CUP: Earnhardt Jr. Comfortable Returning To Richmond

Sprint Cup

CUP: Earnhardt Jr. Comfortable Returning To Richmond

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is looking for fourth career win at Richmond International Raceway...

Jeff Owens | http://www.scenedaily.com | Posted April 27, 2011 Concord, NC

Team owner Rick Hendrick (Center) is glad he put driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Right) and crew chief Steve Letarte (Left) together. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

After nearly three years of struggles prior to this season – and with a new crew chief and crew – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is trying to recapture his comfort level at many tracks.

Richmond International Raceway is not one of them.

If there’s any track where Earnhardt Jr. still feels good and looks forward to returning to, it’s Richmond, where he has three career victories, which matches Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart for most among active drivers.

Earnhardt Jr. scored his first Sprint Cup win at Richmond as a rookie in 2000. He won again in 2004 and again in 2006 – with all three coming in the spring event.

He was on his way to a fourth win at Richmond in 2008 – his first year with Hendrick – when Kyle Busch took him out late in the race, opening the door for Clint Bowyer to win.

Like many drivers, Earnhardt Jr. compares the 0.75-mile oval to many of the short tracks he grew up on.

" I used to race at Myrtle Beach [S.C.], which is real similar to Richmond,” he said. “The line there and the track are kind of similar. It reminds me a lot of Myrtle Beach, so I was pretty comfortable as soon as I got there, as soon as I started running laps there.

Earnhardt Jr., who has climbed to third in points with five top-10 finishes, has made 23 career starts at Richmond. He has eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes there and has completed 99 percent of the laps.

So what’s the key to getting around the wide short track?

"Just rolling the center,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “The last couple times I've been there we've struggled turning in the middle. The car has to turn and cut in the center of the corner and have good drive off, especially in Turn 4. You can spin your tires real bad coming off of [Turn] 4 if you aren’t careful."

Like Earnhardt Jr., crew chief Steve Letarte is used to preparing cars for tracks like Richmond.

“I grew up in the Northeast, and in the Northeast a half-mile was a big race track,” Letarte said. “Richmond is the kind of short track like I grew up racing on. It’s two-groove racing. It’s just a blast.

“It’s a two-day show. You show up Friday and get it all knocked up and come back Saturday and race under the lights. It’s one of the few tracks that gives you goose bumps. It is a blast.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is currently 3rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

While racing under the lights on Saturday night adds an extra element of excitement, it also presents an added challenge.

“The funny thing about Richmond,” Letarte said, “is that you race under the lights, and that is the only time you’ll be on the track under the lights. It’s difficult. You practice in the middle of the day on Friday. The track couldn’t be any more different.

“That track schedule has been consistent for years so our notebook is very thick. If you run a setup in the middle of the day on Friday, you had better make some changes for Saturday night. We have a pretty good confidence on what we have to do, and they seem to work good.”

SceneDaily.com • Goodyear reschedules tire tests for Indy, Kentucky

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Owens

SceneDaily.com

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR

CUP: Why Have Drivers Been So Tame In 2012?
The first five races of 2012 have been bereft of any major blowups…
CUP: Another Earnhardt On The Way?
Karsyn Elledge, daughter of Kelley Earnhardt-Miller and niece of…
CUP: Teammates To The End?
Carl Edwards–Matt Kenseth incident raises questions about racing…