Dale Earnhardt Jr
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Dale Jr. reflects on becoming an elder statesman Over the course of a career going on two decades long, a driver tends to pick up a few things. There's also a tendency to lose a little off the old fastball as the years tick off the calendar, but typically, what a driver surrenders in youthfulness, he or she collects in veteran guile. "There's things that you lose and there's things you gain," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said at a Goodyear tire test Wednesday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "A young guy … sometimes being ignorant is a blessing. These guys come into the sport and if you can get in good equipment when you're really young, you can just go out there without any knowledge and just power through and just drive on instinct. "Sometimes that produces very quick laps and you can be successful, but as you get older you gain some experience and understand how to keep yourself out of bad situations and maybe finish some more races and get more out of your car and get a better result out of your car, and over the longevity of the course of the season, you maybe have more consistent finishes." Just looking at the career arc of the Hendrick Motorsports driver, it's obvious he knows what he's talking about -- having lived just that. The now-41-year-old burst onto the Sprint Cup Series scene at age 24, picking up 15 of his 26 career victories just past his 30th birthday. A dry spell full of frustration and changing faces and scenery around him from 2005-13 produced just four race victories and just three points finishes within the top 10. Since 2014, we've seen the 'Juniorenaissance,' with seven wins, career highs in top-five and top-10 finishes, and the feeling that championship No. 1 for Earnhardt Jr. is actually within reach for the first time in a decade. It didn't happen overnight. Junior has taken the lessons presented to him through his challenges over the years and finally put the pieces together to succeed in both his personal life (see: his upcoming wedding to Amy Reimann along with successful business ventures, including JR Motorsports) along with the clarity that he knows what to do behind the wheel – not brashly, but intelligently. "I think you're smarter and a lot more thought goes into what you're doing, and you understand how to be a better asset to your team as a person and individual; how to be in the mix with conversations with the crew chief and how to be accountable and ready to work," said Earnhardt, who is 13th in points as the series turns this weekend to a race at Pocono that he won in 2014. "When you're young, you're just going and doing and you're just trying to have as much fun as you can away from the track. As you get older, you realize the more you put in the more you get out of it.” The Rundown: Charlotte driver grades 14. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior was on pit road when the final yellow flag came out, and he took the wave-around to return to the lead lap … albeit a little deeper in the field for the final restart with 56 laps to go. He was never vying for a win, but that cost him a higher finish. Grade: B As sun sets at Charlotte, so does Junior's speed In a race punctuated by long, green-flag runs, Dale Earnhardt Jr. went from 25th to 10th in the opening 60 laps of Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. While most of those in the top 10 were holding their own, Earnhardt and Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing) were on the move. Larson had started 24th and cracked the top 10 after only 40 laps on the 1.5-mile track. Earnhardt’s No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet climbed as high as seventh early. But as daylight turned to darkness and the track temperature cooled, Earnhardt’s fortunes also waned. "We made a ton of changes all night trying to help the car," Earnhardt, 14th at the finish, said. "We were stuck there around 11th and couldn’t move forward. "The way it took off at the start of the race I thought it showed a lot of promise. There were times in the race when we ran top-five laps but track position hurt us, the track cooled off and everybody was running the bottom. It was just hard to pass." Restart opportunities were few -- the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' longest race at 600 miles was slowed only four times by caution flags. The final yellow, for debris on the backstretch, fell with only 60 laps remaining and Earnhardt already on pit road. By taking the wave-around, he was able to remain on the lead lap, but not allowed to pit under the yellow. "When they don’t throw the debris cautions, we’re going to have a lot of green flag (stops)," he said. "We got caught on pit road when one of those debris cautions came out late in the race and it bit us. "There wasn’t any debris out on the track (for much of the race) so there wasn’t any use in throwing the yellow; they didn’t and we ran green." With three second-place finishes in the first eight races, Earnhardt had been as high as sixth in points. But recent weeks haven’t been as kind to the team. Sunday’s result was his seventh outside the top 10 and he’s winless through the season’s first 13 stops. He’ll head to Pocono Raceway next weekend 13th in points. "We were doing OK, running about 10th, 11th all night," he said. "When the race started, the car was great and we moved all the way up to seventh. "I was really happy with the car, but when it got cool the top (groove) went away. The track cooled off, the bottom gripped up and that’s where everybody ran." Johnson, Earnhardt among teams to lose pit stall selection Three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams picked up their fourth warnings for inspection issues Friday, meaning they will be the last three to select pit stalls Saturday for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Cited for inspection issues were the teams of six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports), teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Richard Petty Motorsports driver Aric Almirola. Johnson qualified seventh Friday, while Almirola was 20th and Earnhardt was 25th. The loss of pit stall selection does not affect the three drivers' starting position in the 40-car lineup for Sunday's 400-lap event. NASCAR may issue warnings for minor infractions that occur during the pre-qualifying and pre-race inspection process. Once a team receives a fourth warning, the loss of pit stall selection is put into play. If the fourth warning is received prior to the pit selection process, it is enforced at that event. If the fourth warning comes after the pit stalls have been chosen, it will be enforced at the next scheduled race (or race in which that team participates). TOUGH QUALIFYING Dale Earnhardt Jr., who brought a new car to CMS, continued to struggle in qualifying and failed to make it out of the first round. He will start 25th. ''We weren't good when we unloaded and we weren't able to get it going,'' Earnhardt said. Matt Kenseth also struggled in qualifying and will start 27th. Dale Jr.'s Coca-Cola 600 paint scheme salutes hero (Pic) Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s special patriotic scheme for his No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports was revealed after an overwhelming response on social media. The patriotic look for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) honors Lance Corporal Aaron Reed. Reed was killed in Iraq in 2005 while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. Originally, the scheme was to be revealed at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, but the social media response of more than 2,600 retweets led to the company revealing the paint scheme at 2 p.m. ET on Monday. Earnhardt is winless