News & Notes
FIRST START: Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his NASCAR Sprint Cup career debut on May 30, 1999, at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Then 24 years old, Earnhardt started the event eighth and finished 16th. Since then, he has tallied 18 wins, 10 pole positions, 93 top-five finishes and 155 top-10s in 410 Cup starts.
FIRST POLE POSITION: Earnhardt, driver of the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet, earned his first career Cup Series pole position at his hometown track during his 2000 rookie year. He lined up first for the 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in just his 17th start in the Cup Series. He finished that event fourth.
AT CHARLOTTE: In 23 Sprint Cup starts at Charlotte, Earnhardt has recorded one pole position, five top-five finishes and nine top-10s. He has completed 94.5 percent of all laps he’s attempted (7,730 laps of 8,182 total) at the 1.5-mile oval. The 36-year-old driver has led a total of 322 laps there.
POINTS AFTER DOVER: After finishing 12th two weeks ago at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Earnhardt remains fourth in the championship standings. He trails leader Carl Edwards by 52 points.
CHASSIS CHOICE: This weekend at Charlotte, crew chief Steve Letarte and the No. 88 crew will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-617. Earnhardt last raced this chassis at Texas Motor Speedway in April to a ninth-place finish.
INTERMEDIATE TRACK STATS: In 197 Cup starts on intermediate (one- to two-mile) tracks, Earnhardt has recorded six wins, six pole positions, 38 top-five finishes and 73 top-10s. He has a 16.3 average starting position and an average finishing position of 17.4 on these racetracks.
HENDRICK AT CHARLOTTE: In 54 races (179 starts) at Charlotte, Hendrick has 16 wins, 49 top-five finishes and 74 top-10s. Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin are the top-three winningest drivers among the active field and have scored a combined 15 victories. Johnson owns six, while Gordon has five and Martin has four. Most recently, Johnson went to Victory Lane at Charlotte when he won the October 2009 event.
Quotes
DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET (ON THE 600-MILE RACE AT CHARLOTTE.):
“Racing in the 600 is pretty interesting because you wouldn’t think you’d notice those extra 100 miles, but you do. I think you notice it more mentally than you do physically. When you are holding your concentration for so long you definitely know when you’ve gone past your usual length of time. Those last 100 miles can be difficult if you aren’t ready, you’re not having a good day or a good weekend.”
EARNHARDT (ON TURNS 3 AND 4 AT CHARLOTTE.):
“Turns 3 and 4 make for a tough corner, especially throughout the day when the sun is up. It gets real hard to get through the bottom of that corner and then when the sun goes down which is typically when the race is ending, there is a lot of grip on the bottom, and it’s almost a one-groove corner at that time. It definitely changes throughout the day.”
STEVE LETARTE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET (ON RUNNING 600 MILES AT CHARLOTTE (N.C.) MOTOR SPEEDWAY.):
“The 600-mile race used to be a big deal when reliability was more of an issue. It’s still an issue but with cars the way they are and with the engine shops as far as they are now, I don’t see the race as any longer. Six hundred miles at Charlotte seems shorter than 500 miles at Pocono to me. It’s a mile-and-a-half track, and it’s a lot of laps. I think the difference between 500 and 600 miles is very little. You have a lot of laps to run, and you maintain the emotion and composure and maintain your patience for 600 miles. If you do that, then normally you are around at the end of the night and you have a good night.”
LETARTE (ON RACING DURING THE DAY-TO-NIGHT CONDITIONS.):
“Charlotte from day to night is a pretty finicky place. During last weekend’s All-Star race, the track changed the least I have seen in years, and I think that’s because of the Goodyear tire. I think it has a lot more grip and works well during the day. How do you prepare? You guess because we have no night practice. Short of running the All-Star race, that’s the only time you are on track during the evening until the 600. You look at your notes and you look at your history and you guess on what the track is going to do and you hope you guess right.”
LETARTE (ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BE GOOD AT CHARLOTTE.):
“Charlotte is probably the biggest front-loading track we go to. What I mean by that is that the transition into Turn 1 is a big drop. It doesn’t look like it. Like at Dover (Del.), it’s very obvious to the fans that you drop down into the corner. At Charlotte, you land harder than anywhere. If you can get your front tires to grip through the landing section and not be tight there, then you will be a rocket ship. That’s what we fought in the All-Star, and that’s what a lot of teams fought. I would assume that’s what the No. 99 didn’t fight.”
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