Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Earnhardt creeps up to 3rd in Nextel race

Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004 | 9:17 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

With his victory Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made the biggest move of any of the 10 drivers in the hunt for the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship.

Earnhardt jumped from fifth to third and trails Kurt Busch by 47 points with two races remaining, but he insisted he wouldn't start counting points until after this weekend's race at Darlington Raceway.

"Being 47 points back sounds a lot better than ninety-something," said Earnhardt, who went into Phoenix trailing Busch by 98 points. "We were really looking bad there when we were 125 points out after Martinsville -- even with what happened in Atlanta, we gained (on Busch).

"We've got an opportunity, but I'm not going to get all worked up over it. We're just going to try to race smart and finish good. It's not just racing Kurt anymore. The points race is too difficult to worry about; there is too much going on, so we'll just race each lap at Darlington and get out of there. We'll know after Darlington what kind of opportunity we've got."

In nine career starts at Darlington, Earnhardt has three top-10 finishes -- including a 10th-place showing there in the spring -- but he has yet to post a top-10 finish in four starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the site of the season finale.

"We haven't dominated those race tracks, Darlington or Homestead, but with the team that we've got now, I feel like we can go in there and have a better weekend than we've ever had at either one of those tracks," he said.

"We'll be in Homestead all week really working our guts out every day in testing and trying to get it right. We've got a lot to gain (and) these (other) guys ain't going to be easy to beat."

Like Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon whittled away at Busch's lead with his third-place finish in Phoenix. Gordon moved up one spot to second in the standings and is only 41 points behind Busch.

"We don't mind chipping away at it," Gordon said of Busch's lead. "The final outcome is what we're looking for in Homestead. I've been in positions where we've been out front pulling away and you just see it being knocked away; it's tough, it's frustrating.

"(Busch's team is) doing a good job, they're finishing good. They had their troubles last week (in Atlanta) but they're racing hard."

Gordon, a four-time Cup champion and a veteran of these points battles, said he knows exactly what to expect in the final two races of the season.

"Aggressive, hard racing," he said. "On one hand, you've got to be careful. I kind of like the position I'm in right now because (Busch) has to be more cautious than I do, so it's not a bad position to be in.

"But just like when we led up to Richmond getting into the Chase, it gets intense. Anybody who has a shot at it is going to be on edge and feel more pressure. They're going to be driving aggressive or they're going to be thinking about it too much and make a mistake."

KAHNE TO GO TRUCKIN': NASCAR Nextel Cup rookie Kasey Kahne is scheduled to make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut Friday night at Darlington Raceway.

Kahne will drive the No. 2 Team ASE/Carquest Dodge for Ultra Motorsports in the 147-lap race. He also will compete in Saturday's NASCAR Busch Series and Sunday's Nextel Cup Series races.

Kahne holds a 101-point lead over Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.