Dale Earnhardt Jr. Quotes From Martinsville

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Mar 31, 2008

Dale Earnhardt Jr. “We had a little different setup than we have run here before and I think we can make that work. That was the longest green flag run we had had on tires today, that last one. I ran too hard at the start of it and used up my stuff a little bit and didn’t have any tires at the end to hold them guys off. I should have been more patient. Jeff (Gordon) was patient and he was riding and I got by him and I thought ‘all right, now I can get these other guys on old tires’ but I just burned it up so we didn’t get the finish we could have or needed to have. We got a good finish, I am real happy about that, we led a lot today, we can’t be too upset. That would be ridiculous to be disappointed with how we did today because we did really good.
“We have to do this every week. If we can’t get those wins right now, it is best to get what we can get and build upon making the Chase. We tried really hard today and it just didn’t work out for us.”

“I am not really disappointed. I know my guys are, but I am not, trust me. Tony, Jr. and the guys are disappointed with it. They saw that car run up front all day and they wanted to finish there. We tried, but, again, the wins will come. We just have to be patient and be happy and mindful about the points we are getting in this stretch. We have a little bit of a period in the summer where we go to tracks that we are off and on, hot and cold at. We need get a good base of points built up as early as we can, so in case we have any kind of struggles in mid season, so just trying to be guarded and smart.” Hampton Roads
He couldn’t have fit in better with Hendrick Motorsports at the track it dominates—until he ruined a chance for victory.
He had already led a race-best 146 laps and seemed to have one of the best cars, but said he deprived himself a chance to make a move on the leaders by driving too hard.
“I should have been more patient,” Earnhardt said.
“Jeff (Gordon) was patient and he was riding and I got by him and I thought, `All right, now I can get these other guys on old tires,’ but I just burned it up so we didn’t get the finish we could have or needed to have. We got a good finish.” <\/scr"+"ipt>"); //]]>-->