Milestone at MIchigan for Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make his 350th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start in Sunday's running of the CARFAX 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Since making his Sprint Cup Series debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway back on May 30, 1999, Earnhardt has scored 18 wins, eight pole positions, 87 top-five finishes and 140 top-10s. His 6,473 laps led rank fifth among active full-time drivers.
It's been a struggle this season for Earnhardt in his second year at Hendrick Motorsports, but he's hoping to turn things around at the two-mile MIS track, where he scored his last series victory in June of 2008.
In 20 Cup starts at Michigan, Earnhardt has recorded one win, two pole positions, three top-five finishes and six top-10s. He has led 167 laps and completed 98.9 percent of all laps he's attempted (3,848 laps of 3,891) at the track. He has led at least one lap in seven of his last eight outings.
"I enjoy racing at Michigan, and we seem to run pretty well there," Earnhardt said. "It's a big track, and there are multiple grooves to run. If one line doesn't work, then you can move around the track. We had a good car last time out so hopefully we improve on that."
Sunday's race will be the second for crew chief Lance McGrew calling the shots for the No. 88 team and he's hoping to improve on last June's performance.
"I think setup-wise, we weren't altogether where we needed to be," McGrew said. "I think we've learned a lot more things about what Dale likes and what Dale doesn't like. And I think that our cars are better. I think where we've had opportunities to build a couple new cars and get a car or two in rotation, that's going to alleviate some of the problems that we were fighting there the first time that we couldn't seem to overcome as much."
As for how to get the 88 car to victory lane, McGrew believes there are several elements necessary to provide his driver with a car capable of winning.
"There's a lot of ways you can be good," he said. "You can be good around the bottom all day, you can be good around the middle, you can be good around the top. I think it's just like any of the big intermediate tracks--aero is key, and if your car handles good you can run anywhere you want to run."
"For me, I think I've always referred to Michigan as a driver's kind of racetrack because if his car's not working one place, he can generally find a place that it will work. A lot like Atlanta or a place similar--it's very wide, you can run the top, you can run the bottom, you can run the middle. So I think it makes my life a little bit easier."
RacingOne.Com
Senior Editor
Since making his Sprint Cup Series debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway back on May 30, 1999, Earnhardt has scored 18 wins, eight pole positions, 87 top-five finishes and 140 top-10s. His 6,473 laps led rank fifth among active full-time drivers.
It's been a struggle this season for Earnhardt in his second year at Hendrick Motorsports, but he's hoping to turn things around at the two-mile MIS track, where he scored his last series victory in June of 2008.
In 20 Cup starts at Michigan, Earnhardt has recorded one win, two pole positions, three top-five finishes and six top-10s. He has led 167 laps and completed 98.9 percent of all laps he's attempted (3,848 laps of 3,891) at the track. He has led at least one lap in seven of his last eight outings.
"I enjoy racing at Michigan, and we seem to run pretty well there," Earnhardt said. "It's a big track, and there are multiple grooves to run. If one line doesn't work, then you can move around the track. We had a good car last time out so hopefully we improve on that."
Sunday's race will be the second for crew chief Lance McGrew calling the shots for the No. 88 team and he's hoping to improve on last June's performance.
"I think setup-wise, we weren't altogether where we needed to be," McGrew said. "I think we've learned a lot more things about what Dale likes and what Dale doesn't like. And I think that our cars are better. I think where we've had opportunities to build a couple new cars and get a car or two in rotation, that's going to alleviate some of the problems that we were fighting there the first time that we couldn't seem to overcome as much."
As for how to get the 88 car to victory lane, McGrew believes there are several elements necessary to provide his driver with a car capable of winning.
"There's a lot of ways you can be good," he said. "You can be good around the bottom all day, you can be good around the middle, you can be good around the top. I think it's just like any of the big intermediate tracks--aero is key, and if your car handles good you can run anywhere you want to run."
"For me, I think I've always referred to Michigan as a driver's kind of racetrack because if his car's not working one place, he can generally find a place that it will work. A lot like Atlanta or a place similar--it's very wide, you can run the top, you can run the bottom, you can run the middle. So I think it makes my life a little bit easier."
RacingOne.Com
Senior Editor
