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DALE EARNHARDT JR. NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET POST-RACE RECAP/MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DATE: Aug. 16, 2009 RACE: Carfax 400 START: 15th FINISH: Third POINTS POSITION: 21st RECAPPING THE RACE: Sound fuel strategy and a strong No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet powered Dale Earnhardt Jr. to a third-place finish in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway. It was the team's second top-five finish of the season, and Earnhardt gained four positions in the championship standings, improving to 21st. Earnhardt turned in a solid qualifying lap on Friday afternoon to line up 15th for Sunday's 400-mile event. But at the drop of the green flag, Earnhardt struggled with a loose-handling condition and fell to 26th. Crew chief Lance McGrew used the first caution period on Lap 6 to make adjustments to the No. 88 Chevy. Earnhardt made his way down pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, and his team also spent time during the stop adjusting the left-front shock to improve the handling. Earnhardt restarted 32nd on Lap 11 and began his forward charge through the field. Earnhardt cracked the top 20 on Lap 36 and was running 17th on Lap 51 when the day's second caution flag waved. McGrew called his driver back down pit road for another round of adjustments. The Kannapolis, N.C., native restarted 24th on Lap 58 and was scored 16th at race's halfway point. The day's sixth caution flag waved on Lap 145 as a light rain shower moved into the Irish Hills area, and the leaders made their way down pit road. McGrew instructed his driver to stay out to gain valuable track position, and Earnhardt restarted the event second on Lap 152. He seized the lead one lap later. Earnhardt paced the field until Lap 157 when the yellow flag was waved, this time for a spin on the frontstretch. Now within the fuel window, McGrew called Earnhardt to pit road for four tires and fuel. Most of the field stayed on track, and Earnhardt went back to green-flag racing on Lap 161 running in the 18th position. Earnhardt praised the car's handling over the radio and began ticking off positions. He cracked the top 10 on Lap 171 and was scored fifth on Lap 182. Earnhardt notched two additional spots to cross the finish line third. QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.: EARNHARDT (ON SUNDAY'S RACE.): "It was a good run for the National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet. I'm real proud of my team. They did a good job on pit road. Lance (McGrew, crew chief) made some good calls, and it got the car driving really good at the end. I want to thank my guys and give them all the credit. They worked really hard all weekend and gave us a good car. We made some good changes there at the end that helped the car a lot. I want to thank AMP Energy, the National Guard and my team. They did a good job giving me some good strategy at the end to make that run back up to the front."   ***** 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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