in 32 points-paying starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway with 12 top 10s at his home track. Dale Jr.: 'We got a lot of work to do' In what could seemingly be called the State of the Union for the No. 88 team at the near-midway point of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. proclaimed that the team has "got a lot of work to do" on Dirty Mo Radio's "The Dale Jr. Download." Those words and more below came after Earnhardt's involvement in an 18-car wreck on Lap 355 in the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway left him with a 32nd-place finish, the fourth straight finish outside the top 10 for the Hendrick Motorsports driver. That stretch has also seen the sport's most popular driver drop from sixth to 11th in the driver point standings. "Last week, it was 'yeah, we finished 15th (at Kansas). We'll get it figured out.' This week, it's more we got a problem, Houston," Earnhardt said. "It's time to start understanding how severe this situation is and get to owning it. Try to figure something out. We got a long season, lot of racing left. "Not quite halfway to the Chase deadline (at Richmond) and I'm looking at this teams in the Chase and the teams that are not in the Chase and I know we're better than them. It ain't good enough to be just good enough to make it. In years past, we've won races, been locked in. We were up in the top five in points throughout the year. We definitely aren't the team we were the past few years. We’ve got to figure out what's going on. How we're getting beat." A 26-time winner in the sport's top series, Earnhardt is coming off seven wins in the past two seasons. In both of those seasons, Earnhardt had already registered a win by this point in the season (The Daytona 500 in 2014 and Talladega in May of 2015), which pretty much sewed up his postseason spot in the 16-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. This week's Sprint All-Star Race (Saturday, May 21, approx. 9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) provides a bit of a real-time laboratory for the team to find some answers. "This All-Star Race weekend coming up ain't going to be the answer to all our problems, but it's an opportunity to work on some of them. I’ll be honest with you, I'd rather win that (Coca-Cola) 600 a 1,000 times more than I'd rather win the All-Star Race. Running good and running better the rest of the year is much more important to me than stumbling into a million bucks on this all-star weekend. "If we come out of the All-Star Race winners, but don't understand how to go into the (Coca-Cola) 600 and be competitive, it does us no good. I put us learning something, us understanding how to get better and us getting better as a team above anything else going forward." The team doing most of the winning in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series of late is the Joe Gibbs Racing stable of Kyle Busch (the defending series champion), Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. Those four drivers have combined for seven wins through the first 12 races of the 2016 season. Last season, the foursome combined to win 14 races, including 11 of the final 21 races. This season, Hendrick Motorsports has recorded two wins through the first 12 races of the season, both by Jimmie Johnson, among its four-driver lineup of Earnhardt, Johnson, Chase Elliott and Kasey Kahne. "As a company, I think everybody agrees that we can be faster. I think with us all working toward that goal, sooner or later the company itself is going to find that extra gear and it's going to affect all four cars all at once. You see all the Gibbs guys, all quick — practice, qualifying, race. They are all together. That's because their smart, they figured it out, they got something going that's working for them and their sharing information. "Our team's do the same thing. Once we figure out what's going on, once we figure out what we need, I think the whole company will step up. I feel positive that will happen before the Chase. ... We got to go to work." The Rundown: Dover driver grades 32. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior suffered his third DNF of the season and second in three races when the No. 88 was knocked out in the big wreck. Grade: C Three NASCAR names make 'Time Magazine' list It's only appropriate that "Time Magazine's" recent list of the "Top 10 Most Influential Car People in Sports" would include three individuals who have made their respective marks in the NASCAR ranks. Brian France, chairman and CEO of the sanctioning body, was No. 5 on the list because he "puts cars in front of more eyeballs than just about anyone else in sports." Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Gene Haas followed at No. 6 for joining forces with Tony Stewart to make his organization a "top-tier Sprint Cup contender." Also worth mentioning is the over-achieving Haas F1 team, which has already scored championship points in its debut season in Formula One racing. Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighs in at No. 7 because "one of every five marketing dollars spent on NASCAR is spent on Dale Earnhardt Jr. One visit to the Fanatics Trackside Superstore at any NASCAR track is all you need to confirm that assertion. F1 champion Lewis Hamilton topped the list. As executive producer, Dale Jr. excited about new series When Dale Earnhardt Jr. previewed the first installment of the upcoming three-part series "NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said he was amazed at what he witnessed. "The first part I watched like a kid at Christmas," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said Tuesday, adding that he kept thinking, "This is cool; I love what I'm seeing. I didn't know it was like this; this is awesome." Earnhardt is an executive producer for the series, which debuts this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on CMT. "You know about Red Byron (NASCAR's first premier series champion) and guys like that and what they've done but you've never actually had a window into what they might have been like," he said. "So that was really, really neat. "Watching that first episode, it's completely different from watching the other two. The other two I was there, or I remember it as a kid. You immediately go to sort of picking it apart and (asking) does it live up to the standard?" The series (episodes 2 and 3 will air on consecutive Sundays, May 15 and May 22) uses archival footage as well as reenactments and interviews to document the history of NASCAR from its beginning to modern day. Among those contributing on-air to the project were stars such as Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Darrell Waltrip. NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and Lisa France Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer of International Speedway Corp., provide additional insights. NASCAR founder William Henry Getty France was their grandfather, Bill France Jr. their father. Episode 1 details stock car racing's rough, raw beginnings and the senior France's desire to pursue his dream of bringing acceptability and professionalism to the sport. Episode 2 features the continued rise of the sport and France's many battles to bring NASCAR to mainstream America. Episode 3 begins with the '79 Daytona 500, a watershed moment for NASCAR, and focuses heavily on the career of France's son, Bill Jr., and seven-time series champion Dale Earnhardt before closing with where NASCAR sits in today's sports landscape. But it was that first episode that Earnhardt Jr. said, "Intrigues me the most. "Because I wasn't there and didn't know much about that time," he said. "You know people's names and you match that name with an accomplishment. But you never really knew their personalities much. "I believe in this kind of film you're able