NASCAR Chase race 5: Milestone will inspire Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Yet in his last six points-race starts at Charlotte, he has finished better than 18th only once (seventh in the fall of '12). This will be a revealing race

Lars Anderson | Oct 11, 2013

NASCAR Chase race 5: Milestone will inspire Dale Earnhardt Jr. /

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 1999, on the eve of his first Cup series start, which took place at Charlotte. — Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 1999, on the eve of his first Cup series start, which took place at Charlotte :: Michael Pugh/AP

Yet in his last six points-race starts at Charlotte, he has finished better than 18th only once (seventh in the fall of '12). This will be a revealing race for the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer. If Gordon flourishes -- and I think he will -- it will show that he still has the skill and the will to contend for a title. If he flounders, it could portend that his glory days are indeed behind him.

Published Oct 11, 2013

LARS ANDERSON

Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated Senior writer Lars Anderson is Sports Illustrated's main motor sports writer. He has profiled many of the sport's iconic figures, including cover stories on Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson and Danica Patrick. Anderson has covered multiple Daytona 500s and Indianapolis 500s and writes a twice-weekly racing column for SI.com. He also covers college football. Anderson penned a regional cover story on Alabama's defense in 2011 and has written features on Cam Newton at Auburn, coach Frank Solich at Ohio and the history of spring practice. The most important piece of his SI career, according to Anderson, was his 2011 cover story on the tornado that struck Tuscaloosa, Ala., and how sports was going to play a role in rebuilding that sports-obsessed city. Anderson is the author of five books: The First Star: Red Grange and the Barnstorming Tour that Launched the NFL (published by Random House in December 2009), Carlisle vs. Army (Random House, 2007), The All Americans (St. Martins, 2005), The Proving Ground: A Season on the Fringe in NFL Europe (St. Martins, 2001) and Pickup Artists (Verso, 1998). Both Carlisle Vs. Army and The All Americans have been optioned for movies. Of Carlisle, Booklist, in a starred review, called the work "a great sports story, told with propulsive narrative drive and offering a fascinating look at multiple layers of American pop culture." Anderson is currently working on a sixth book, The Storm and The Tide, about the 2011 Tuscaloosa tornado and Alabama's national championship that season. It will be published by Time Home Entertainment Inc., a division of Time Inc., in August 2014. A native of Lincoln, Neb., Anderson joined SI in 1994 following a short stint as a general assignment reporter at the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star. He received a B.A. from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and an M.S., from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. Anderson resides in Birmingham, Ala.