there quicker? Of course we would, but at the same time, you can’t be unrealistic.”

Still, if history favors a driver who still has the slightest chance of breaking into the Chase, it would be Earnhardt. He’s the only racer in striking distance who has wins at the next four tracks, including Michigan International Speedway, where the Sprint Cup tour will race on Sunday.

“We do have some good tracks coming up, and if we can capitalize, we can go into Richmond with a real legitimate opportunity to come out of there in 12th place,” Earnhardt said. “There are only 12 that get to make it, but the guys that are consistently making it, that's a feather in their cap every year. We're not one of those guys. It's pretty frustrating to not be consistently in there."

Trading places

Drivers always want more speed, but Kyle Busch has been far from happy with his cars’ performances of late.

After Busch and Denny Hamlin qualified 18th and 33rd, respectively, on Friday, it wasn’t surprising that Joe Gibbs Racing decided to swap the drivers of the Nos. 11 and 18 during the first practice on Saturday to see what the organization could glean from the racers feedback. Busch was driving a new JGR car while Hamlin returned with the car he drove to his Michigan win in June.

“The setups were really similar. We were just trying to figure out why they drive so much different, and so we swapped cars to see what Denny’s thoughts were and to see what little minor differences in setup there were or maybe I could feel in the No. 11,” Busch said. “Basically, it was just an exercise mostly for the crew chiefs really to see if we both say the same thing or if we both say completely different things.

“At least we said the same things when we jumped into each other’s car. Whether or not it will help us, it seemed like it helped my stuff a little bit for the second practice. We got it rolling a little better through the corners, but we still have some work to do it feels like.”

The next generation

Karsyn Elledge is expected to make her racing debut at Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury, N.C., next Wednesday.

The 9-year-old daughter of Kelley Earnhardt, president of JR Motorsports, and Red Bull crew chief Jimmy Elledge will drive a Box Stock car in the Pee Wee division on the one-eighth-mile dirt oval.

Elledge will carry the number 38 — her mother’s former number.

A test of power

NASCAR will confiscate at least 18 Sprint Cup engines following this weekend to run on the dynamometers at their technical center back in Concord, N.C.

The engines of the Nos. 46 and 66 cars that failed to qualify for the Carfax 400 were taken by officials on Friday.

“They want to see where everyone stands in comparison,” said Tony Furr, crew chief of the No. 46 car.

Another motor man was told by an official that it would be “the largest lot of engines” NASCAR has ever tested and they expected to be “dynoing engines until after Bristol.”

Say what?

Danica Patrick finished 27th, four laps down, in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway — her debut in the new Nationwide Series car.

At Lap 21, she was lapped by the leader — and eventual winner — Brad Keselowski. Shortly there after Patrick radioed to the crew:

“It’s painful. It’s really (freaking) painful out here.”

Numbers game

Nationwide Series leader Brad Keselowski defended his Michigan victory and scored his 10th career win in the process Saturday afternoon. His fourth win of the season extended his points lead to 347 over Carl Edwards.