to see maybe what this guy's attitude or personality was like. You see when Big Bill is trying to form NASCAR, some of the drivers are kind of grinding against the gears and pushing back a little bit. "We really don't know a lot about that and there aren't a lot of stories telling that part of it, that side of it. So that was real interesting." Dale Jr.: 'I didn't check' steering wheel at 'Dega Barely 50 laps had been completed when Dale Earnhardt Jr., his team and his No. 88 Chevrolet were found in the garage Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Repairs to fix the damaged entry, which had unexpectedly swung around and collected Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne, took time. Rain was threatening to shorten the 188-lap GEICO 500, which was nearing the halfway point when the car was deemed ready to return to action. But in a rush to get back out on the track and avoid a potential DNF (Did Not Finish), the series' Most Popular driver didn't notice that his steering wheel was not fully engaged as he rolled back out onto the 2.66-mile track. Until it came off in his hands. "I put the wheel on and never grabbed the coupler and made sure it was locked," Earnhardt said Tuesday. "… You're out of your element because you've crashed, you're in the garage, they're fixing the car, it's starting to rain, the caution's coming out, you're going to climb back in." Before the race went back green, crew chief Greg Ives asked his driver to check his safety belts and steering wheel. When Earnhardt pulled back on the wheel, it came off the column. Earnhardt quickly grabbed the column to momentarily steer the car before reattaching the steering wheel. "I was out of my element," he said. "Just scrambling, trying to get going and I didn't check it. We always put the wheel on and pull it and I didn't do it." While his chances at victory were non-existent, to be still running whenever the race ended was important. "There are these little things that people don't think about that are a source of pride for drivers, teams, crew chiefs," Earnhardt said. "You don't want a DNF. Even if that means get back out and run the last lap. That counts; you finished. … "Anytime you crash a car, you load it up and you know you might, could have fixed it, it's a feeling you just can't get over. Because you didn't do everything you could have. And if you take that home with you, it's just an empty feeling. "You go there to run all the laps. When you get kicked and beat down and knocked off the top or you're having a bad day … the best thing you can do to go home with a clear conscience is to work as hard as you can to do everything you can before the checkered flag. You run every lap you can run, even if it's pointless." This time, it was just that as the Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards collected Earnhardt just a short time after his return. "Literally, it was pointless for us to be back out there," Earnhardt said. "We might have gotten one point. "That's what you do. You get out there and you fix it. You've got all that crash-cart (equipment) there for a reason. You make your guys go through the process of fixing the car because next time they fix it, they might do it 15 minutes quicker because they find some shortcuts and that might be important in the Chase." The car, now-famously nicknamed "Amelia" by Earnhardt won't be making any more starts. The combination of damage from the two incidents was too severe. Instead, it'll eventually be added to Earnhardt's "graveyard" of crashed vehicles on his private property. "I'll put it in the dirt, in the woods, and let the weeds take it," he said. "We'll build a new one and it will be good at Daytona. "I hate that that car ran those two races and had those two awful finishes because it did have such a good 2015. We should have parked it and built a new one and said that's the end of the deal with that one." Earnhardt drove the car to victory last season at both Daytona (in July) and Talladega (in May), and finished second (at Talladega in fall Chase race) and third (Daytona 500) in '15 as well. This year, he crashed at Daytona and the car was repaired in time for Talladega. But there'll be no more fixing for this one. "We need to build a new car and we probably should have done that in the offseason," he said. "We got attached to this thing and really liked what it did last year. We were hoping we could keep having success with it; it was still a pretty good car." The Rundown: Talladega driver grades 40. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Terrible day for the 88. Earnhardt's first crash was similar to his crash in the Daytona 500 -- the back of his car came around. "We missed something this morning," he said. "It shouldn't have been on the splitter that hard." Then when he returned to the track after repairs, his steering wheel came off. On Lap 110, Earnhardt's day ended when Carl Edwards ran up the track and smashed into his Chevrolet. Grade: F. Junior takes 'Amelia' for a spin twice; says 'the car needs to be parked for awhile' The first caution of the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway knocked out one of the race favorites: Amelia. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car, nicknamed "Amelia," suffered severe damage when the No. 88 driver appeared get loose while driving in the midst of the lead pack on Lap 49 of the scheduled 188-lap race on Sunday. Amelia suddenly spun, and No. 5 Kasey Kahne slammed into his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. Earnhardt took his car to the garage for his team to assess the damage before he returned. "We had a real bad problem at the first run, the splitter was on the ground real bad," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I was really tight and couldn't run anywhere, but up against the wall. We made some adjustments to help the car and the splitter was still on the ground really bad. I got in a bad area with the wind and the air and it just got loose and spun out. The same thing that happened at Daytona to us. We just got to look at what we are doing on our adjustments and try not to do that." Junior would return to the track 46 laps down, but was caught up in another melee when Carl Edwards ' No. 19 Toyota turned in front of the No. 88 at Lap 110, ending Amelia's run at Talladega for the day. Flames flowed from Amelia as the car spun toward the interior wall, and her hood was crushed from the impact. "Hell, I'm going home," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I think the car needs to be parked for awhile, too." Junior talks plate success that others still seek In his mind, the best race Dale Earnhardt Jr. ever ran at Talladega Superspeedway won't be remembered for one simple reason. "Because I didn't win," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said Friday during a day of practice on the 2.66-mile layout. "I'm disappointed because of what happened in that race and what we were doing with the car and what the car was doing was amazing. "It sucks because we were just six inches short of being declared the winner. … We've lost a lot of races here, but I can't even remember any of them that stand out like that." A winner in the spring race at Talladega, Earnhardt Jr. returned in the fall needing another victory to keep his championship hopes alive. Although he led a race-high 61 laps, officials determined that Joey Logano (Team Penske) was the leader and thus the winner when the caution came out on a green-white-checkered restart that froze the field and ended the race. Fifty-five. That's how many races the 41-year-old Earnhardt has lost on tracks where NASCAR requires the use of restrictor plates to keeps speeds in check. However, 10 wins during a career that launched full-time in 2000, puts the son of a seven-time champion in the role of the favorite in plate races. That's twice as many as the soon-to-be-retired Tony Stewart and six-time champion Jimmie Johnson. It's as much a statement about the car, Earnhardt said, as the driver. And what one does with it. "If the car can't complete the passes that my mind mentally wants it to make, then I won't be as offensive and as confident in making those moves," he said. "When I was driving the (Budweiser) car, around 2003, '04, '05 when we were winning all those races, I raced as hard in practice as I did in the race. …You kind of can set the tone early in the weekend with your competitors that this is who you're going to be out on the track; plus this is the car you've got." It certainly helped that his father, Dale Earnhardt, was a master of plate racing, winning 13 times combined at Talladega and Daytona. "I learned a tremendous amount because I solely watched him whereas, someone else who grew up around the sport may not have focused as much on one particular driver," Earnhardt Jr. said. Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards have combined to win the last four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races heading into Sunday's GEICO 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Fellow JGR teammate Denny Hamlin scored the win in the season-opener at Daytona, the most recent restrictor-plate race. "You can't make stupid mistakes," Edwards, still searching for his first plate-track win, said. "I learned that early on." Caught up in an incident during one restrictor-plate race, Edwards said he told then-car owner Jack Roush afterward "something like, 'Man, there's just nothing I could do to miss the wreck.' " At which point Roush gave his driver a piece of advice. "He said, 'You might want to go look at the tape because you drove right past Tony Stewart into the wreck and he somehow missed it.' "I went back and watched and I learned from that," Edwards said. "You really have to be watching ahead and you have to pay attention." That he's yet to win a restrictor-plate race is perplexing, considering the 36-year-old has 27 career victories. "I don't need to see my stats at these places," he said, "because they’re not good. … I'd like to get a superspeedway win. We've got great cars and we've got great teammates. I feel like I know how to run these races, but I just haven't been able to get the victory out of it. Hopefully we can do that." Edwards isn't the only notable still searching for that first plate win. Former series champion Kurt Busch (2004) and Martin Truex Jr., who lost to Hamlin by a nose at Daytona, are as well. "We've seen Dale over the years just really show everybody how it's done and that's because he has a really good understanding of the air, the way it works and knowing how to use that to his advantage," Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing) said. "For me … I've kind of had good races and bad and lately I feel like I've learned a lot more and gotten better at it, but there's still a lot to learn." Logano and Jamie McMurray, another former Talladega winner, paced Friday's two practices. Earnhardt was 32nd in the first, and seventh-quickest in the second. Earnhardt gets favorite car "Amelia" back for Talladega The beloved car ''Amelia'' will be back at Talladega Superspeedway after Hendrick Motorsports rebuilt the Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to drive Sunday. Earnhardt drove the car he named Amelia Earhart to four wins in six starts over a 13-month period. He was so confident in the car that he used it for the season-opening Daytona 500 rather than have his team build him a new one. Earnhardt wrecked Amelia in February and thought the car that had never finished lower than third was gone forever, but was thrilled when crew chief Greg Ives was able to repair the car for Talladega. ''I think we've got a pretty good car; I don't really know for sure how good it is,'' Earnhardt said Friday. ''We did have to put a whole new front end on it, so I'm sure it's different one way or the other. I wouldn't expect it to be exactly the same. So, hopefully those guys improved it just a little bit more and we'll have a good race on Sunday.'' Earnhardt leads all active drivers with six Talladega wins and is the defending race winner. His late father holds the track record with 10 victories, and Earnhardt took time Friday to discuss how watching his father race at Daytona and Talladega helped him learn how to get around the superspeedways. ''Watching my dad, who was one of the best, I learned a tremendous amount because I solely watched him whereas, someone else who grew up around the sport may not have focused as much on one particular driver,'' Earnhardt said. ''All those things maybe helped me develop into maybe a better plate race car driver than the average guy.'' The late Dale Earnhardt was a seven-time NASCAR champion who died in an accident on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Friday would have marked his 65th birthday, a date his son learned of only after seeing social media posts celebrating his father. ''I don't look at the calendar on April 28th and go 'Oh, tomorrow is Dad's birthday,''' Earnhardt said. ''I wake up in the morning and see something on social media and go 'That's right, damn if it ain't the 29th.' It sneaks up on you. It's crazy to think of what he would have been like at 65 years old. You kind of had an idea he wouldn't have changed a whole lot had he lived a little bit longer, but at 65 and what would he have been like at 80 and all those things would be hard to imagine. It's awesome. ''One of the best things about it, and I've said it before, is that it's great that people still talk about him. That the sport, his fans, the media, that everybody still acknowledges who he was and what he meant. That is all I care about, that we don't ever forget just the impact that he had because I felt like he had so much influence.'' Dale Jr.: 'Awesome to see' dad appreciated on birthday Dale Earnhardt Sr. would have been 65 years old on Friday. Fittingly, his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., spoke about his father on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, where the paternal duo has a combined 16 Sprint Cup Series victories. "It's crazy to think of what he would have been like at 65 years old," said the Hendrick Motorsports driver. "You kind of had an idea he wouldn't have changed a whole lot had he lived a little bit longer, but at 65 and what would he have been like at 80 and all those things would be hard to imagine.” So often in racing -- and in sports in general -- names and figures come and go as they pass through, their careers short or long. One has remained constant -- Earnhardt. "One of the best things about it, and I've said it before, is that it's great that people still talk about him. That the sport, his fans, the media, that everybody still acknowledges who he was and what he meant. That is all I care about … that we don't ever forget just the impact that he had because I felt like he had so much influence, definitely in the top five, top three people that influenced this sport as a whole, as much as Bill (France) Sr. and guys like that. I put him right up there with people that really changed the sport. "It's so awesome to see him get that kind of appreciation and recognition after all these years. Hopefully, that is something that never changes. I see it on his birthday and days like this is when I'm reminded of that appreciation that everybody has for him." Junior's sandwich project raises nearly $160K total Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s infamous banana-and-mayo sandwich turned into a $159,935.33 fundraising endeavor. The No. 88 driver announced on April 7 that JR Motorsports would be turning his favorite lunch sandwich into an opportunity to raise money for Blessings in