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DALE EARNHARDT JR. NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET POST-RACE RECAP/NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY DATE: June 27, 2010 START: 31st FINISH: Eighth POINTS POSITION: 13th RECAPPING THE RACE: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard/ AMP Energy Chevrolet, notched an eighth-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. Earnhardt is now only three points shy of 12th-place Carl Edwards in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings. Earnhardt started the 301 lap event 31st and, during the opening run, battled handling issues that prevented him from advancing through the field. Earnhardt was running 28th, when the caution flag was waved on Lap 28 for debris on the track. Crew chief Lance McGrew called his driver to pit road for four fresh tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. When the field restarted on Lap 39, Earnhardt was scored 28th, and the adjustments seemed to be working. Earnhardt made his way through the field, cracking the top 15 by Lap 70. He continued his forward march and was running 10th on Lap 126. The middle stages of the race ran caution-free, and after the field cycled through a pair of green-flag pit stops, Earnhardt held his No. 88 Chevy inside the top 10. The day's second caution flag was displayed on Lap 238 with Earnhardt running seventh. McGrew called his driver to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, and the No. 88 team sent Earnhardt back to green-flag racing on Lap 245 running 10th. The caution flag waved once again with 19 laps remaining in the event, and McGrew called his driver for four fresh tires, fuel and an air pressure and chassis adjustment. The No. 88 Chevrolet left pit road in 13th, following seven cars that opted for two tires. The field went back to green-flag racing on Lap 287, and McGrew's call for four tires helped Earnhardt gain five positions to cross the finish line eighth behind winner and teammate Jimmie Johnson. QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.: EARNHARDT (ON SUNDAY'S RUN.): "I like running here, and I traditionally feel like I am a top-10 here every time I show up. We worked on the car and felt like where we ended practice was a good spot. The car was really fast at the start of the race. The first run was not so good, but the second run, we really got going. We started adjusting on it, and we just lost that little pep it had that drove it up to the top-10. It was still good enough to hang on, but we kept skipping back and forth over the balance of the car from tight to loose on those last couple of adjustments. Just couldn't get the car like it was when it was really good right before the middle of the race. I just want to thank National Guard and AMP Energy. We are real proud of our run today and it is a good move for us in the points." ***** 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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