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DALE EARNHARDT JR. NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET POST-RACE RECAP/INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY DATE: July 25, 2010 START: 17th FINISH: 27th POINTS POSITION: 14th RECAPPING THE RACE: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, was closing in on the top 10 as the laps were winding down in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway but was collected in another competitor's mishap and finished 27th. Earnhardt dropped one spot to 14th in the championship standings and sits 93 points outside the top 12 with six races remaining until the field is set for the Chase to the Sprint Cup Championship. Earnhardt rolled off the starting grid 17th for the 400-mile event at the Brickyard and quickly reported that the engine temperatures were running hotter than desired. The team had an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 14 to address the issue -- grass on the grill -- and Earnhardt returned to the track in the 30th position. Despite the setback, Earnhardt made his way through the field and was running 14th on Lap 47 with green-flag stops approaching. Crew chief Lance McGrew called his driver to pit road the following lap for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. On Lap 58, Earnhardt radioed to his crew that the handling on the No. 88 Chevrolet felt better as he maintained his footing inside the top 20. The afternoon's fourth caution flag waved on Lap 116, and Earnhardt was running 16th. McGrew called his driver to pit road on Lap 118 for four fresh tires and fuel. The team also spent extra time on pit road to pull a spring rubber. The green-and-white Chevy was scored 18th for the Lap 121 restart. Earnhardt quickly noted that he liked the handling of his No. 88 machine and he began his ascent on the scoring pylon. He made his way to 12th by Lap 137 when the caution flag waved for debris on the track. Earnhardt made his way down pit road for another round of adjustments and lined up 13th for the Lap 142 restart. The 35-year-old driver had his sights on a top 10 finish but those hopes were dashed when a wrecking competitor slammed on his brakes to try to hurry to pit road. Unfortunately, Earnhardt was passing by when the No. 42 car slid down the track and collected Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet. Earnhardt brought his injured Chevrolet to pit road, and the crew went to work getting the car back on track for the closing laps. The No. 88 team finished 27th. QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.: EARNHARDT (ON SUNDAY'S RUN.): "Right at the end, I felt like we had a good car, a good top-10 car. (Juan Pablo) Montoya got in the fence there and just kind of pulled down and stopped in front of us. I was side-by-side with somebody. I didn't even see him hit the wall, I didn't even know there was a car in the wall until he came across the No. 47 (Marcos Ambrose) hood and there he was. I ran right in the back of them, nowhere to go." ***** 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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