Loudon Spring Recap

Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove his No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet to notch a solid 13th-place finish in Sunday's rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
DALE EARNHARDT JR.
NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET
POST-RACE RECAP/NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

DATE: June 28, 2009
RACE: Lenox 301
START: 20th
FINISH: 13th
POINTS POSITION: 19th


RECAPPING THE RACE:

Earnhardt, who improves to 19th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings, lined up his blue-and-white Chevy 20th for Sunday's race. NASCAR officials canceled Friday's qualifying session due to weather, so the starting lineup was set according to the car owner standings.

During the opening laps on Sunday, Earnhardt was having difficulty making forward progress and asked his No. 88 team to loosen up his Chevy so it would handle better in the corners. A scheduled competition caution flag was waved on Lap 45, and interim crew chief Lance McGrew called his driver down pit road. The No. 88 team gave the Chevy fuel and right-side tires and also made air pressure and wedge adjustments.

The crew picked up four positions during the pit stop, and Earnhardt restarted the event 14th on Lap 49. The adjustments did the trick, and Earnhardt cracked the top 10 on Lap 51. He was running seventh by Lap 60.

The caution flag was displayed at the halfway point, and Earnhardt was running sixth. McGrew once again called for fuel, right-side tires and air pressure and chassis adjustments. Quick work by the crew netted Earnhardt one position on pit road.

The 34-year-old driver went back to green-flag racing on Lap 158 running fifth, and by Lap 161, he had moved into the third position. Earnhardt maintained his footing inside the top 10 until the final round of green-flag pit stops began on Lap 233.

With rainy weather looming in the area, teams kept their eyes on the radar. Fuel strategy became critical and green-flag pit stops began. Earnhardt made his final trip to pit road on Lap 235 for fuel, four fresh tires and air pressure and wedge adjustments. Earnhardt merged back into traffic running 25th.

As rain approached, teams were slow to make their final round of pit stops and risked running out of fuel. Rain began to fall on Lap 273, with Earnhardt running 13th. A heavy rainfall settled into the area, and NASCAR called the race 28 laps shy of the scheduled end.

QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.:

EARNHARDT (ON SUNDAY'S RUN.): "We ran good today. I want to thank Lance (McGrew, crew chief) and the team, our National Guard and AMP Energy guys. They worked hard all weekend. They did a good job, man, giving me a good car. I had fun today. I hope we can keep this up. We are inching so slowly up back in to where we need to run. It is taking a while, but hopefully we keep moving forward."