Earnhardt Jr. working his way into title picture

FORT WORTH, Texas -- With a gutsy runner-up performance, Dale Earnhardt Jr. advanced into third place in the Winston Cup standings Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt's No. 8 Chevrolet finished 3.405 seconds behind Ryan Newman's winning Dodge. Junior withstood a "rubbing-is-racing" run through Turns 3 and 4 with Jeff Gordon and secured second position in the seventh event of the 36-race season.

	Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Texas in 2000. Credit: Autostock

"He knows -- and he's one of few drivers that does -- exactly how much bumper to give somebody," Earnhardt said of Gordon. "I didn't even have to lift. That was pretty clean racing compared to most people out here."

Earnhardt said he positioned his car in such a way that Gordon would have to drive his car underneath him to pass, and in the process said he was counting on Gordon not to wreck him.

"Some guys will rear back and knock the hell out of you, no matter where you land," Earnhardt said. "Jeff knows enough not to do that and he knew that if he had, he'd have to deal with the consequences.

VIDEO CLIPS Earnhardt Jr. runner-up Play video Jeff Gordon battled Dale Jr. Play video Ryan Newman celebrates Play video Park, Spencer and Elliott have trouble Play video Elliott Sadler makes hard contact Play video Cautions breed cautions Play video

"It's a tough thing to have to watch your back all year waiting for someone to pay you back."

Gordon said the circumstances -- trying to place himself securely the top-10 in the standings -- dictated what he did. In the end, he was successful as his third-place finish enabled him to jump from 10th to sixth.

"If it was for first it would have been a lot different deal," Gordon said. "Since it was for second I'd like to get some points, so I just figured we'd come out and get back to the finish line however we could."

"I pinched him down to the bottom so he couldn't get back in the gas," Earnhardt said. "He could have driven up into the side of me or he could've backed off. He backed off and I got the position."

Earnhardt desperately wants to win his first Winston Cup championship and his recent performances prove his Dale Earnhardt Incorporated team has what it takes.

He has finished second, third, sixth, 16th and second in his last five races and over the last 46 laps of Sunday's race proved he could handle the pressure of a title run.

Samsung/RadioShack 500  •  Results  •  Standings  •  Texas twisters trip up several contenders  •  Engine trouble latest woe for 'snakebit' Elliott

"To battle with guys like Ryan and Jeff is really mentally tough," Earnhardt said. "You're always thinking and having to do it as you think it. Every five feet you have to make an adjustment.

"When you get in a mental war with another driver that's tougher than anything physical I have ever experienced."

As much as anything, Earnhardt learned to take what he could get rather than fight a fruitless battle and lose a lot more.

"It was pretty exciting," Earnhardt said of laps 289-323, which he led before Newman drove underneath him for the win with 11 laps to go. "My car was tee-total (expletive) there at the end. It was so tight it wouldn't run with the 12 (Newman) or even hold him off.

"I tried to run in his tracks, looking in the mirror all the time so he couldn't get a run on me. I went down into (Turn) 3 that one time and my right front (tire) just give up and I couldn't hold him off."