News & Notes
AT RICHMOND: In 23 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has recorded three wins, eight top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. He has completed 99 percent of all laps he’s attempted at the short track (9,110 laps of 9,203 total).
SPRING SUCCESS: Earnhardt earned all three of his Richmond wins in the spring Cup event, most recently visiting Victory Lane on May 6, 2006. He first won the race during his rookie season on May 6, 2000, and then again on May 15, 2004. Earnhardt’s three wins at Richmond tie him with teammate Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart for most victories there among active, full-time drivers.
POINTS POSITION: After his fourth-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Earnhardt improved to third in the Sprint Cup championship standings. He trails leader Carl Edwards by 19 points.
CHASSIS CHOICE: This weekend, crew chief Steve Letarte will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-542. Earnhardt last raced this chassis to a 10th-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway in February.
DRIVER RATING: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Earnhardt ranks 13th in the driver rating category at Richmond with a score of 85.6. 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.
HENDRICK BEST: Hendrick Motorsports has tied a team-best 15 pole positions at Richmond. Geoff Bodine earned the organization’s first Richmond pole position in the No. 5 Chevy in September 1985, while Martin captured the most recent pole at the track in September 2009. Hendrick Motorsports also has 15 pole positions at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
HENDRICK AT RICHMOND: In 54 races (166 starts), Hendrick Motorsports has 10 wins, 47 top-five finishes and 81 top-10s at Richmond. A Hendrick Motorsports driver ranks first in nearly every category among the active field at the Virginia short track: Earnhardt and Johnson are tied for first in the win category with three apiece; while Mark Martin owns the most top-five finishes with 17. Jeff Gordon leads all drivers with five pole positions and 1,402 laps led.
APPROACHING 200: With Johnson’s win on April 17 at Talladega, Hendrick Motorsports has earned 196 Cup victories. The organization ranks first in NASCAR’s modern era for wins and second all-time behind Petty Enterprises, which has 268 victories.
Quotes
DALE EARNHARDT JR., DRIVER, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET (ON WHAT MAKES RICHMOND FUN TO DRIVE.):
“Oh man, they are all fun. I used to race at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) which is real similar to Richmond. The line there and the track are kind of similar. It reminds me a lot of Myrtle Beach, so I was pretty comfortable as soon as I got there, as soon as I started running laps there.”
EARNHARDT (ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BE FAST AT RICHMOND.):
“Just rolling the center. The last couple times I’ve been there we’ve struggled turning in the middle. The car has to turn and cut in the center of the corner and have good drive off, especially in Turn 4. You can spin your tires real bad coming off of (Turn) 4 if you aren’t careful.”
STEVE LETARTE, CREW CHIEF, NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET (ON PREPARING FOR THE SUMMER STRETCH.):
“You have to realize it’s a stretch. Prioritize your effort and prioritize your work. It’s easy to say we are going to work 110 percent every week but you can’t. You have to rest your people, your cars, your equipment. You have to make good decisions, and I think that as a company that is something we do very well. Hopefully with the No. 88 we can continue to have good runs and take the pressure off of the summer by staying up in the points where we are now.”
LETARTE (ON RICHMOND BEING ONE OF HIS FAVORITE TRACKS.):
“Is it a favorite place because you like to go there or because you run good? That’s the open-ended question. I grew up in the northeast, and in the northeast a half-mile was a big racetrack. Richmond is the kind of short track like I grew up racing on. It’s two-groove racing. It’s just a blast. It’s a two-day show. You show up Friday and get it all knocked up and come back Saturday and race under the lights. It’s one of the few tracks that gives you goose bumps. It is a blast.”
LETARTE (ON SATURDAY NIGHT RACING.):
“The funny thing about Richmond is that you race under the lights, and that is the only time you’ll be on the track under the lights. It’s difficult. You practice in the middle of the day on Friday. The track couldn’t be any more different. That track schedule has been consistent for years so our notebook is very thick. If you run a setup in the middle of the day on Friday, you had better make some changes for Saturday night. We have a pretty good confidence on what we have to do, and they seem to work good.”
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