Phoenix Disappointing for Dale Earnhardt Jr

Phoenix Disappointing for Dale Earnhardt Jr
You could hear the disappointment dripping from Dale Earnhardt Jr Saturday night following the Sunway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix.



Dale Earnhardt Jr. started the April 12 race at Phoenix International Raceway 13th and finished seventh. Earnhardt led 87 laps and ran 290 in the top 15.


Junior wheeled the No. 88 National Guard to a 7th place finish after leading a large chunk of the closing laps under the lights at Phoenix.

The top-10 finish lifted Earnhardt to 3rd in the Sprint Cup Championship standings -- but that was little consolation for Dale Jr.
"Me and Tony Jr. came up with some ideas and borrowed some ideas from Chad, which helped my car amazingly," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We were running good at night. Right there at the end I think I just drove the tires off of it, I guess. I was losing ground."

"We had a good finish -- I'm proud of my team, had a great car," Junior said after the race. "I don't know what our expectations truly were going in to the race."

When asked why his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr, decided to bring the No. 88 Chevrolet to pit road for gas when teammate Jimmie Johnson stayed on the track Earnhardt explained: "I don't know if we could have made it. I don't know when we stopped, or how much I was burning a lap. I can't do the math. I just do what I'm told. We did the right thing. We can't run out and finish out of the top-10. We did the right thing."