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CUP: Earnhardt Rebound Coming At Daytona?
Written by: Tom Jensen   
07/01/2009
Charlotte, NC
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard/Mountain Dew Chevrolet, stands in the garage. (Photo: Getty Images) ยป More Photos

If you’re Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s biggest star, and you’re mired in a disastrously disappointing season, how do you break out of a slump? Head to Daytona Beach, of course.

In 19 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway, Earnhardt has recorded two wins, six top-five finishes, 11 top-10s and has led 383 laps.

By comparison, in 17 Cup starts in the 2009 season, Earnhardt has no victories, one top-five and three top-10 finishes. He has led just 90 laps all year long and none since Talladega Superspeedway, nine races ago. It was at Talladega, which along with DIS is one of two restrictor-place tracks in NASCAR, where Junior had his best finish of the season, a second-place run.

Earnhardt Season Record

So is the weekend that Earnhardt breaks out of his nearly season-long slump?

History
would suggest it is. Earnhardt loves racing at Daytona and his Hendrick Motorsports team has one of the best restrictor-plate programs in NASCAR. And while the new-generation race-car has somewhat leveled the playing field — Earnhardt no longer has a superior plate-track program like he did in the halcyon days at Dale Earnhardt Inc. — he still ought to be very, very good here.

After all, it was less than 18 months ago when Earnhardt won the Budweiser Shootout and one of the Daytona 500 Gatorade Duel qualifying races in Hendrick Chevrolets.

Overall, Earnhardt has 12 wins at Daytona International Speedway. He won the 2004 Daytona 500, the 2001 Pepsi 400, two Budweiser Shootouts (2003 and 2008) and five NASCAR Nationwide Series events. Earnhardt also won his Gatorade Duel qualifying races in 2003, 2004 and 2008.

That collective body of work has him optimistic about his chances in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400.


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