Earnhardt rebounds; moves to 13th in the points
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Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR
By Kyle Ocker
Sprint Cup Series beat reporter
The day started off with excitement for JR Nation, who were preparing for a somewhat dominating run after Dale Earnhardt Jr. had run fast in practice all weekend and sat on the pole by recording the fastest qualifying lap in the history of NASCAR’s new car of tomorrow.
However, that’s not the way it happened for Earnhardt.
He struggled with handling for much of the day, starting off runs tight before moving over to the loose side by the end of a fuel run. However, he maintained a top-ten position for much of the race before suffering several tire issues throughout the race. At one time, Earnhardt was in 30th, two laps down. However, thanks to a few late race caution, he was able to get both laps back, allowing him to finish 15th.
“We weren’t very good,” Earnhardt said. “We got two bad right side tires and right rear tires, I don’t know, it felt the damn wheels were coming off. We pitted and the wheel was fine, but the car was vibrating so bad I couldn’t hardly see. I should have not pitted but I thought the wheel was loose and I have had them come off here and that isn’t fun. I should’ve just stayed out there and waited for it to come off.”
With the 15th place finish, Earnhardt moves up to 13th in the Sprint Cup Series points standings, just seven points away from the coveted 12th place cutoff to qualify for NASCAR’s ten-race post season. While there are 22 events left before the Chase for the Sprint Cup starts, Earnhardt’s start to the 2010 Sprint Cup Series shows that the Hendrick Motorsports driver may be getting closer to getting his performance back on track.
