CUP: Earnhardt Jr. Positive About AMS

Sprint Cup

CUP: Earnhardt Jr. Positive About AMS

Dale Earnhardt Jr. enjoys fast and fun Atlanta Motor Speedway where he looks to improve on Las Vegas performance...

SceneDaily.com | Posted March 03, 2010 Charlotte, NC

Dale Earnhardt Jr. pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Shelby American race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

For the first time this season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is going to a non-restrictor-plate track where he has won and where he has a solid record of performance.

Earnhardt Jr. won at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 2004 and always has enjoyed the track. His average finish there is 11.9, and he has 10 career top-10 finishes at Atlanta, his last coming in March 2008 when he finished third.

“We’ve always run pretty good at Atlanta, so I look forward to going there,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s a wide track, and it gets slick. Atlanta is a driver’s track – if one groove doesn’t work, then you can find another one. It’s a fun track, and it’s a fast track.”

It’s no secret which groove Earnhardt Jr. will try first when he puts his Hendrick Motorsports car on the track for practice Friday for the Kobalt Tools 500.

“He generally likes to run the high line, and it’s usually pretty fast,” crew chief Lance McGrew said. “People that like to hunt around [for the best groove] like Atlanta. Generally there is some place that you can make your car work there.

“It may be the bottom. It may be the top. It may be the middle or a combination. There are just a million different combinations, and he seems to enjoy finding the right one.”

Earnhardt Jr. is 15th in the point standings after three races and is coming off a 16th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which, like Atlanta, is a 1.5-mile track, though a different configuration. Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin all finished in the top five at Las Vegas.

His car will feature a new chassis at Atlanta.

“You have to have good aero balance,” McGrew said. “The car needs to be able to work multiple grooves. It’s a place that’s been historically rough on equipment because it’s rough and old so there are lots of things to consider.”

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