CUP: Strong Run For Earnhardt Jr.

Sprint Cup

CUP: Strong Run For Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had one of his best finishes of the season at Martinsville...

Tom Jensen | Posted October 25, 2010 Charlotte, NC

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) leads teammate Jeff Gordon (24) Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The roar coming out of tiny Martinsville Speedway on lap 285 of the Tums Fast Relief 500 was so deafening it probably could have been heard 45 miles to the south in Greensboro, N.C.

That was the lap when Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally ran down his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon and put the No. 88 Chevrolet out front for the first time in the race.

The pass for the lead sent the crowd of Earnhardt partisans screaming with delight, seeing their favorite on the point, a place he’s spent precious little time this year. Heading into Martinsville, Earnhardt had led just five of 31 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, a total of 71 laps all season long. In fact, he had led just three laps in the previous 18 races combined.

But here he was on a glorious, sunny fall Virginia afternoon, out front of the field. And he would stay in the lead for a total of 90 laps, before surrendering the top spot in the pits under caution on lap 351.

From there on, his car got too tight and he faded a bit to seventh place, one of three Hendrick cars to finish in the top 10. On balance, it was a strong run for the team.

“We got toward the front on some pit strategy that worked out really good and then we had a good enough car at the time to pass the guys that were around us,” said Earnhardt. “They had a little less tire than we had. A lot of things worked in our favor to get us the lead then we came out on the pit stop in first and held it all the way until the next caution, I think about 50 or 60 laps.”

As is so often the case, even at the tiny Martinsville track, the car out front benefits from having clean air on the nose, and Earnhardt’s car looked strong up front.

“The No. 31 (Jeff Burton) was coming but I felt like if I held my line just perfectly, I was actually a little bit better than him at that point,” said Earnhardt. “Those RCR cars were really fast all weekend but they fell off real bad and I figured he would if I just kept up and was patient out front. I felt good at that point. When we got behind a couple of guys and had a couple more sets of tires later, we got real tight. We were thinking we went down on our air pressure too far 'cause the car was actually okay after 40 laps but too tight the first 25. We just needed to be a little freer, but it’s all right.”

The end result was something of a mixed bag for Earnhardt. He enjoys racing at Martinsville but knows the team isn’t quite where it needs to be just yet.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished seventh at Martinsville. (Photo: Getty Images)

“Well, this isn’t quite good enough,” said Earnhardt. “We have to run way better than this. I’ve been coming here ever since I quit wreckin’ and we get the right cooling on the front end. I can come in here and get a top-10 unless we have a major major issue in the setup. I feel pretty confident. That is how I feel. I’m not saying that is reality.”

Still, it was a good afternoon.

“I feel pretty good that when I come here I can run good,” said Earnhardt. “I like racing here and I like this style of racing. You kind of have to get over a lot of things out there that happen then you have to stand your ground in a lot of cases. It is a lot of fun. It is an active day and a lot of fun. ... This is where it is at, right here.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

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