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NO. 88 AMP ENERGY / NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET
DALE EARNHARDT JR. - POST RACE RECAP
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POST-RACE RECAP / LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
DATE: Oct. 11, 2008
RACE: Bank of America 500
TRACK: Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
START:10th
FINISH: 36th
POINTS POSITION: 10th
RECAPPING THE RACE:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard team suffered some bad luck during the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Earnhardt started 10th and showed to be strong early on, but a blown tire on Lap 104 forced the team to make major repairs, and the team finished 36th.
Rain washed out pole night on Thursday, and the team was slated to start 10th according to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver standings. Earnhardt was one of the strongest cars in Friday's practice session, and the team was very optimistic about its chances of a solid finish.
Once the race started, Earnhardt moved up from 10th to the fourth position. He reported to crew chief Tony Eury Jr. that the car was just a little loose so Eury called for the No. 88 team to make an air pressure adjustment and move the track bar down a half round during the first stop. The adjustments were good but as the night wore on, Earnhardt said the car got too tight. During the next stop, the team put the track bar back down and sent Earnhardt back out onto the track in fifth.
Just five laps before the team was set to pit under green, Earnhardt blew his right front tire on the backstretch. According to Goodyear, the tire had a cut in it, causing it to blow out. Earnhardt was uninjured but the No. 88 Chevy sustained heavy damage. The team got the car back out into the race on Lap 249, but by this time Earnhardt was running in 36th place.
Earnhardt remains 10th in the standings with five races remaining in the Chase to the Sprint Cup this season.
QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.:
(WAS THERE ANYTHING LEADING UP TO THE FAILURE THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING WRONG?): "Well, no. I would have slowed down if I knew the tire was going to blow. I was riding. I was taking it way, way easy."
(ANY WARNING WITH THE CAR THAT WOULD INDICATE A TIRE WOULD GO?): "I wasn't running real hard at all. I was actually taking it pretty easy. It just popped. I don't know. There had been a couple of wrecks in that corner. No telling what might have been laying under there. We had a real good car, and I was just taking it easy, real easy. I have to thank my guys and Hendrick and all the employees. They put together some good race cars. We just have had such bad luck. I am just ready to shake it.
"No warning -- it just popped. We might have run over something. I was running about 90 percent really, not running hard at all. The car was handling pretty good, just popped a tire up there, might have run over something.
"It is pretty disappointing because I was just taking it pretty easy. We ran real, real hard here in the spring and worked our car too hard. I was just going to take care of the race car -- that was what I was trying to do. We just got some bad luck there."
(YOU HAD A TOP 10, MAYBE A TOP FIVE CAR.): "Yeah, I was taking it pretty easy. We ran real, real hard here in the spring and worked our car too hard, and I was just going to take care of the race car. That's what I was trying to do."
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Sunday. The race will air live on ABC at 1 p.m.
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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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