NEWS & NOTES
AT NEW HAMPSHIRE: In 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has scored five top-five finishes and eight top-10s. He has completed 92.3 percent of all the laps he’s attempted (5,397 of 5,845 total) and paced the field for 351 laps.
LAST YEAR AT LOUDON: Last September, Earnhardt scored his most recent New Hampshire top-five finish driving Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet. He started the race fourth and led 79 laps before finishing fifth.
DRIVER RATING: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Earnhardt is ranked fourth in the driver rating category at New Hampshire with a score of 102.6. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
LAPS IN THE TOP 15: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Earnhardt is fourth among drivers for laps run in the top 15 at New Hampshire. During the last nine races at the 1.058-mile oval, the Kannapolis, N.C., native has spent almost 80 percent of the events (2,097 laps of 2,665) running in the top 15.
NEW HAMPSHIRE CHASSIS: Crew chief Lance McGrew and the No. 88 engineers will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-541. Earnhardt last raced this chassis to a 13th-place finish at New Hampshire in June.
HENDRICK AT NEW HAMPSHIRE: Hendrick Motorsports, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season, has six wins, 27 top-five finishes and 44 top-10s in 102 starts at Loudon.
QUOTES
DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER, NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET (ON CHALLENGES AT NEW HAMPSHIRE.): “New Hampshire can be a one-groove racetrack. There’s a lot of rubber buildup, and that determines where you can and can’t run in the corners. If you can’t run the line you want to because of the rubber buildup on the track, it makes it frustrating.”
EARNHARDT (ON FOCUS IN THE FINAL STRETCH OF THE YEAR.): “We need to become a top-five team every week. I’d like to see more consistency and more strength in our performance.”
LANCE McGREW, INTERIM CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/ NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET (ON THE LAST RACE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE.): “The last race there came down to weather. I felt like we had the strategy that it took to win the race or to legitimately have a shot at winning it. The car was really good. It just happened to rain before the fuel window cycled through. It’s aggravating because a lot of times you feel like the best car doesn’t win, but that’s the case for a lot of places we go to, really.”
McGREW (ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BE GOOD AT NEW HAMPSHIRE.): “A good car. The car has to roll through the center really well and have good grip off the corner because it’s so hard to pass there. If you can run the bottom and roll through there fast and not have a big wheel spin problem coming off the corner, then you’ll be faster. So it’s a challenge to do both because a lot of times to get the car free enough to roll through the center, then he’s really going to have trouble getting the throttle down off the corner.”
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