Finally a Win!
With help from a final-lap yellow flag and a decision not to pit even though he was extremely close on fuel, Dale Earnhardt Jr won Sunday’s Lifelock 400 at Michigan international Speedway.
The victory ended a 76 race winless streak for Earnhardt.
Dale Earnhardt Jr led on 5 occasions Sunday at Michigan for 14 laps -- including the final one. Finally, Earnhardt has a points-paying win with Hendrick Motorsports.
The win left Junior with a solid third place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings -- just 84 points behind leader Kyle Busch.
Dale Jr had last pitted with more than 50 laps to go -- he was going to be extremely close on fuel at the end. The last thing he needed was a green-white-checkered finish. But when rookie Sam Hornish Jr spun on lap 198 bringing out the caution flag that’s exactly what Junior got.
The race re-started on lap 201 and Dale Jr quickly pulled out to a 4 car length advantage over 2nd place Kasey Kahne – until his engine began to run out of fuel.
"It stumbled coming to the white flag. We were going to stumble to the finish,” Earnhardt said. Instead, he easily cruised the No. 88 to the checkered flag. He even had enough fuel to accelerate off turn 4 on the final lap, even though it was under caution.
"They can write what they want, but we won one," said an exhausted Dale Earnhardt Jr after the race.
The victory ended a 76 race winless streak for Earnhardt.
Dale Earnhardt Jr led on 5 occasions Sunday at Michigan for 14 laps -- including the final one. Finally, Earnhardt has a points-paying win with Hendrick Motorsports.
The win left Junior with a solid third place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings -- just 84 points behind leader Kyle Busch.
Dale Jr had last pitted with more than 50 laps to go -- he was going to be extremely close on fuel at the end. The last thing he needed was a green-white-checkered finish. But when rookie Sam Hornish Jr spun on lap 198 bringing out the caution flag that’s exactly what Junior got.
The race re-started on lap 201 and Dale Jr quickly pulled out to a 4 car length advantage over 2nd place Kasey Kahne – until his engine began to run out of fuel.
"It stumbled coming to the white flag. We were going to stumble to the finish,” Earnhardt said. Instead, he easily cruised the No. 88 to the checkered flag. He even had enough fuel to accelerate off turn 4 on the final lap, even though it was under caution.
"They can write what they want, but we won one," said an exhausted Dale Earnhardt Jr after the race.
posted by RacingWin at
2:23 PM
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