Michigan Spring Preview

Dale Jr returns to the site of his first HMS points victory this Sunday:

DEFENDING MICHIGAN: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, is the defending race winner at Michigan. His June 15, 2008, victory was his first win in a points-paying event for Hendrick Motorsports and his most recent win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Earnhardt led 43 laps before claiming the checkered flag.

AT MICHIGAN: In 19 Sprint Cup Series starts at Michigan International Speedway, Earnhardt has recorded one win, two pole positions, three top-five finishes and six top-10s. He has led 167 laps and completed 98.8 percent of all laps he’s attempted (3,648 laps of 3,691).

LEADING LAPS: Earnhardt has led at least one lap in his last seven starts at Michigan for a total of 103 laps. Earnhardt has held the top spot during 12 of his 19 starts at Michigan, and the last time he failed to lead the field was June 15, 2005.

LAW OF AVERAGES: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, the 34-year-old Earnhardt ranks fourth overall with an average running position of 10.335 at Michigan. The average running position is derived from taking the sum of a driver’s position on each lap and dividing it by the number of laps run in each race.

DRIVER RATING: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Earnhardt ranks fifth in the driver rating category at Michigan with a score of 101.4. 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.

CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Lance McGrew and the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard team will unload Chassis No. 88-499 for this weekend’s race at Michigan. Earnhardt last raced this car at Texas Motor Speedway in April and was poised to pick up a top-10 finish when he made contact with the wall late in the race. Earnhardt finished 20th. Prior to that, Earnhardt drove Chassis No. 88-499 to an 11th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.

HENDRICK AT MICHIGAN: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has scored four wins, 33 top-five finishes, 64 top-10s and has led 1,563 laps at the two-mile oval. Ricky Rudd drove the No. 5 Chevrolet to score Hendrick Motorsports’ first win at Michigan on June 20, 1993.

SERVING AMERICA: Next month at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Earnhardt will run the No. 88 National Guard “Serving America”/AMP Energy Chevrolet. It is a special paint scheme to honor the National Guard soldiers who dedicate a portion of their time to serving their nation, state and local communities. Since first muster in 1636, National Guard soldiers have brought glory and honor upon themselves and the Guard through quiet and selfless service. Approximately 363,000 soldiers strong, the Army National Guard is the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and celebrated its 372nd birthday in December 2008. To learn more about how you can serve your country with the Guard, visit www.NATIONALGUARD.com.

HENDRICK ON TWITTER: Hendrick Motorsports has launched its official Twitter page: www.twitter.com/HendrickInfo. Fans are invited to check out the page for daily updates about Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the rest of Hendrick Motorsports.

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DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET (ON MICHIGAN.): “It’s a good track. Believe it or not, it’s a real challenge to find side-by-side racing in this sport, but you will find it at Michigan. That track is really wide, and it has a lot of grooves through the corner. You’ll see cars trying different lines, and guys can run side-by-side and have fun. It’s a fun racetrack to race on, and they put on a great show. I’ve always enjoyed running there and have had some pretty good success there.”

EARNHARDT (ON BEING THE DEFENDING RACE WINNER.): “It’s not something I think about a whole lot, but it was nice to get that first (points) win with Hendrick Motorsports. I just enjoy racing at Michigan, period. I like the track itself. But coming in as the race winner does give your team a bit of extra motivation. For the team it will be a really good confidence booster entering the weekend knowing they’ve won the race before.”

EARNHARDT (ON IF HE DOES ANYTHING TO PREPARE FOR THE HEAT OF SUMMER.): “Hot is hot. It’s not going to make any difference if it’s 110 degrees or 80 degrees â€" it’s still hot in the car. There’s no difference. You either can take it or you can’t.”

LANCE MCGREW, INTERIM CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET (ON THE CHALLENGES OF MICHIGAN.): “It’s not any harder to set up a car for Michigan than anywhere else. It’s big, it’s wide. I heard the winter took a little bit of a toll on it. There are some more cracks that didn’t used to be there so we are going to have to deal with that. It’s a real racy racetrack; it’s fast and downforce is a premium. But downforce is a premium everywhere we go. It’s not drastically different than any other racetrack.”

MCGREW (ON THE ADDED PRESSURE OF EARNHARDT BEING THE DEFENDING RACE WINNER.): “The race was won with very, very good pit strategy, and the team was fortunate enough to get the win. From a team standpoint, I don’t know if it gives you an added swagger coming back there. If you led every lap and won, it’s a little different, and you may have a little more confidence in your setup going back. It’s definitely not a disadvantage, don’t get me wrong. But I think a pit strategy win is a different kind of animal.

MCGREW (ON HIS PRIMARY FOCUS.): “Right now I’m working on my relationship with Dale and trying to get his confidence and the team’s confidence and trying to get the right people in the right places. It’s a project. It’s like he said, ‘We’re building Rome, and it’s not going to happen right away.’”

MCGREW (ON GENERAL MOTORS’ SUPPORT OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS.): “It’s not just this organization that benefits from GM’s support, the entire sport itself benefits. As Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) says, he’s been a Chevy supporter for a long time, and we’ve won a lot of races â€" all in Chevrolets. That manufacturing backing and engineering support, the financial support. Just everything that Chevrolet has brought to the table in this sport has made NASCAR better. They are the benchmark that has driven other manufacturers to get into the sport, to draw new manufacturers in.”