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DALE EARNHARDT JR. NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/ NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET POST-RACE RECAP / AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY DATE: Feb. 22, 2009 RACE: Auto Club 500 START: 35th FINISH: 39th POINTS POSITION: 35th RECAPPING THE RACE: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet was dialed in and charging through the field during Sunday's Auto Club 500 when engine woes cut his night short. Earnhardt finished 39th -- 45 laps shy of the checkered flag. During Friday afternoon's qualifying session, Earnhardt circled the two-mile oval in 40.002 seconds (179.991 mph) to earn the 35th starting spot for Sunday's 500-mile event. But his plans to line up the green and white Chevy on the inside of row 18 for the 250-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event were altered when the team decided to change the transmission during Saturday's practice. Per a NASCAR rule, Earnhardt had to start in the back of the field. Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and the crew used the opening laps to get the No. 88 machine dialed in after Earnhardt reported a tight-handling condition in the early goings of the race. The crew used the multiple caution periods for rain to get the handling to Earnhardt's liking. At the race's halfway point, Earnhardt radioed to his crew that the car was good and that the changes the team made had improved the handling on the AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet. The Kannapolis, N.C., native cracked the top 13 on Lap 151 and was continuing his charge to the front when an engine issue started to surface. On Lap 166, Earnhardt reported that he had lost a cylinder and a caution flag on Lap 170 gave the team the opportunity to diagnose the problem. Earnhardt visited pit road during the next three circuits under caution, and his crew's quick work allowed the team to stay on the lead lap. When the field went back to green on Lap 177, Earnhardt was running in the 16th position. Eury instructed his driver to run at a steady pace. The engine expired on Lap 205, and Earnhardt coasted his way to the garage. He finished 39th. QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.: EARNHARDT (ON HIS RACE.): "I drove from last to 14th! Nobody's car is perfect. I am always going to work on it. I was running good, and I was going toward the front. I drove hard to stay on the lead lap. During that caution we were going 'All right, we got everybody here in front of us. Maybe we can get in the top-10 and get us a good finish.' I felt like we had a good enough car; we've been running good all night."  ***** Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports. Media Relations | No. 88 AMP Energy / National Guard Racing ***** Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Official Site - www.dalejr.com |
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