 |
PREVIEW: DALE EARNHARDT JR. (NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD "DRIVE THE GUARD"/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET) VENUE: MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (TWO-MILE D-SHAPED OVAL) CIRCUIT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 23 OF 36) DATE: AUG. 15, 2010 (200 LAPS, 400 MILES) ***** DRIVE THE GUARD: Earnhardt will show his support for the National Guard's "Drive the Guard" program by showcasing a red, white and blue paint scheme on his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in this Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway. The "Drive the Guard" program is an enlistment option offered to new recruits and current National Guard Soldiers interested in obtaining their commercial driver's license (CDL) while performing their regular duties in the National Guard. Learn more by visiting www.NATIONALGUARD.com/DrivetheGuard. MICHIGAN STATS: In 22 Cup starts at Michigan's two-mile oval, Earnhardt has tallied one win, four top-five finishes, eight top-10s, two pole positions and led 173 laps. Earnhardt has completed 99 percent of all laps he's attempted (4,248 laps of 4,291 total) at the speedway and has led at least one lap in eight of his last 10 outings for a total of 109 laps. FIRST WIN FOR HENDRICK: Earnhardt scored his first win in a points-paying event with Hendrick Motorsports on June 15, 2008, at Michigan International Speedway. Earnhardt qualified third and led 14 laps on his way to the checkered flag. This marked the first time that a Hendrick Motorsports driver won his first points-paying event for the organization at the Brooklyn, Mich., oval. MOST RECENTLY: Earnhardt started 27th in June at Michigan and cracked the top-10 within the first 60 laps. He remained there for the rest of the 400-mile race, crossing the finish line seventh. Earnhardt's team followed up that outing with three more top-11 finishes during the month of June. During that four-race span, Earnhardt earned 578 points and improved from 16th to 11th in the driver standings. MICHIGAN POLES: Earnhardt's two career pole positions at Michigan are tied for first as career-bests for the 35-year-old driver. He also has captured two career poles at Texas Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, his most recent coming in March at Atlanta. DRIVER RATING: According to NASCAR's loop data statistics, Earnhardt ranks sixth in the driver rating category at Michigan International Speedway with a score of 98.6. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led, and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator. LAPS IN THE TOP 15: Earnhardt ranks eighth among drivers for laps run in the top 15 during the last 11 races at Michigan. The 35-year old-driver has spent 1,497 laps (70.1 percent of all laps) in the top 15 per NASCAR's loop statistics. Earnhardt also has recorded an average finishing position of 9.9, which is second-best among all drivers during that 11-race period. FAST IN THE END: With six top-10s in his last nine events at the racetrack, Earnhardt has shown he can put together a good run at the end of the race. He ranks second with a speed of 171.900 mph in the fastest driver late in the run category during the last 11 races at Michigan. MORE LOOP DATA: Earnhardt ranks fourth among all drivers with 821 green-flag passes during the last six seasons at the Brooklyn, Mich., speedway. The Kannapolis, N.C., native also is ranked seventh in total laps led, leading 109 laps during the last 11 races there. CHASSIS CHOICE: This weekend, crew chief Lance McGrew and the No. 88 team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-599. Earnhardt notably drove this chassis to two recent top-10 finishes. He took seventh on June 13 at Michigan. In April, Earnhardt raced this chassis at Texas, starting ninth and leading 46 laps before finishing eighth. HENDRICK AT MICHIGAN: In 166 Sprint Cup Starts (53 races) at the two-mile oval, Hendrick Motorsports has scored five wins, 38 top-five finishes, 71 top-10s, nine poles and led 1,876 laps. Hendrick Motorsports' most recent win at Michigan came in June 2009, when Mark Martin overcame a 32nd-place starting position, took the lead on the last lap and held on for his third win of the 2009 Sprint Cup season. CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS: Helping American troops keep in touch with their loved ones is now as easy as bringing a gently used mobile phone to a NASCAR event. Cell Phones for Soldiers raises money through the collection of gently used mobile phones and will have drop-off boxes this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. In addition to helping troops call home, the first 100 fans donating gently used phones will receive a hat, courtesy of the GM Military Discount program. During the last six years, Cell Phones for Soldiers has provided more than one million pre-paid calling cards and 60 million minutes of calling time to soldiers overseas. Visit www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com for information on how to donate at one of 3,000 collection points nationwide or to download a pre-paid, pre-addressed mailing label. GUARD GARAGE: Visit www.DaleJrGuardGarage.com and join the Guard Garage Fan Club to stay up-to-date with National Guard drivers and score free ringtones, wallpapers and more. FREE JR NATION CREW FAN CLUB: Join the JR Nation Crew Fan Club for a chance to win an autographed firesuit. The exclusive club, which is free to join, offers fans an online hub with chat rooms, forums and blogs from JR Motorsports personalities. For more information, visit www.JRNation.com. ***** AMP UP THE 88: Chris Fasulka, gas man for the No. 88 National Guard "Drive the Guard"/AMP Energy Chevrolet, will participate in a live video chat with fans on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. ET on AMP Energy's website, www.ampupthe88.com. The site features weekly chats with a special guest or a member of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard team, daily sweepstakes with autographed No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard team memorabilia, videos, photos and more. ***** DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD "DRIVE THE GUARD"/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET (ON BRINGING BACK THE SAME CHASSIS FROM JUNE.): "Lance (McGrew, crew chief) and the guys unloaded a great car last time at Michigan. We've had some good runs with this car. I enjoy going to Michigan because it's so wide. It has a lot of different grooves, and we can move around and find places to run on the track. We like coming here because it's in the backyard of the manufacturers. Hopefully we'll get a win for Chevrolet." LANCE MCGREW, CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD "DRIVE THE GUARD"/AMP ENERGY GUARD CHEVROLET (ON MICHIGAN BEING A FUEL-MILEAGE RACE.): "It's very strange because even in the (NASCAR) Nationwide Series, they changed the length of the race to try to make it not be a fuel-mileage race, and it still always comes down to that. I don't know if it's just luck, but it doesn't make any sense why it always seems to come down to it but it always does. It's not like we always have an even number of pit stops. I guess probably more than anything else, there are not usually a lot of cautions, so you're going to stretch it the most you can because track position still means a lot just like everywhere else. It just kind of works out that way." MCGREW (ON WHY EARNHARDT LIKES CHASSIS NO. 88-599.): "We've had success with this car, but it's not vastly different than any of our other cars. We've used this car at racetracks that he (Earnhardt) really enjoys going to, and it just happened that we ran the same car at those events. We have made some substantial changes to it since the first Michigan race. Even though we felt like we were really good there last time, as a company we are going in a direction that we feel like is going to make us even better this time." MCGREW (ON WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO WIN AT MICHIGAN.): "It's the big three's backyard (General Motors, Chrysler and Ford) and you always have a little extra pep in your step because there will be a lot of Chevrolet people there. The race means a lot to that area because of the fact that it's in their backyard. Not that it wouldn't mean the same to win anywhere else, but it would be especially sweet to win there. It was the last place Dale has won a race and we'd like to back that up." ***** Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports. Media Relations | No. 88 AMP Energy / National Guard Racing ***** Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Official Site - www.dalejr.com |
|