Dale Earnhardt Jr. admits he has the 'yips' in qualifying at Florence

Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened up about the issues he had qualifying for the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt talked about the biggest challenge he had when attempting to qualify on the track.

“I think right now for me qualifying at Florence, I don’t think this is an everywhere race track, because I can go qualify in the Xfinity race,” Earnhardt said. “But I think at Florence with the Late Model, I got the yips, like a golfer that doesn’t have his swing.

“When I got up there to qualify when I’m sitting in the car getting ready to pull off pit road, I know there’s 58-60 cars that are going to try to attempt a qualifying effort. We were 49th to go out. …I know I’ve got a provisional. They’ve told me you’re in the race. There’s 5,000 people here to see you race. You’re not not making the race.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. knew he was going to struggle qualifying at Florence

Earnhardt added, “If I’ve got a provisional, I’m not going to risk tearing up the car in the heat race. If I know I’ve got the provisional, I’m not going to run in the heat race and tear the car up and not get to run in the main. …But I’m pulling up there to qualify, I’m like, ‘Ain’t no f ***ing way I’m making the top-20. I’ve already got it in my head that it ain’t possible.”

Dale Jr. needed the provisional to make the finale. He made the most of the extra chance as he worked his way from the back of the field to second place. However, Earnhardt didn’t finish the race due to a fuel pump issue.

“Honestly, the thing that really brought my car to life was not found until probably the last 30 minutes of the final practice when they made an adjustment on the front end,” Earnhardt said who drove the No. 8 Budweiser car at Florence. “These types of racecars which is common in stock car racing with bump stops — the sway bar, the bump stops, the springs — all of those things are married together like a telephone system. And it all talks to each other. They all have to be in time. And when one’s bound up or one’s doing too much, it affects all of it. None of it works the way it’s designed to do.

“…The car was good but not great, and when we made that adjustment, it turned into a great racecar. I had all that perfect turn and wrap all through the race.”

On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this story.