DALE EARNHARDT: Race Report for Michigan

When the racing action ended at Michigan International Speedway this past weekend, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. produced measurable successes. First, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet did their vintage paint scheme – a tribute to Ralph and Dale Earnhardt – justice with a top-five finish. As a result of their best showing at MIS, they also moved up two positions in points. Martin Truex, Jr. and the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team had a top-15 start and produced a top-20 finish. As a result, they moved up one position in points. No. 8 team finishes third Earnhardt, Jr. came to the two-mile oval of MIS sixth in points with a previous best finish of seventh to his credit. When the 200-lap race started, 50 minutes late because of rain, the cream-colored No. 8 Budweiser Monte Carlo SS quickly made its presence known. After the Happy Hour session on Saturday, the driver simply asked the crew not to touch anything on the car because he was pleased with its handling. Right from the start, Earnhardt, Jr. jumped into the top-five and remained there for much of the race. At one point, he took over the lead for three laps picking up five bonus points, as well. Rain showers would stop and start causing more delays and forcing crew chiefs to utilize weather-related pit strategy. With 70 laps remaining, a persistent rain forced the cars to pit road and drivers to the garage. After seeing the weather wouldn’t let up, and with the race being past the halfway point, NASCAR called it a completed event. The team’s third place finish is their first top-five and third top-10 in 14 starts at MIS. Aside from going the distance to see if they could have won, Earnhardt, Jr. was very pleased with the team’s results. “We had a good car all weekend, from the first practice to the race,” he said. “The weather was different obviously, so we weren't as good when the race started, but we made some changes and hauled butt. It was so much fun racing for the lead with Jeff (Gordon) - you can run side-by-side here and having a good car really made it fun. “This is a moral victory for me and (crew chief) Tony (Eury) Jr. It's like a personal victory for us because we've never had a car that good here. And, it makes us really excited about coming back here again and tracks like Chicago where we will be just as good. We've found some things and I think we've really turned the corner. Today is a sign of things to come. “We were too tight on the last run so I couldn't catch the 9 (Kahne), but I told them I needed to be tighter and they made those changes. Who knows if we could have caught him if we would have been able to finish the race, but the car was good all weekend.” The No. 8 team is now fourth in points, up from sixth, trailing third by 31 markers. No. 1 team almost cracks top-15 Truex and the No. 1 Bass Pro team started 11th and remained in the top-15 for much of the race. After dropping back some positions because of a loose condition early, the crew took advantage of several cautions to make adjustments. Soon after, Truex radioed in that the car was better and he could get into the 18-degree turns of MIS better than before. Starting to move forward with the better handling car, he would advance to 16th place when the race-ending rain started. “That’s just been our luck the last few weeks,” Truex said. “We had a good car, but we didn’t get a chance to prove it. “Kevin and the boys kept working on it until it felt more comfortable, but then the rains came. I feel like we could have been a top-10 car if the race would have gone the distance.” The finish did move the team up one position to 24th in points where they trail 20th by 31 markers. This weekend, the Nextel Cup Series heads to the first road course race of the year when they’ll visit Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.