a Backpack, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to help provide food for hungry elementary school-age children across America. After nearly three weeks of donations to the fundraiser's website DaleJrSandwich.com, Junior took to Twitter to announce the total amount raised. This announcement comes on the heels of Earnhardt's XFINITY Series win at Richmond International Raceway, when he took the checkered flag driving the No. 88 Hellmann's Chevrolet. Earnhardt toasted the win in Victory Lane by chowing down on a banana-and-mayo sandwich. Donations to the Dale Junior Foundation will continue to be accepted at thedalejrfoundation.org. Amelia flies again: No. 88 car restored for 'Dega Amelia is back. The No. 88 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr., a car so good on superspeedway tracks that it earned its own name, has apparently been restored from a Daytona 500 wreck. According to team crew chief Greg Ives, she'll be back on the track this weekend. Amelia -- formally known as Chassis No. 88-872 -- has been Earnhardt Jr.'s primary car for the past five races at Daytona and Talladega. In 2015, Earnhardt Jr. won twice in four restrictor-plate events, with one win at Daytona and one at Talladega. He finished third (Daytona 500) and second in the fall Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega. In the 2016 Daytona 500, Earnhardt Jr. was charging toward the front of the field when his car whipped around on him and smashed the inside barrier, crumpling sheet metal and denting the frame. He would finish 36th in the race. Amelia, named after Amelia Earhart, became something of a Junior Nation sensation when Dale Jr. revealed he had named the car. "A car gets named when you drive it long enough to see a personality, typically," Earnhardt said earlier in 2016. "… The fact that we're going to keep running it, I said, 'We gotta name it' and we were thinking of a woman who has accomplished something that was an awesome person that was something we could be proud of. "Amelia Earhart was the first thing that came to my mind." Dale Jr.'s victory celebration? A banana-mayo sandwich, of course Thanks to a tweet heard 'round the NASCAR Nation, we all know about Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s favorite sandwich, bananas and mayo. The driver turned the much-discussed tweet into a charitable endeavor with the funds raised going to Blessings in a Backpack. Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Dale Jr.'s sister and the co-owner/general manager of JR Motorsports, said after the Richmond win that all told, fans have donated over $55,000, while Hellmann's and Dale Jr. will each donate $50,000. Driving the No. 88 Hellmann's Chevrolet, Earnhardt Jr. won the ToyotaCare 250 to score his first win behind the wheel for the team he co-owns, JR Motorsports. And if you are wondering how he celebrated in Victory Lane, just remember it was a little after lunchtime of a 149-lap race, so the man was hungry. That led to a banana-mayo sandwich for the victor to enjoy. Earnhardt wins NASCAR Xfinity race at Richmond Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominated all day and regained the lead on a late restart to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, earning his 24th career victory in the series and first in more than six years. Earnhardt built a lead of more than 5 seconds as the first 125 laps were run caution-free. When a caution finally flew with 15 laps to go, he and the other 10 cars on the lead lap headed for the pits, and chaos ensued, causing the race to go nine extra laps. Earnhardt was beaten off pit road by his J.R. Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, one of four drivers contending for a $100,000 bonus. But Brennan Poole, another contender for the bonus, stayed on the track on old tires. When the race when back to green, he nudged the back of Allgaier’s car, sending him spinning out of the race. That opened a door for Earnhardt to get back in front and for Ty Dillon to hold on for second and claim the $100,000 bonus in overtime. Four Sprint Cup teams, two XFINITY teams penalized NASCAR gave written warnings to four teams in the Sprint Cup Series on Wednesday following last weekend's action at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 500. Meanwhile, in the XFINITY Series, one team was docked practice time and another will be without its crew chief, who was suspended and fined after the team received a P3-level penalty following the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at the Tennessee short track. The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team for Kevin Harvick, the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team for Carl Edwards and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team for Dale Earnhardt Jr. all received written warnings for failing template inspection twice during pre-qualifying. The No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing team for Trevor Bayne was issued a written warning for failing laser inspection twice, pre-qualifying. The No. 33 team for Brandon Jones will lose 15 minutes of practice time at this weekend's XFINITY event at Richmond International Raceway for failing pre-race laser inspection three times at Bristol. The No. 3 XFINITY team for Ty Dillon will be without crew chief Nick Harrison, who was fined $10,000 and suspended from all NASCAR Series Championship points events through April 27 and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31. The team violated sections 20.4.13 and 20.4.13.1 a, b, c, d of the NASCAR Rule Book -- spoiler extensions didn't conform to NASCAR rules specifications -- and was assesed the P3 in accordance with section 12.5.3.4.1 c. The Rundown: Bristol driver grades 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt's day got off to a terrible start when his car did not have power at the drop of the green flag and he fell two laps down just as the race got under way. Never giving up, he got his lap back by taking the wave around on the third caution of the day and fought hard to climb his way to the front. On the final restart of the day he powered to second and held off Kurt Busch and teammate Chase Elliott. Grade: A+ Dale Jr. rebounds from early miscue, nearly wins Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost power at the green flag of Sunday's Food City 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, but rebounded for his second consecutive second-place finish. "I have no power," Earnhardt said over the radio as he pulled to pit road before even completing a lap. FOX broadcaster Jeff Gordon noted that it sounded like the No. 88 Chevrolet was missing cylinders. Luckily for Earnhardt, he had nearly 500 laps to make up the deficit after his crew got his ride running. Three cautions over the final 40 laps gave Earnhardt Jr. opportunities for movement on the restarts, and he soared to second place behind winner Carl Edwards. "Greg (Ives, crew chief) did a good job getting wave arounds, knowing when to take them," Earnhardt said after the race. " … We got real lucky the last three restarts to be in the outside line." Returning to Bristol makes Dale Jr. nostalgic For Dale Earnhardt Jr., coming to Bristol Motor Speedway makes the 41-year-old feel like a kid again. As the son of "The Intimidator," it comes as no surprise that Earnhardt Jr. grew up around race tracks. While most children might have spent their adolescence frolicking with friends through suburban streets, Dale Jr. spent his atop a van, watching cars circle the track -- and "The Last Great Colosseum" was one of his favorite places to do that. "As a kid I loved coming here because we would just run from one end of the track to the other getting into whatever we could get into," Earnhardt Jr. told the media on Friday at Bristol. "They used to park the comfort