NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Another Disappointing Finish For Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. runs well at Bristol Motor Speedway but fades before the checkers...
SceneDaily.com  |  Posted August 22, 2010   Bristol, TN
Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggled all night in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. appeared to be headed for a strong run at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday night, but, like they have for much of this season, adjustments to his car during the Irwin Tools Night Race didn’t always work, saddling him with another disappointing finish.

Earnhardt Jr. ran well most of the night while at other times, he and his Hendrick Motorsports crew lost the handle on the car.

Starting 27th, Earnhardt Jr. worked his way through the field and climbed as high as seventh with 50 laps to go in the race. But then the handling went away and he faded to finish 13th.

Even though it was his best finish in his last six races, Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t too pleased afterward.

“That last run was awful,” he told his team over the radio.

Crew chief Lance McGrew told Earnhardt Jr. that the changes designed to tighten up the car worked early in a run, but then the car would get worse the longer they ran.

“I wished we could have gotten it tightened up,” McGrew told Earnhardt Jr. after the race. “We tightened it up every time you came down pit road. Big changes, too. Every time we got it tighter at the beginning, we’d just get looser at the end.”

Earnhardt Jr., who left the track before reporters could get to him following the race, dropped a spot in the standings to 18th. He is 170 points out of 12th with two races left before the Chase For The Sprint Cup field is set.

SceneDaily.com • Jeff Gordon says he lost his edge at Bristol when the half-mile, concrete track was changed

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