Dover Spring Recap

Dale Jr starts his new relationship with Crew Chief Lance McGrew on a positive note finishing 12th and scoring a top 15 for the first time since Talladega in April:

DALE EARNHARDT JR.
NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET
POST-RACE RECAP/DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

DATE: May 31, 2009
RACE: Autism Speaks 400
START: 22nd
FINISH: 12th
POINTS POSITION: 18th


RECAPPING THE RACE:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the AMP Energy/National Guard team recorded a solid 12th-place finish in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Both Earnhardt and interim crew chief Lance McGrew credited solid communication as the key to a successful weekend.

Earnhardt lined up his green-and-white Chevrolet 22nd for the 400-lap event after posting a fast lap of 23.256 seconds (154.799 mph) during Friday afternoon's qualifying session.

After the green flag dropped, Earnhardt quickly noted that the No. 88 Chevy was developing a tight-handling condition. A caution flag on Lap 43 afforded McGrew the opportunity to free up the handling for his driver. McGrew called for fresh tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.

Back under green on Lap 48, Earnhardt restarted in 28th and began his forward march through the field.

Green-flag pit stops began on Lap 109 and Earnhardt was running 17th. Most of the field had made its way down pit road when a caution flag waved. The No. 88 Chevy was shown seventh on the leaderboard at the time. Quick work by the crew kept Earnhardt in the seventh position for the Lap 123 restart.

Earnhardt climbed as high as third on Lap 236, running behind Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin.

As the laps ticked off, Earnhardt's Chevy swung to a loose-handling condition, and he dropped to 17th with 100 laps remaining in the event. The team continued to get the handling on the No. 88 Chevrolet to the driver's liking, and Earnhardt made gains on the track.

With 37 laps remaining in the 400-mile event, the caution flag was waved for the ninth time. Earnhardt, running 12th at the time, made his way down pit road. McGrew called for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. A handful of drivers opted to take only two tires and Earnhardt was scored 14th for the Lap 369 restart.

During the closing laps, Earnhardt ticked off two positions to cross the finish line 12th.

QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.:

EARNHARDT (ON SUNDAY'S RUN.): "There were 11 other guys out there that deserve an interview better than I do. But we worked hard, and we had some pretty good moments there in the middle part of the race. We got the car much better and the AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet was in the top five. We felt like we had worked it there and had a good enough car. We sort of got off a little bit on some adjustments, and we kind of played around with the car from there. But we definitely had a productive day, and I've told all my boys, I said, 'We're building Rome here, and it might take a while to get it finished, but if everybody works hard we'll get it done right.' And this is a good start for us."

QUOTING LANCE MCGREW:

MCGREW (ON SUNDAY'S RUN.): "Today was exactly where we need to be. You can't go from where we were to first -- it's not going to happen. This week, we were 12th, and we will move forward. We had fantastic communication all day and great communication with the team. We fell off a little in the center of the race, and I'm not 100 percent why but we rebounded and came home with a decent finish."

QUOTING RICK HENDRICK:

HENDRICK (ON SUNDAY'S RUN.): "I thought it was a really good effort. I thought the communication was really good. The car, we got to the front. We were one adjustment off that we had to take out of the car. But overall, I'd give it a really good grade. I think, had we not had that adjustment we have a top six or a top five car. For the guys to work that well together that quick, I was really pleased. I listened to them all day, and the communication was extremely good. The feedback was really good. I'm really pleased. I think that we have something to build on there going to Pocono."