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PREVIEW: DALE EARNHARDT JR. (NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET) VENUE: MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY (.526-MILE OVAL) CIRCUIT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 6 OF 36) DATE: MARCH 29, 2009 (500 LAPS, 263 MILES) ***** AT MARTINSVILLE: In 18 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has scored eight top-five finishes and nine top-10s. He has an average starting position of 12.2 and an average finish of 13.6. He has led 758 laps at the short track -- a personal track best for the 34-year-old driver -- and completed 98.3 percent of all the laps he's attempted there (8,857 of 9,010). MOST RECENTLY: Earnhardt scored a runner-up finish at Martinsville during his last outing at the short track on Oct. 19, 2008. He started that event 10th and battled teammate and eventual race winner Jimmie Johnson before recording his second straight top-10 at the track behind the wheel of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet. Earnhardt has finished in the top 10 during four of the last six Cup races held at Martinsville. GAINING GROUND: For the third straight race weekend, the No. 88 team benefited from a strong top-15 finish. Earnhardt continued his climb in the Sprint Cup championship standings, improving five positions to take 19th place. He trails 12th-place Kevin Harvick by 66 points. CHASSIS CHOICE: This weekend, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and the No. 88 engineers will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-539. The team tested this new car at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway on March 17. OLD DOMINION STATE BOYS: Four members of the No. 88 team call the Commonwealth of Virginia home. Virginia Tech graduate Brian Whitesell, who has been team manager of the Nos. 5 and 88 Chevrolets since 2005, hails from Stuarts Draft. Mechanic Jim Jenkins and team engineer Tom Stewart both grew up in coastal Hampton. Car chief David Bryant calls Farmville his hometown. HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARY: Sunday's race marks the 25th anniversary of the first Sprint Cup Series victory for team owner Rick Hendrick. On April 29, 1984, Geoff Bodine drove the No. 5 Chevrolet to the team's first win in eight starts. Since that time, Hendrick has earned 175 Cup wins, which ranks him first among owners in the modern era and second all-time. HENDRICK AT MARTINSVILLE: Hendrick, who grew up in nearby Palmer Springs, Va., has watched his teams have more success at Martinsville Speedway than any other active track on the Cup circuit. At Martinsville, Hendrick Motorsports has achieved team bests in wins (17), top-five finishes (51), top-10 finishes (82) and laps led (6,134 laps). Hendrick's 14 pole positions at Martinsville ties a company best with Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. GUARD GARAGE: Diehard Earnhardt fans should visit www.DaleJrGuardGarage.com and sign up to become part of the Guard Garage fan club. Members will receive a fan club kit that includes No. 88 memorabilia and weekly access to behind-the-scenes videos of Earnhardt. Fans also will have the opportunity to win one-of-a-kind prizes, like one of Earnhardt's personal Polaris ATVs and a replica 3 Doors Down/Citizen-Soldier No. 88 hood autographed by the band and Earnhardt. 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. ***** DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS (ON THE KEYS TO GETTING AROUND MARTINSVILLE.): "You've got to have a lot of forward bite. You've got to be able to get good drive off the corners -- especially on the long runs -- like 50 to 80 laps. A lot of times you get real long green-flag runs, and if you aren't able to put the power down like most guys, there is no way to adjust. It's a real, real fun racetrack. I love racing on the short tracks, but it's a headache and a pain in the butt at the same time. But you just have a lot of fun doing it." EARNHARDT (ON IF YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC AT MARTINSVILLE.): "No, you just get frustrated with how congested the garage is. Everyone in there has such a marginal area to work with, and it can make for a frustrating weekend. Typically, we always seem to do well, and we've had a lot of good runs there. Things go pretty good for us in practice for the most part. It's tight trying to get into the garages with the car. Down on one end of the garage is real confusing -- all the guys are trying to back out to get back on the track, and you are trying to get in the garage and some people are getting gas. So it can be a real mess." EARNHARDT (ON THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALIFYING.): "The only thing about qualifying poorly is you can burn your car up back there in the back. You get nervous about going a lap down so you might run your car a little bit too hard sometimes. You could cook your brakes early and ruin them for the rest of the day." EARNHARDT (ON IF HE IS A FAN OF THE MARTINSVILLE HOT DOG.): "Yeah, I eat about three or four a day (while in Martinsville). I like them." TONY EURY JR., CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/ NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS (ON THE MOST DIFFICULT PART ABOUT MARTINSVILLE.): "The most difficult part about Martinsville is just keeping the drive off all day. The car tends to get real loose off the corner after the tires wear out. So when you get those long, 120-lap runs, just making sure that you have a car that's plenty capable of being fast at the start and staying with you throughout the run is important." EURY (ON EARNHARDT'S SUCCESS AT THE SHORT TRACK.): "We got the struggles out of the way to start with. We had a really tough time at Martinsville when he first come into the racing, and the last couple years, he just figured out what you need and which direction to go, and that's helped out a lot. We've had a lot of good finishes here the last couple years at Martinsville, and you enjoy going there. And as long as it's one of the tracks you enjoy, you tend to run really good there." EURY (ON IF HE IS A FAN OF THE MARTINSVILLE HOT DOG.): "Yes. The old Martinsville hot dog. They messed the hot dogs up about two years ago. The old ladies that used to make them don't make them no more, and they changed the slaw. That's a big problem. I think Bill France Jr. tried to get it fixed back when he heard they changed the Martinsville hot dog." ***** 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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