Lowes Preview

PREVIEW: DALE EARNHARDT JR. (NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET)
VENUE: LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE QUAD-OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 31 OF 36)
DATE: OCT. 17, 2009 (334 LAPS, 501 MILES)

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AT LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY: In 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has recorded one pole position, five top-five finishes and nine top-10s. The Kannapolis, N.C., native has led 312 laps at the 1.5-mile racetrack and completed 94.1 percent (6,695 of 7,114) laps.

WHERE IT ALL STARTED: Earnhardt made his Cup Series debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the 600-mile race on May 30, 1999. The then 24-year-old started the event eighth and finished 16th. Since then, Earnhardt has tallied 18 wins, 88 top-five finishes and 142 top-10s in 357 Cup starts.

CHASSIS CHOICE: Interim crew chief Lance McGrew and the No. 88 engineers will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-521 for this weekend's 500-mile event at Lowe's Motor Speedway. This chassis last was raced to a 27th-place finish at Pocono Raceway in June.

HENDRICK AT LOWE'S: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, has 15 Cup wins, 13 pole positions, 45 top-five finishes and 69 top-10s in 51 races (166 starts) at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

ONE-TWO FINISH(ES): Out of Hendrick Motorsports' 11 Cup wins this season, seven have involved one-two finishes with its Chevrolets. Hendrick drivers have scored the first and second spots at Auto Club Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. Overall, Hendrick Motorsports has tallied 29 one-two finishes since first fielding a multi-car team in 1986.

ROCKIN' THE RIVER CONCERT SERIES: The Dale Jr. Foundation is hosting the "Rockin' the River" concert series at Whisky River in uptown Charlotte, N.C., every Thursday in October. Gavin DeGraw will perform this Thursday and other acts including the Carter Twins, Blake Shelton and Phil Vassar are scheduled for the fundraising effort, which benefits The Dale Jr. Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Victory Junction Gang Camp. For more information, visit whiskyriver.tickets.musictoday.com.

CHEVY SALUTES AMERICAN HEROES: On Oct. 5, Chevy unveiled the top-five stories submitted by friends and family members who shared why their current soldier is an inspiration and a hero to them on www.youreverydayhero.com. The public can visit the Web site to select its favorite story until Oct. 22, and the soldier with the most votes will win a 2010 Chevrolet Equinox and will be a VIP guest at the Nov. 11 CMA awards.

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DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER, NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET (ON NIGHT RACING AT LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): "I'm always excited about racing at Charlotte. I love racing there. I've got a lot of family that really enjoys seeing that race and coming there. It's always fun to race at Lowe's. It's always a good time. It's close to home, and I enjoy the Saturday night racing."

LANCE McGREW, INTERIM CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET (ON LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY.): "With this race starting later, generally if you're tight, you're tight in the middle of (Turns) 3 and 4, and you'll fight it all night. In the new car you tend to fight drive-off issues off of (Turns) 2 and 4, depending on how tight you are in the center. Your hope is to get the car consistent enough from end to end of the racetrack where you don't have a loose condition on one end and a tight condition on the other because it's difficult to solve that."

McGREW (ON WHERE THE NO. 88 TEAM HAS IMPROVED THE MOST IN RECENT WEEKS.): "I would definitely say communication. I tend to ask him (Earnhardt) better questions, and when you ask him the right questions, he'll give you the right answer. I think that the team has stepped up, the pit crew has stepped up, and the shop has stepped up."

McGREW (ON RACING LUCK AND THE TEAM'S FINISHES.): "To me, it's luck. It's racing luck. I can go on and on about the reasons why we haven't been finishing well, but the most important thing, and the thing that keeps me coming to work every day, is you see a light at the end of the tunnel. You see we have speed. You see we can consistently run in the top 10 pretty much everywhere. But the bottom line is still the bottom line, and every Monday morning you're graded. Right now we're not doing so well."

Credit: Hendrick Motorsports PR