coach conversion vans in the corners. All the drivers would park theirs in the corners and we would just climb up on the back of them and watch practice. "You were literally 30 feet from the cars when they were going by. In the race they would crash and roll down the banking feet from the bus. It was just the coolest thing as a kid to be able to be that close to the action and see the drivers in there working and turning the wheel and watch the cars literally work as they go through the corner and how the cars were handling. It was so much fun having that kind of vantage point." Junior has been an advocate of the racing at Bristol Motor Speedway for some time now, occasionally claiming it to be the best race track for attendees to become captivated by NASCAR. "I'm very proud of this event," Junior said. "I tell people all the time to come get tickets and watch this race and this is where you need to go if you want to get hooked." In 32 starts, Junior has seen Victory Lane once at Bristol, which came during 2004's night race and was one of six wins (a career high) that year for him. For Sunday's Food City 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Earnhardt Jr. will line up 20th in the field, on the same row as Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott (19th). Dale Jr.'s sandwich project going strong, raising $145K Just 10 days after Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted out a photo of a banana-mayonnaise sandwich, NASCAR's 13-time winner of the NMPA Sprint Most Popular Driver has helped raise $145,000 for Blessings in a Backpack, an organization that provides food for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry. With $50,000 of the total donation coming from Hellmann's, another $50,000 is being matched by Junior, himself. Along with the Hendrick Motorsports driver's charitable efforts, the sandwich was picked up by Bristol Motor Speedway for this weekend's race events. The Tennessee short track plans to sell the unusual sandwich combo to fans for $4, with $1 of every sandwich sold going to the Dale Jr. Foundation. "It's awesome that tracks are participating and anyone donating however they want to donate, that's a great thing," Dale Jr. said on Friday at Bristol. "But it's important to say the whole thing was completely organic. I was sitting there bored with a little time on my hands in between taking pictures for a Hellmann's photoshoot and they always have me make this sandwich at the photoshoots and it was laying there as a prop they were preparing for a picture, and I took a picture of it and I had no idea that that was going to take off like it did." Carrying over 1.4 million Twitter followers, when Dale Jr. tweets, the world listens, so he might be alone in the shock of the sandwich tweet's takeoff, but leave it to the NASCAR veteran to turn what many viewed as gross, to good. "The thing is is 25 percent of the country knew exactly what I was talking about and the rest were completely disgusted," Earnhardt Jr. said. "So, it got a lot of attention and I think the disgust is what really drove the tweet viral. But it had everybody's attention so I called Mike Davis (Director, Brand Strategy and Communications at JR Motorsports) and said, 'It just seems silly to let this fizzle out and not seize this opportunity to do something good.' " And with one simple phone call the JRM team has generated awareness for an important cause, all with the help of just three simple ingredients. "The response from the fans, as far as donations, has been amazing. And also, you have things like this where the tracks are doing their own thing and it's helping people. So it's been an amazing thing, and I'm super glad we have the resources at JR Motorsports to make these things happen." You can donate to the cause at DaleJrSandwich.com. 'Gray Ghost' left lasting impression with Dale Jr. (Pic) The "Gray Ghost" lives to race again. Or at least a very reasonable facsimile of the famous entry that was driven to victory in the 1980 Daytona 500 by NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Buddy Baker. On Wednesday at Darlington Raceway, Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. unveiled his team's throwback paint scheme for this year's Bojangles' Southern 500 (Sunday, Sept. 4, 6 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), paying homage to the 19-time race winner and his Harry Ranier-owned, Waddell Wilson-tuned machine. The black and silver Chevrolet carries orange numbers -- 88 instead of Baker's No. 28 -- and orange stripes while featuring Nationwide branding. But even with those minor differences, the resemblance is striking. It is, Earnhardt Jr. said, his favorite paint scheme. "The black and silver, the chrome numbers that NASCAR doesn't allow any more," Earnhardt said. "Those chrome numbers to me were very, very cool. But the black and silver was a mean looking race car, a real tough looking race car. "I thought the colors and the chrome numbers really complimented each other really well. Buddy was this giant guy; it probably wouldn't have been quite as cool a paint scheme if it had been a four-foot 10 guy driving it." The car was named the "Gray Ghost," a reflection of its color scheme which blended in with the racing surface of the track and its apparent ability to appear out of nowhere, speeding past unsuspecting rivals at a moment's notice. Baker and Wilson teamed up to win twice that season -- at Daytona and again later that year at Talladega. His average winning speed of 177.602 mph at Daytona, where he led 143 of 200 laps, remains a race record. It was especially gratifying given the team's stumble the previous year when a clearly dominant car (Baker had won the pole and his qualifying race handily) suffered mechanical issues early in the race. "He just seemed to be a great match with the car," Earnhardt Jr. said. "They were just so good, so fast. When they won the Daytona 500 after such a devastating loss after 1979 -- they were the greatest thing down there, nobody could touch them throughout the entire weekend and then they didn't even really get to race. "And then they went back in '80 and won, it was pretty neat; I know that was pretty special for Buddy to get that win. You can tell in some of the interviews from back then how important the Daytona 500 win was to him." The car and the team were no less stout at Talladega Superspeedway, Earnhardt Jr., said, adding, "Nobody could keep up with them." Seven-time premier series champion Dale Earnhardt ran second to Baker, but according to Earnhardt Jr., the elder Earnhardt "was just hanging on to his coattails all day long. "(He was) just lucky to be in the draft," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I think Dad had the lead somehow or another, (through) pit cycles, to where (he) had like a 10-second lead and Buddy ran him down in like 20 laps. It was ridiculous. "You could see all day long in that particular race Buddy wasn't even really stretching the legs in that race car. And when he had to, when he got nervous and it got down to the end and he had to make up that distance, he was beating the second-place car by half a second a lap almost. It was incredible." This will be the second year Darlington Raceway has featured a throwback theme, with a focus on paint schemes that ran between 1975 and 1984. Last year, Earnhardt Jr.'s entry featured a red, white and blue paint Valvoline paint scheme that honored NASCAR Hall of Fame driver and three-time series champion Cale Yarborough. Jim McCoy, Director of Sports Marketing for Nationwide, said the company knew as soon as last year's throwback program hit the track at Darlington that Nationwide should be involved. "We talked about it starting last September when we saw the pieces come together," McCoy said. "We weren't (the) primary (sponsor), Valvoline had the paint