Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. turn things around?
Earnhardt Jr. took a giant step in that direction at New Hampshire, racing hard and finishing fourth, his first top-10 finish in nine races. Earnhardt Jr. missed the Chase for the second consecutive year and his struggles have been a story all year. He says his team plans to experiment the rest of the season in search of ways to make its cars faster and stronger. Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Lance McGrew must show vast improvement over the final third of the season or team owner Rick Hendrick likely will need to consider more changes to the No. 88 team. McGrew replaced Tony Eury Jr. – Earnhardt Jr.’s cousin – in May last year but the duo stumbled to a 25th-place finish in the standings. They are 18th now. Earnhardt Jr. needs to reel off some more top-five finishes and run up front over the next nine weeks to get a jump on next season and offer some hope for the future at Hendrick Motorsports. 2. Can Jamie McMurray win again? Though he missed the Chase, McMurray has had a successful sea
