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DALE EARNHARDT JR. NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET POST-RACE RECAP/MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY DATE: June 13, 2010 START: 27th FINISH: Seventh POINTS POSITION: 14h RECAPPING THE RACE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. took advantage of a late-race caution flag at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday to pick up four new tires and power his No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet to a seventh-place finish. Earnhardt, who won this event in 2008, rebounded from a 27th-place start in Sunday's 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event and cracked the top 10 within the first 60 laps. He reported early to his AMP Energy/National Guard team that he was battling a loose-handling Chevrolet, but he was pleased overall with how it drove around the two-mile track. A two-car accident in Turn 1 brought out the third caution period of the afternoon on Lap 99, and Earnhardt told his team the Chevrolet had become too tight to drive. Crew chief Lance McGrew called Earnhardt in to the pits one lap later for four tires, fuel and so the team could reverse a previous track bar adjustment from the pit stop on Lap 89. At the restart on Lap 103, Earnhardt was running 13th. Earnhardt consistently ran in the top 10 during the second half of the race. The final caution flag was waved on Lap 183, and Earnhardt came in for his final pit stop for four tires and fuel. He was 11th when the race resumed on Lap 186. He battled Jeff Burton for the seventh position, finally locking up the top-10 spot – his fourth of the year and eighth overall at Michigan – when he crossed the finish line. Earnhardt improves two spots to 14th in the Sprint Cup Series championship standings. He trails 12th-place Mark Martin by 81 points after 15 races in the 2010 season. QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.: EARNHARDT (ON SUNDAY'S RUN.): "The car drove great. Lance (McGrew, crew chief) and the guys unloaded a good car, and it stayed good all weekend. We worked on it in the race, and we adapted to how the track went, which is good, so we were able to be competitive at the end. We had a good call at the end to get four tires. That worked out for us; got us a couple of more spots. We had about a 10th-place car today. It was a tough field, though. It was a real competitive field." ***** 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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