scheme with Dale. It just felt like we should be there. "We love his passion and he loves what he drives and what it looks like. He's such a great partner. "He clearly had a vision in direction in which he wanted to head. We were supportive of that and found the right ways to infuse our logo, the historic logo (with) the 'N' and Eagle that's on the hood. It was a great back-and-forth process that I think we're all very pleased on how it turned out." Baker passed away Aug. 10, 2015. Come September, he and the "Gray Ghost" will be front and center once again. The Rundown: Texas driver grades 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior is still lacking his first win of the season, but by passing Joey Logano with eight laps remaining and overcoming a brief pit stall fire, he earned his second runner-up finish. All that talk this week of bananas and mayonnaise didn't deter from a strong showing for a car that started 16th. Grade: A Peyton Manning to accompany Dale Jr. at Bristol Bristol Motor Speedway announced on Wednesday that Peyton Manning will act as an Honorary Race Official and accompany fellow Nationwide spokesperson Dale Earnhardt Jr. through driver introductions and sit atop the No. 88 pit box during the Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 (April 17, 1 p.m. ET, FOX). This will be Manning's first NASCAR experience, courtesy of Nationwide. "I'm thrilled to get a chance to watch Dale compete at Bristol Motor Speedway," said the recently retired Manning. "I want to thank Nationwide for bringing me to one of the great NASCAR tracks to watch what I'm sure will be an exciting race in front of some of the most passionate fans in the sport." Manning is a beloved public figure in Tennessee, known not only for his NFL career -- in which he won a Super Bowl title with Denver in February -- but also attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. At UT, Manning finished his career holding 42 NCAA, SEC and Tennessee records. He won the Maxwell Award as the nation's most outstanding player, the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and Player of the Year honors his senior season, securing his All-American status in 1997. "It's pretty awesome that Peyton Manning is coming out to Bristol. I think he's going to enjoy watching the race there because it's such an amazing race track," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's awesome to have a legend like him coming to participate and enjoy our sport. He's going to enjoy his experience, I'm sure, and we're excited to have him." No, Junebug, no! Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s banana & mayo sandwich freaks out NASCAR fans Some things go great together on a sandwich, like peanut butter and jelly or bacon, lettuce and tomato. But for NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr., bananas and mayo is the combination of choice. Earnhardt raised eyebrows with a tweet Tuesday (April 5) calling it his “favorite sandwich.” “I swear it’s delicious,” he adds. The tweet, which tagged Hellmann’s, one of Earnhardt’s sponsors, spurred some strong reaction on Twitter. Earnhardt seemed to know what would happen, tweeting “The banana mayo sandwich combo reaction is always so passionate. What if you added peanut butter? That’s always an option you know.” @DaleJr : The banana mayo sandwich combo reaction is always so passionate. What if you added peanut butter? That's always an option you know. And it’s not the first time Earnhardt has mentioned his favorite sandwich. In a tweet from March 2014, he asked fans for their favorite use of mayo. “Mine is a mayo/banana sandwich. #dontknockit,” he wrote. @DaleJr : Working with my friends @Hellmanns today got me thinking. Whats ur favorite use for mayo? Mine is a mayo/banana sandwich. #dontknockit While the choice garnered its share of criticism on social media, some contended that the mayo and banana sandwich is a southern delicacy. Hellmann’s, no surprise, gave Earnhardt’s sandwich a ringing endorsement. @Hellmanns : Definitely do not have to convince us, @DaleJr! https://twitter.com/DaleJr/status/717398240375640064 … CMT to celebrate NASCAR with TV series (Promo Video) NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Each week millions of NASCAR fans -- a massive television and digital audience -- tune in to watch NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, and today CMT announced an unprecedented six-hour, three-night special event dedicated to the fearless men who took stock car racing out of the backwoods and into the national spotlight with "NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed," premiering Sunday May 8, May 15 and May 22 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. From Stephen David Entertainment, the Emmy Award-winning company behind the miniseries "The Men Who Built America," "Gold Fever" and "The World Wars," the special event is not only a unique look into NASCAR's legendary beginnings, but in the spirit of racing, it is a no-holds-barred account of the sport's early pioneers and ascension to national prominence. The film features archival footage, re-enactments and interviews with NASCAR personalities and experts including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Richard Petty, Tony Stewart and Darrell Waltrip. From bootleggers settling their differences through racing to a singular vision from "Big Bill" France that launched an empire, NASCAR has always been and continues to be a family affair with a long history of "racing royalty" to be shared and passed along. Time and again, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles and nephews would race together -- Ray Parks, Junior Johnson, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and more -- they were family best friends, rivals and heroes. In "NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed," these drivers, mechanics and owners come to life through character-driven scenes that unfold chronologically across the three nights, starting with NASCAR’s founding fathers and concluding with racing’s great modernizers and current superstars of the track. "Our longstanding and unwavering connection with NASCAR and its fans makes CMT the perfect home to bring the high-octane true story of NASCAR to life," said Jayson Dinsmore, executive vice president of development for CMT. "This first-of-its-kind television event will take viewers deep inside the enthralling and thrilling rise of an American premiere sports and relentless obsession." "NASCAR has one of the most exhilarating and inspiring origin stories in all of sports," said Zane Stoddard, NASCAR vice president of entertainment marketing and content development. "Our collaborative relationship with CMT and Stephen's unique style of production will bring it to life in a way our fans haven’t experienced before." It's the story about how a generation of Southern bootleggers and gangsters pursued their version of the American dream and created an industry that defined them. Despite a destitute South, they became wildly rich, while in the process forming the nation's greatest racing league through their persistence, sweat and moonshine. The success of NASCAR surpassed even their wildest dreams and inspired a new generation of Southern icons. But in the race to always go bigger and faster, sometimes there were casualties along the way. "NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed" is a tale of fearless men who didn't just live their lives, they raced them to the finish. NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed to Feature Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon and More Each week millions of NASCAR fans tune in to watch NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events. Today (April 6) CMT announced an unprecedented six hour, three night special event dedicated to