Dale Earnhardt Jr.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - Kansas Preview
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Sep 24, 2008
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AT KANSAS: In seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Kansas Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has four top-10 finishes and has led 40 laps. Earnhardt, driver of the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet, recorded the pole position at the track in 2002 and has an average start of 12.9.
LEADING LAPS: Earnhardt has led 875 laps this season, which is more than he led total during his 2000 (426 laps), 2001 (767 laps), 2005 (169 laps), 2006 (444 laps) and 2007 (433 laps) Sprint Cup seasons. Earnhardt has led at least one lap in 19 of the 28 Cup events this season.
STREAK INTACT: The No. 88 team has crossed the finish line in all 28 Sprint Cup races run this season. Earnhardt has recorded one win, nine top-five finishes and 14 top-10s in 2008, posting an average starting position of 10.1 and an average finish of 12.5. Earnhardt is one of three Chase for the Sprint Cup contenders who has run to the finish of every race this year.
HENDRICK AT KANSAS: In seven events at Kansas Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has posted two wins, seven top-five finishes and 13 top-10s. Driver Jeff Gordon won the first two Sprint Cup events held at Kansas in 2001 and 2002, while teammate Jimmie Johnson has recorded both of the team’s pole positions in 2003 and 2007.
TESTING AT LOWE’S: Earnhardt is testing at the 1.5-mile Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., this week. At the last Sprint Cup outing at LMS—the 600-mile event in May—Earnhardt led 76 laps and posted a fifth-place finish.
CHASSIS FOR KANSAS: Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and the No. 88 engineers has chosen Chassis No. 88-499 for this Sunday’s race. This is the same chassis Earnhardt drove to lead 76 laps and finish fifth in the 600-mile event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May. He scored a 12th-place finish with Chassis 499 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.
QUOTES
DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER OF THE NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY IMPALA SS (ON ADDED PRESSURE AS THE CHASE GOES ON.): “I think a lot of people were arguing the fact whether we would make the Chase this year. And we felt like we would make the Chase all along. We made the Chase easier than I anticipated. It was a relief, but you can also take that as a confidence builder. We have an everything-to-gain-and-nothing-to-lose mentality. It gives you a lot of confidence.”
EARNHARDT (ON THE DIVISION OF CHASE AND NON-CHASE DRIVERS.): ”The Chase sort of splits the series up between drivers with a shot to win the title and drivers without a shot to win the title. And there is a lot of pride and a lot of cockiness in a way to being in that (Chase) group. You try not to be a jerk or be cocky to a fault, but you want to use that to hold your confidence to a certain level.”
TONY EURY JR., CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY IMPALA SS
(ON HIS RELATIONSHIP AND RADIO BANTER WITH DALE EARNHARDT JR.): ”Basically Dale Jr. is strapped into that car, and he has nobody to yell at or no way to vent. He feels he needs to vent somehow, and a lot of times he’ll vent to me because he knows it doesn’t bother me; I just blow it off. But a lot of people can’t take it the same way. I look at it as an older brother dealing with a younger brother. But sometimes a big brother can tell you something and you really don’t want to take it serious so it’s been great to have Rick (Hendrick, team owner) up on the pit box a little bit to talk with him and try to keep him calm. A big brother can tell you to stay calm, but you really don’t want to. Our deal is I told him pretty much if he wants to vent, vent. It doesn’t bother me in the least. I know what he’s going through in the car. I understand what he’s trying to do, and a lot of times people don’t see it, but he’ll get out of the car and say, ‘Man, you’ve done a great job. Thank you. I appreciate you putting up with me for the day.’ You’ll never get to see that side of it. All the fans and media hear is the direct line of communication between us.”
EURY (ON KANSAS SPEEDWAY THE TRACK AND ITS IMPACT ON THE CHASE.): “It’s a lot like Chicago. It’s flat. The car has to stay turning. It’s basically what we call a horsepower track because a lot of momentum carries there. It’s the third one on the list (for the Chase). It’s pretty important because people are still getting sorted out through the Chase, and you can get a lot of momentum going into Charlotte (Lowe’s Motor Speedway) through this track. A lot of people will bring out new motor packages at this time because it is such a horsepower track. It gives them a sense of what they’re going to have when they get to Texas and things like that.”
EURY (ON PREPARING FOR KANSAS.): “We actually go to Kentucky and test. We went there the other day. But by this time, you’ve sorted out a lot of it with the things we’ve done at California and Michigan. All those places build up to the same attitude of the car. We’re pushing those doors open again. I’m looking forward to Kansas. We had a really good test of Kentucky the other day, and that track is really similar so I think Kansas will be a good time.”
EURY (ON THE OPENING OF THE CHASE.): “We’ve got to start off with one goal, which is getting top fives. Then your second goal is to win the race. But you’ve got to get that first one under your belt. Get us a good solid top five because those stats will stack up real early here in the first five races, which I think is the most important. Then you can find out who you’re going to race to the end. You are going to have to win races at the end, but you can narrow it down. Instead of racing 12 guys you’ll be racing five guys at the end.”
