NASCAR WCUP: Earnhardt Jr. 'clicking' after big finish at Dover

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

June 5, 2001

“The team is really clicking right now. We’ve had a string of great runs – even though we missed the setup at Charlotte. In the past seven races we’ve matched the number of top 10s we had all last year. I think it shows how we’re improving as a team to get two third-place finishes in the last four races even though we ran out of fuel at California (dropping one lap behind) and then spun out at Dover. I can’t wait to get to Michigan and see that green flag.”--Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Last year at Michigan, it seemed like anything and everything happened. I had the flu, we won the pole and led the fall race, I barely avoided a couple of big wrecks, we dropped to last place, our spotter’s radio battery went dead and I spun through the infield grass… let’s see, I can’t even remember it all. I think we even blew an engine, which never seems to happen. We’ve been really strong on horsepower all season, and this track is very similar to Fontana, so look out! Here we come.”

Budweiser No. 8 Team and Dale Jr. at Michigan
Previous Winston Cup Starts: 3
Best Start: 1st (August, 2000)
Best Finish: 13th (June, 2000)
Laps Led: 13

Dale Jr. has had quite a few memorable moments at the D-shaped rural Michigan oval. Dale Jr. is the track record holder for NASCAR Winston Cup cars with a lap at an average speed of 191.149 mph. It was the first (and still the only) lap at more than 190 mph in a stock car at MIS, and it secured his second Bud Pole in his first full season of Winston Cup competition. He joined his father and brother Kerry in the starting line-up for that race, which made them the first father and two-son trio to start a Winston Cup race in 40 years.

During his Busch Series career, he scored his first career Busch top-10 finish with an under-financed team in 1997, and he won in 1999 in an exciting duel with Jeff Gordon, who was making a rare appearance in a Busch car.

In 1999, he waged a memorable battle with his father in the International Race of Champions (IROC) event, narrowly finishing second in a fender-bending, near-photo finish. The race is still talked about to this day, and it still stands as the best finish of Dale Jr’s stint in the IROC series.

Points Since Bristol

Since Dale Jr. and the Bud team dropped to 26th in points after a disappointing Bristol race, they have gained 17 positions to 9th place and have scored more points than anyone other than Tony Stewart.

Text provided by J. Gurss

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