Michigan Spring Recap

RECAPPING THE RACE: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet climbed through the field to notch a 14th-place finish in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway.

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

DATE: June 14, 2009
RACE: LifeLock 400
START: 30th
FINISH: 14th
POINTS POSITION: 18th

Earnhardt gained two positions in the championship standings, improving to 18th. He trails 12th-place Jeff Burton by 255 points.

Earnhardt lined up 30th for Sunday's 200-lap event and immediately started moving forward at the drop of the green flag. By Lap 28, he had gained 11 positions and radioed crew chief Lance McGrew that the handling on the green-and-white Chevrolet felt good.

Green-flag pit stops started 10 laps later, and Earnhardt headed down pit road on Lap 39. The No. 88 team quickly bolted on four fresh Goodyear tires, gave the Chevy fuel and made an air pressure adjustment. Once the field cycled through pit stops, Earnhardt was running 18th.

Earnhardt cracked the top 10 on Lap 80 and held his ground inside the top 15 throughout the middle stages of the race.

Earnhardt was running 15th when the day's final caution flag waved on Lap 149 for an accident in Turn 4. McGrew called his driver to pit road for four fresh tires. The No. 88 team also gave the Chevy an air pressure adjustment and fuel during the stop.

The field went back to green on Lap 156, and McGrew told Earnhardt to conserve fuel as the AMP Energy/National Guard Chevy was just short of the predetermined fuel window to make it to the end of the race.

Earnhardt slipped to the 16th position, and the team anxiously held its breath as teammate and then-race leader Jimmie Johnson ran out of fuel on the final lap. Other cars began to slow as they run out of fuel in the final lap of the 400-mile event.

Earnhardt was able to conserve fuel and powered across the finish line 14th behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon, who finished first and second, respectively.

QUOTING DALE EARNHARDT JR.:

EARNHARDT (ON SUNDAY'S RACE.): "We worked on the car, and we had it real good at one point, I was real happy. Then near the end of the race, the last quarter of the race, we got off a little bit. We had about a 10th-place car, maybe. But we were trying to save fuel at the end and gave up a couple spots trying to do that and didn't gain back as many as we thought we would. Not as many people ran out as we thought would. It was a pretty good weekend. We ran pretty good in the race. We have to get a little bit better, and we are definitely seeing some signs of improvement."