July 13
Johnny Benson from MSNBC: Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Chicagoland in 2005, and he had even a better set-up last season when he started 25th, worked his way through the field, led for 27 laps, and wound up fifth. Besides his win two years ago, Junior has two top-fives and three top-10s in six Cup starts at this venue. He finishes (14.5 average), much better than he starts (22.7 average) at Chicagoland.
Dale Earnhartd Inc: Quotes from Dale Earnhardt Jr. - “I’m beginning to think I should just not slow down when I see a crash in front of me. I hope that theme doesn’t continue. We’ve been taken out of two chances to win a race this season by getting hit from behind while trying to avoid a wreck (at Texas in April and last Saturday evening in Daytona). I keep saying that we’re due to have the breaks start going our way, and when they do, we’re going to enjoy it.
Scene Daily: “I’m really proud of the win in 2005,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It was great to win a race with Steve Hmiel as my crew chief. He’s a guy that means a lot to DEI now, but I grew up watching him as Mark Martin’s crew chief, so it was special to be able to say I was able to win a race with him on my team.”
Hmiel had replaced Pete Rondeau on an interim basis before Tony Eury Jr. returned to the team later in the year. The veteran Hmiel currently serves as Dale Earnhardt Inc.‘s technical director.
“He decided to give me two tires on a late stop, and I was able to drive it to the finish,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It was wild. I was sideways half the time, spinnin’ out every corner - but that’s what it took that afternoon to win and we were able to do it.”
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