With yet another top-10 finish, at Charlotte – his seventh in the previous eight races – Dale Earnhardt Jr. now has nine top 10s in 2012. That’s more than any driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Earnhardt boasts another “most” statistic. He has completed all 3,888 laps this season, the only driver to do so.
Can the trend continue? Well…
Earnhardt has struggled at Dover of late, having failed to finish in the top 10 in each of the last eight Dover races. His last one, last October, he finished two laps down.
1 3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. DaleJrFndtn/NationalGuard/DietMtnDew Chev 2 1 22 AJ Allmendinger Pennzoil Dodge
3 19 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Shops / Allstate Chevrolet
4 2 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
5 7 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
6 13 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota
7 5 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford
8 4 31 Jeff Burton CAT / BB&T Chevrolet
9 6 83 Landon Cassill Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota
10 9 93 Travis Kvapil Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota
11 11 13 Casey Mears GEICO Ford 12 8 47 Bobby Labonte Kingsford Toyota (Fan Vote)
13 21 26 Josh Wise # MDS Transport Ford
14 15 95 Scott Speed Jordan’s Truck Sales Ford
15 16 38 David Gilliland SCORPION Window Film Ford
16 17 19 Mike Bliss(i) Humphrey Smith Racing Toyota
17 20 87 Joe Nemechek(i) AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota
18 10 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Toyota
19 12 10 David Reutimann Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
20 22 36 Tony Raines Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet
I know I sound like a broken record — scratched cd for those younger readers, or even a corrupted MP3 file for even younger readers – but Dale Earnhardt Jr. proved again at Richmond that he is indeed knocking on the door of victory lane. It has now been a grueling 138 races since Earnhardt last tasted the spoils of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but after nine races this season he already has four top-three finishes including a second-place effort this past weekend in Richmond.
Martin Truex Jr. nearly made it back to victory lane this past Sunday for the first time since the 2007 season (175 races ago). However after leading a race-high 173 laps, he was forced to settle for a second-place finish when Denny Hamlin edged ahead of his No. 56 NAPA Toyota with just 30 laps to go in the STP 400 in Kansas.
“I’d like to try it again,” Truex would exclaim when he exited his car Sunday, ”I mean, I drove as hard as I could.”
Truex has been on a roll as of late, and he is actually now up to second in the point standings after eight races in 2012, which is the highest he has ever ranked in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings in his seven-full seasons in NASCAR’s premier division. He will get his chance to try again at snapping his long-long-long winless drought this Saturday in Richmond.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career has caught a second-wind after horrid seasons in 2009 and 2010 where he finished outside the top-20 in the point standings. Last season Earnhardt began building a foundation with his new crew chief Steve Letarte. The two gelled nearly to perfection, and Earnhardt returned to the Chase for the first time since 2008.
This season Earnhardt is on fire. Through the first seven races he has racked up five top-ten finishes, and he has yet to finish outside of the top-15 in any event. Coincidentally now that Earnhardt has things turned around, the rest of Hendrick Motorsports seems to be struggling to find their way as the organization sits at 199 wins in the Sprint Cup Series.
Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne can’t seem to buy good luck, while Jimmie Johnson was mired in a cheating scandal during the early stages of the season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Chevrolet sits on display at the White House with a NASCAR Unites – An American Salute paint scheme on April 9, 2012, in Washington, D.C.
PHOTO CREDIT: NASCARMEDIA (USED WITH PERMISSION)
The NASCAR Unites program was announced over the weekend with Dale Earnhardt Jr’s #88 patriotic paint scheme sitting at The White house for the 134th annual Easter Egg Roll where over 30,000 people had a chance to see the car. This program is to celebrate America and support military families with these slick paint schemes and more.
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Junior’s Stellar Season Continues
