NASCAR: Earnhardt heartened by Pocono turnaround

This weekend at Pocono was a step in the right direction for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

NASCAR's most popular driver placed second on Monday in the Axalta 400 to end a streak of five races without a top-10. He did so with good speed throughout the race and an excellent pit strategy by crew chief Greg Ives.

Earnhardt found himself saving fuel alongside eventual winner Kurt Busch during the final stint but believes he could have won if he had taken the lead on the final restart with 34 to go. Instead, he was held up by teammate Chase Elliott, who led 51 laps and also wanted to regain the advantage of clean air.

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"The 24 (Elliott) and me were racing pretty hard," Earnhardt said. "He was really trying to get his lead back because he knew he was going to win the race if he could get the lead.

"He got me loose a little bit. That slowed us up some. The 41 (Busch) got a good run and I didn't do a good enough job holding him off. I could have been a little more aggressive in doing some things differently. But we ended up getting tight and not really having anything anyways right at the end of the race, and he (Busch) saved enough."

Despite the recent struggles this season, Earnhardt knew this is where the turnaround could begin. He's now posted seven top-5s in his last eight Pocono starts. So while he wishes he had gotten around Busch, Earnhardt was simply pleased to close the book on a challenging start to his campaign.

"Yeah, this certainly feels better than finishing 15th," Earnhardt said. "You know, the car wasn't that bad. We just have such high standards after the past couple years we've had. Man, when you get behind just a little bit in this series, holy moly, it takes so much work to just regain what you lost.

"And not really even to have an advantage, but just to get back to where you were. A tenth out on the racetrack is impossible to find.

"So this is a good step in the right direction. I felt like we could come in here and run good, and I think we learned a lot that we can understand how to get better for the next race. I'm looking forward to Michigan, and obviously it's going to be a different package, but I think we'll run good on that track and anticipate having a good run at Kentucky too."

Earnhardt is still seeking his first victory of the season and remains 12th on the provisional Chase Grid, 47 points ahead of the playoff cutoff.