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NO. 88 AMP ENERGY / NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET
DALE EARNHARDT JR. - POST RACE RECAP
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POST-RACE RECAP / ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY
DATE: Oct. 26, 2008
RACE: Pep Boys Auto 500
TRACK: Atlanta Motor Speedway
START: 9th
FINISH: 11th
POINTS POSITION: 10th
RECAPPING THE RACE:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. narrowly missed recording his 16th top-10 result of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season after finishing 11th in the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.
For a record 10th time, Sprint Cup qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather, giving Earnhardt a ninth-place starting position for the Pep Boys Auto 500. But rain was not in Sunday's forecast, and the race kicked off under a sunny sky shortly after 2 p.m. ET.
Earnhardt was patient at the outset of the event, holding his position among the top-10 competitors. And although he reported to crew chief Tony Eury Jr. that his Impala SS was "real loose," the former Atlanta winner had the fastest car on the racetrack after the initial 25-lap run.
Like many other teams, the No. 88 crew fought a loose-handling race car throughout the majority of the day. Eury tried to fine-tune the National Guard/AMP Energy Chevy with a myriad of tweaks -- everything from air pressure and chassis changes to adjusting the bump stop by inserting a 1/8-inch shim.
The over-the-wall crew was one of the best on pit road all afternoon, consistently turning quick stops. But some of that work was negated by incidents out of the team's control.
When running in the top three just prior to Lap 40, Earnhardt had to delay leaving his pit stall to avoid Dave Blaney's No. 22 machine. Even with that issue, the No. 88 Chevy was able to hold a top-10 position and line up sixth for the restart.
Later in the event, shortly before the Lap 300 mark, Earnhardt was involved in another incident when leaving his pit stall. This time, contact was made with the Nos. 2 and 99 cars, which resulted in sheet metal damage to the right-front of the No. 88.
Even with a wounded Impala, Earnhardt, who ran inside the top 10 for most of the day and led his 21st race of the year, was able to hold on for an 11th-place finish. He is now 10th in the Sprint Cup standings with three races remaining in the 2008 season.
Carl Edwards won the event, with Jimmie Johnson second and Denny Hamlin third. Johnson, Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, extended his lead in the championship standings to 183 points ahead of Edwards.
QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.:
(ON THE CONTACT MADE ON PIT ROAD.): "The No. 2 (Kurt Busch) had somebody on the outside of him and the No. 99 (Carl Edwards) was coming out of his stall, I think that hurt probably the worst and knocked the toe around. The fender was all tore up on it."
(ON HIS FINISH.): "We should have run sixth or seventh there. We work too hard to run like that, but I don't know what we could have done differently. I couldn't anticipate what was going to happen on pit road or do anything different."
Photos courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Official Site - www.dalejr.com
Thanks to Amy Walsh for the race recap.
Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports.
Media Relations | No. 88 AMP Energy / National Guard Racing
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