Dale Jr. to get ‘The Call’ at Talladega

NASCAR needs Earnhardt in the Chase to help their sagging TV ratings, rumors are he will get 'the call' on Sunday. His car will be so fast he will run out front all day and avoid any wrecks.

Buried in points after back-to-back subpar finishes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. fully understands he's in a must-win position Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway if he's to advance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff.

But while Talladega, a restrictor-plate track, isn't regarded favorably by many within the garage due to its propensity for instigating multi-car wrecks due to a driver's inability to separate from the pack, Earnhardt holds the opposite viewpoint.

"When we come to all the plate tracks we feel confident we can do well and feel confident in the car," Earnhardt said Friday. "The confidence that you have in the car is really where it all stems from.

"When you don't believe in the car, you make different decisions. You might not go in a direction you would typically go because you don't believe the car is capable of making that move without causing you to lose spots, right? When you feel like you have a dominant car like we've had over the last several years, you definitely make some moves with confidence and you come into the race with confidence. Until we see anything different, we'll be confident."

"There's no denying the intensity and pressure it puts on drivers like myself to be in a cutoff situation where you're eliminated if things don't go perfectly on Sunday," Earnhardt said. "But I think it's what the fans enjoy. If I'm a fan, I like it."