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NO. 88 AMP ENERGY / NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET
DALE EARNHARDT JR. - POST RACE RECAP
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POST-RACE RECAP / TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
DATE: Oct. 5, 2008
RACE: AMP Energy 500
START: 15th
FINISH: 28th
POINTS POSITION: 10th
RECAPPING THE RACE:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 team persevered through a challenging weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and started Sunday's race with a strong No. 88 AMP Energy "Ride with Dale Jr."/National Guard Chevrolet. But a wreck with 14 laps to go cut short the team's bid for a top finish and left Earnhardt in 28th, with his first DNF of the season.
The action started during practice on Friday, when the No. 88 Chevy suffered a mechanical failure while Earnhardt was running in the middle of the pack. The No. 88 team worked feverishly between the two practice sessions, changed the engine and sent Earnhardt back out on the track in time for the second practice. With just 20 minutes left in the second practice, Earnhardt's right front tire cut down and exploded, causing major damage to the No. 88 primary car and requiring the team to go to the backup. The team was able to get Earnhardt out onto the track for five laps before the impound qualifying event.
On Saturday, Earnhardt qualified 15th but he had to start from the back of the field because of the NASCAR rule regarding engine changes. It only took him 25 laps to take the lead, and when he did, all of the fans in the frontstretch grandstands cheered him on. The first caution flew on Lap 34 for debris. Because the handling was neutral, Earnhardt asked crew chief Tony Eury Jr. not to make any changes to the car when he stopped for four tires and fuel on Lap 35. The team pitted on Lap 47 for fuel only and again on Lap 54 for four tires and fuel. Earnhardt had just resumed the lead on Lap 68, when a multi-car wrecked ensued right behind him. He brought the No. 88 AMP Energy "Ride with Dale Jr."/National Guard Chevy into the pits for two tires on Lap 74 and again on Lap 82.
The team continued to perform flawlessly in the pits, keeping Earnhardt up front. On Lap 174, Earnhardt was running fourth when Carl Edwards made contact with Greg Biffle causing Biffle to hit Matt Kenseth. Earnhardt, with nowhere else to go, ran right into the spinning cars. Earnhardt was uninjured, but the team was unable to fix the car and had to retire for the day in 28th. There were 28 different leaders in Sunday's AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, an all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series record. Earnhardt led 19 laps and fell to 10th in the points.
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. for the Bank of America 500 next weekend. The race will air on ABC at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday.
QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.:
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS
(YOU HAD A STRONG CAR -- WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?): "Well I was going along and two guys slid up in front of me and ran into them. I'm glad everybody is all right. That was a pretty hard little wreck there. Took a lot of good cars out. We had a good car ourselves.
"We were running up front there whenever we could trying to get those fans on their feet because they bought a lot of tickets here. We didn't have the luck today. There wasn't much I could have done to try to avoid that. I want to thank my team for working really hard this weekend. We tore up an awful lot of stuff and they just worked really, really hard and I want to thank them and I want to thank my sponsors AMP, the National Guard for this weekend and sponsoring the race, they put a lot into it. They're doing it for the fans and for our team. It's a heck of a sport that they have for this program. I'm really thankful for them. It was just tough man. I thought we would have had a better day than that.
"I want to thank my crew. We ran good all day. We tore up a lot of stuff this weekend. They have been working way to hard; they are too good of team."
(SO MANY OF THE CHASE GUYS WERE INVOLVED IN THIS WRECK; DOES THAT REALLY PUT YOU GUYS OUT?): "Well, we were already kind of a long shot for this thing. But, we were running good today, it is what it is. I will do whatever I can to help my teammates win it if I can't win it. That is the attitude for the rest of the season."
(WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE WRECK?): "I was running along there and the No. 16 turned sideways, the No. 99 had him hooked off in the corner. He went down and hit Matt (Kenseth) and turned up in front of me. There was nothing I could do. I was just sitting there trying to get to the front, man. I was waiting for it to get ugly. We pushed some people out of the way to get in to the middle lane because the bottom wasn't wanted to go. Just running along there trying to make something happened. I ran in to Matt pretty hard. I am glad everybody is all right."
(HOW AGGRESSIVE DID IT GET OUT THERE?): "It is not that aggressive; there were just some simple errors made. It is pretty rough on the bumping. Those guys need to learn how to bump a couple of them. They just hit too hard, and it is just not doing anything so really it just aggravates you. Some of us know how to bump draft really good, we do it real good. We like to work with each other. Juan (Pablo Montoya) and I had an awesome time right there working together.
(YOU HAD A LOT OF FRIENDS OUT THERE.): "I thought we had a lot of people helping us today. There were a lot of people going for the lead and passing us too, but that is just the way you have to race. I have to thank the people who worked with me today, Juan and several people out there, Elliott Sadler, just a lot of people. Matt (Kenseth) always works with me. We helped some people too. It was fun; we had pretty good time. I don't like the way these cars draft as far as how we are all running all over each other and having these crashes. I wish we were getting a little more separated. But the way the plate is and the way these cars punch a hole it is hard to get away from each other. The tires were blowing. Boy the No. 11, he hit the wall so hard, I was really worried whether he was hurt or not. We did all right for our sponsors; we'd have liked to got a win but I feel like we put out a good representation of ourselves."
*****
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Official Site - www.dalejr.com
Photos courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports
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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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