Pocono Summer Preview

PREVIEW: DALE EARNHARDT JR. (NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET)
VENUE: POCONO RACEWAY (2.5-MILE TRIANGULAR TRACK)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 21 OF 36)
DATE: AUG. 2, 2009 (200 LAPS, 500 MILES)

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AT POCONO: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, has recorded five top-five finishes and six top-10s in 19 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Pocono Raceway. He has led 98 laps and completed 96.4 percent of all laps he's attempted (3,553 laps of 3,685) at the Pennsylvania racetrack.

A FAMILIAR SITE: This weekend's race will be the first repeat track for crew chief Lance McGrew atop the No. 88 pit box. McGrew spent his first full weekend as the crew chief for the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard team at Pocono Raceway in June.

POCONO POLE POSITION: Earnhardt earned his only Pocono pole position in August 2007 and led eight laps before finishing second. The runner-up effort matched his career-best performance at the Long Pond, Pa., track, which came in July 2001 when he led 31 laps.

LOGGING MILES: At Pocono Raceway, Earnhardt has raced 8,882.5 miles, which is the third-highest total for the 34-year-old driver at any track. For perspective, Earnhardt could make almost eight roundtrips from the Hendrick Motorsports campus in Concord, N.C., to the 2.5-mile triangular track. He has logged more mileage only at Lowe's Motor Speedway (10,042.5) and Atlanta Motor Speedway (9,842.1).

POCONO CHASSIS: McGrew and the No. 88 engineers will unload Chassis No. 88-556 this weekend at Pocono. It is the first chassis McGrew has built from scratch for Earnhardt and was fielded last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Earnhardt raced inside the top 10 for a majority of the Brickyard 400, but his strong run was cut short when engine woes sidelined the team 33 laps shy of the checkered flag.

PENNSYLVANIA NATIVES: Four members of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet team consider the Keystone State home. Spotter T.J. Majors grew up racing dirt tracks in western Pennsylvania and hails from Wampum. Gas man Chris Fasulka (Wilkes-Barre), rear-tire carrier Matt Myers (Ford City) and transporter driver Dave Radney (Canton) also are from Pennsylvania.

HENDRICK AT POCONO: In 50 Cup events (161 starts) at Pocono Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports has scored 11 wins, 48 top-five finishes and 82 top-10s. Hendrick drivers have led 2,510 laps during that time.

ONE-TWO FINISH(ES): Out of Hendrick Motorsports' eight Cup wins this season, five have involved one-two finishes with its drivers. Hendrick's drivers have scored the first and second spots at Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. Overall, Hendrick Motorsports has tallied 27 one-two finishes since first fielding a multi-car team in 1986.

JUST DOWN THE ROAD: PepsiCo's Purchase, N.Y., headquarters is located 125 miles east of Pocono Raceway. The company, which sponsors Earnhardt's car with its AMP Energy brand, has been headquartered in Purchase since 1970.

GET ON THE NO. 88: At this year's AMP Energy 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, thousands of members of JR Nation will see their names on Earnhardt's No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet as part of the AMP Energy "Get on the 88" promotion. Race fans can enter by logging onto www.AMPEnergy.com. The first to sign up will see their names on Earnhardt's car and others will appear on the team's pit wall banner. Participants will be notified before the Nov. 1 race with a confirmation of where their names landed. This marks the second year of the hugely popular program.

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DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER, NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET (ON POCONO.): "Trying to get through the tunnel turn (Turn 2) is about the hardest corner in the whole season. All three corners are really different so getting your car to handle good in all of them is tough to do. But you just focus on trying to get it off the last corner because the straightaway is so long. That basically covers half the racetrack, if you can get around that corner and down the next straightaway."

LANCE McGREW, INTERIM CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET (ON RETURNING TO POCONO WITH THE NO. 88 TEAM.): "I hate the fact that we had a mechanical issue the first time there because I felt like we had a pretty decent race car but we weren't able to show it. Because we found the problem after the race, unfortunately, we are going back still with a question mark. If we hadn't had the problem, I would say, 'This is a real solid setup and here is where we finished but let's make tweaks here.' Well, now I still have questions with our first setup. But I definitely think it's a plus to go back to somewhere the second time. I just wish I had more answers and less questions."

McGREW (ON THE CHALLENGES YOU FACE AT POCONO.): "Usually in the second race the track loses a lot of grip just because it's been so hot. It's not like that track's not challenging enough as it is with its three different corners, and there's multiple problems that you can encounter there. During the second race of the season, you really fight grip, and since we fought grip the first time, that's an added challenge."

McGREW (ON THE GROWTH OF THE NO. 88 TEAM.): "I think that we've managed to put together pieces and parts at races where our car was really good. We ran three-quarters of the race at Chicago really well; we just have got to figure out a way to close. And that's happened to us a couple times already this year. I think we've put together a string of top-10 cars; we just have not had the string of top-10 finishes."