NEWS & NOTES
AT DARLINGTON: In 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has recorded three top-five finishes and seven top-10s. He has completed 98 percent of all laps he’s attempted there (4,995 laps of 5,099 total) and had led 170 of those laps.
POINTS POSITION: Earnhardt, driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, ranks 13th in the championship standings after finishing 32nd last weekend at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. He is only four points away from 12th-place Clint Bowyer.
CHASSIS CHOICE: This weekend, crew chief Lance McGrew and the No. 88 team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-584. Earnhardt last raced this chassis at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, where he scored the pole position and earned a 15th-place finish.
ROOKIE STRIPE: This will be McGrew’s first Darlington race as the crew chief of the No. 88 Chevy, but he has experience leading a team to Victory Lane at the historic oval. In 2003, McGrew was the crew chief for Brian Vickers, who won the NASCAR Nationwide Series event in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. This weekend’s race is the final track on the schedule where McGrew has yet to sit atop the No. 88 pitbox.
HENDRICK AT DARLINGTON: Hendrick Motorsports has 13 wins, seven pole positions, 38 top-five finishes, 62 top-10s and 2,835 laps led in 47 races (142 starts) at Darlington. The organization’s 13 victories have come courtesy of six different drivers: Jeff Gordon (7), Jimmie Johnson (2), Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Tim Richmond and Ricky Rudd.
ALL-STAR PREVIEW: Later this month, Earnhardt’s No. 88 machine will sport a different look at the May 22 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. The black-and-silver Chevrolet will feature a paint scheme showcasing The Dale Jr. Foundation that weekend.
QUOTES
DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER, NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET (ON DARLINGTON RACEWAY.): “The line you have to run around that track is really unorthodox. It’s a real narrow racetrack. You get in the fence a lot during the race, and it is real slick. It is a real big ole racetrack, but it is real slick and narrow and tough to drive.”
LANCE McGREW, CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET (ON DARLINGTON RACEWAY.): “It’s one of the racetracks that would be a valuable win because of the history of the track, and I was lucky enough to get one in a Nationwide car. It was really cool. It’s one of those tracks that you associate the history of NASCAR with. It’s a race car driver’s racetrack. It’s just hard to get around that place all day and keep your car in one piece.”
McGREW (ON THE KEYS TO WINNING AT DARLINGTON.): “One is just you’ve got to take care of your car. You run right up against the wall all day long, and it’s so easy with one little slip and you slide up in the wall and your car is never as fast. It’s about taking care of your car, managing your tires. As the track surface has changed somewhat, there is a lot of pit strategy involved in it. You’ll see two-tire stops, where you never had that option years ago. As the pavement starts to wear out, you’ll start to see old Darlington resurface.”
McGREW (ON LEADING THE NO. 88 TEAM AT DARLINGTON FOR THE FIRST TIME.): “It’s all about your notebook and what you learned at the track the last time. If you don’t have anything to go by then it’s like starting with a clean sheet of paper. Sometimes it’s good, and sometimes it’s not. The difference for the super-phenomenal teams like the No. 48 is that they have all that history together. When we go to places where they have the history, they know exactly what the car is going to do. Every time you get to learn something you have to take advantage of that.”
| 
|