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PREVIEW: DALE EARNHARDT JR. (NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET) VENUE: AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY (TWO-MILE D-SHAPED OVAL) CIRCUIT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 2 OF 36) DATE: FEB. 22, 2009 (250 LAPS, 500 MILES) ***** AT FONTANA: In 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Auto Club Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has scored three top-five finishes and four top-10s and led 25 laps. Earnhardt nearly notched his fifth top-10 when he crossed the line 11th in the Pepsi 500 on Aug. 31, 2008 -- his most recent outing at the Fontana, Calif., racetrack. FOLLOW THE LEADER: Earnhardt, driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, led at least one lap in every event he participated in during last weekend's NASCAR events at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. He paced the field for 23 laps during the Budweiser Shootout, 15 during the second Gatorade Duel and one during the Daytona 500. CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and the No. 88 engineers will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-499 for this weekend's 500-mile event at Auto Club Speedway. The car most recently raced at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November, where Earnhardt was running in the top 10 with less than 30 laps to go, but finished 41st after sustaining a broken wheel bearing late in the race. KEEP ON TRUCKING: Team transporter drivers Dave Radney and Rich Pickrell will log almost 5,000 miles this week traveling round-trip from Concord, N.C., to Fontana. A second transporter will head West on Friday to swap the Auto Club Speedway cars with the ones the team will run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. At the conclusion of Sunday's 500-mile event at ACS, Radney, Pickrell and crew members will switch the cars. The transporter drivers will stay through the Las Vegas race before beginning the roughly 33-hour trip back to Hendrick Motorsports' North Carolina headquarters. YOUTH CHALLENGE: Earnhardt, teammate Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports General Manager Marshall Carlson will be guests at the National Guard Youth Foundation Annual ChalleNGe Champions Gala on Feb. 24 in Washington, D.C. The event is not open to the public. In 1993, the National Guard founded the Youth ChalleNGe Program to give troubled youth the opportunity to turn their lives around. A voluntary, preventive program, the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program helps young people improve their life skills, education levels and employment potential. Visit www.ngyouthfoundation.org for more information. AMP ENERGY COMMERCIAL NOW PLAYING: Earnhardt spent two days in January filming a documentary-style commercial for sponsor AMP Energy. Earnhardt collaborated with Sundance Film Festival award-winning director Stacy Peralta on creating the spot, which debuted during FOX's airing of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. Fans can visit www.AMPEnergy.com to see additional behind-the-scenes footage of Earnhardt and his friends from the shoots. GET IN GEAR: AMP Energy is kicking off the first 10 weeks of the 2009 racing season by giving fans a chance to win unique Earnhardt merchandise and VIP trips to the AMP Energy 500, which will be held in October at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. To play, fans should enter the code found on the bottom of their AMP Energy beverage can. Visit www.AMPEnergy.com for more information. WINNING HISTORY: Hendrick's drivers have won more races at Auto Club Speedway (seven) than at any other track on the West Coast -- six at Phoenix International Raceway, five at Infineon Raceway and four at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports has won seven events out of the 17 the track has hosted since 1997, when Gordon won the first race held there. HENDRICK AT FONTANA: Gordon won the first Sprint Cup event held at Auto Club Speedway on June 22, 1997, and teammate Jimmie Johnson captured the most recent race there last August. Overall, Hendrick drivers have tallied seven wins -- the most for any Sprint Cup owner at the Fontana racetrack -- 21 top-five finishes and 29 top-10s. Hendrick Motorsports drivers have finished in the top-five or better in 15 of the 17 races that have been held there. JUST DOWN THE ROAD: In its first four seasons, Hendrick Motorsports competed at nearby Riverside (Calif.) International Raceway nine times and won three events. Geoff Bodine took the checkered flag in November 1984, while Tim Richmond went to Victory Lane twice -- November 1986 and June 1987. Overall, Hendrick drivers combined for two pole positions, seven top-five finishes and 10 top-10s at the now closed racetrack, which was just 18 miles southeast of Fontana. ***** DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS (ON THE DAYTONA 500.): "We were good all week at Daytona, but we didn't get the results we wanted. I'm ready to move on, and we're looking forward to seeing what we can do in California." EARNHARDT (ON AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY.): "We haven't had much luck over the past several years at California -- because of the late afternoon start, the night-time finish, the track changes. You've got to have that adjustment in your setup. Jimmie (Johnson) and Jeff (Gordon) have been good there, and they are a good reference." TONY EURY JR., CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/ NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS (ON MOVING FORWARD FROM DAYTONA.): "We had lot of stuff happen down there in Daytona, but I'm pretty excited with how the car ran. The team had some pretty good pit stops. Overall, it was a really good weekend running-wise. There were no results to come along with it so we were disappointed about that. We'll put it behind us and move on." EURY (ON THE CHALLENGES AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY.): "One of the biggest challenges at California is that the track is really flat and has no grip. Basically, you have to keep a really good aero platform and keep the car from getting too free off the corners. That has typically been our problem in the past. Our car will be good after 20 laps, but will be too free at the start. We are really working hard to try and tighten the car up a little bit but not get it too tight at the end of the run. You have to start the race in the day and end at night so you've got those conditions changing on you on top of that. We have a pretty good plan on what we are going to do, and, with the success that Jimmie (Johnson) had out there last fall, we are looking forward to going back." ***** 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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