the fearless men who took stock car racing out of the backwoods and into the national spotlight. The special event is not only a unique look into NASCAR’s legendary beginnings, but in the spirit of racing, it is a no-holds-barred account of the sport’s early pioneers and ascension to national prominence. The film features archival footage, reenactments and interviews with NASCAR personalities and experts including Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Richard Petty, Tony Stewart and Darrell Waltrip. It’s the story about how a generation of Southern bootleggers and gangsters pursued their version of the American dream and created an industry that defined them. Despite a destitute South, they became wildly rich, while in the process forming the nation’s greatest racing league through their persistence, sweat and moonshine. The success of NASCAR surpassed even their wildest dreams and inspired a new generation of Southern icons. But in the race to always go bigger and faster, sometimes there were casualties along the way. NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed is a tale of fearless men who didn’t just live their lives, they raced them to the finish. The series, NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed, will premiere Sunday May 8, May 15 and May 22 at 10 pm ET/PT. The Rundown: Martinsville driver grades 14. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Starting mid-pack, Earnhardt Jr. brought out the first caution of the day after contact with David Ragan on Lap 4. Junior spent much of the day a lap down, but got the free pass on Lap 313. With 150 laps to go, he was inside the top 15 and brought it home 14th. Grade: B Earnhardt Jr. pledges to donate brain to science Dale Earnhardt Jr. affirmed publicly, and eloquently, that he plans to donate his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation upon his death. "I will be pledging my brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation," the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet said Friday at Martinsville Speedway. "I've been a donor already for many years, and it seemed like a reasonable thing to do for me. Anything that I can do to help others." Earnhardt Jr. said he was inspired by similar decisions from fellow professional athletes. "Hopefully they don't have to look at my brain when I pass away -- hopefully science has advanced enough to where they no longer need to be poking around inside my brain when I pass away," Earnhardt Jr. said. Earlier in the week, Earnhardt Jr. retweeted a message from Sports Illustrated that three teammates of former Raiders QB Ken Stabler had pledged to donate their brains for CTE research in his honor. CTE, which stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is a degenerative brain disease that has been linked to concussions. Earnhardt answered a couple of fan questions, saying he planned to donate his brain, too -- it was in reference to the SI tweet, although Earnhardt didn't specifically mention CTE at that time -- and then followed up that he planned to donate "everything." Earnhardt suffered two concussions in 2012 and missed two races. The first came in August during a test at Kansas Speedway in which his car blew a tire; the second occurred in October at Talladega. He later would describe the Kansas incident as "the hardest hit I've ever had." After the Talladega wreck and diagnosis, Earnhardt Jr. went through the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's concussion program. He later filmed a video explaining how the help he received changed his life for the better. Since the beginning of the 2014 season, NASCAR has mandated preseason neurocognitive baseline testing as part of its comprehensive concussion prevention and management program for all of its national series drivers. The Rundown: Fontana driver grades 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The "Dark Knight" ran into adversity early after contact with Kurt Busch. Earnhardt fell to 27th before the 15th lap of the race. He got back on the lead lap with the free pass on Lap 156 and worked his way almost back to the top 10. Grade: B+ The Rundown: Phoenix driver grades 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Starting 26th, Earnhardt came to life at the drop of the green flag and he led 34 laps on the day. The car went away just past halfway, but returned late in the race. Greg Ives kept the car out under the final caution of the day and Earnhardt slipped on older tires after restarting on the front row. Grade: A- Earnhardt Jr. backs Ives, late decision to stay out For Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Ives, there were no regrets over the decision to stay out under the final caution in the Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday afternoon. An accident in Turn 3 involving his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne on Lap 306, with Earnhardt running in second place, brought out the fifth and final caution flag to set up a NASCAR overtime finish. Eventual race-winner Kevin Harvick, Earnhardt and Austin Dillon stayed out while the Joe Gibbs Racing trio of Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch led a brigade of cars onto pit road for two tires. In the closing two laps, Earnhardt slid back to fifth after starting on the inside, which he said "doomed us." Harvick and Edwards bumped and battled for the victory with Harvick emerging as the victor by 0.010 seconds. "I like the call we made," Earnhardt said after the race. "If another car, one more car would have stayed out and been on that outside, second row that would have been the decision maker that that was a good call. The guy in fourth place (Edwards) had tires so he could jump to my right rear and get on me and pinch me down. He's got new tires, I got old tires. He's going to win." Ives told NASCAR.com that the gamble to stay out was one they needed to take, but not what he was initially thinking. "I was hoping that more people would stay behind us and we could have just raced the 4 (Harvick)," Ives said on pit road. "At the time, I wasn't going to tell him to do the opposite. You come down pit road and you never know what is going to happen. The plan was two tires and I just called him off there at the end. I was hoping there would be a row or two in between us but there wasn't. That's the gamble you got to take to try and win one of these races." And Earnhardt backed Ives' decision all the way. "I know our fans are wondering why we made the call we made, but it's not an easy deal," Earnhardt said. "The guy that won the race stayed out. It's not easy to make those calls so I don't hold anything against Greg and I love what he did and I back it. Second, fifth. I mean who the hell cares in the long run, really. We want to win." The start of the race saw Junior moving through the field at a blistering clip in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. After starting the day 26th (although scored in 24th at the time of the green flag since teammates Kahne and Jimmie Johnson had to move to the rear of the field due to qualifying mishaps), Earnhardt wasted no time moving up the field. By Lap 21, he was in the top 10. By Lap 60, he was in second. By Lap 75, he had caught Kyle Busch and taken the race lead, which he held for 34 laps on the day. The loop data from the day backed up how fast Earnhardt's car was. The 41-year-old had the second-fastest laps run (62) as well as the fourth-most quality passes (22) on the afternoon. And that came amid Junior admitting he burned the front brakes off of the car in the middle of the race. "Lost a lot of track position (in the middle of the race) just because I couldn't run hard," Earnhardt said. "We fixed that and got the car running good and I took care of it so we were good at the end of a long run. What a car. " … This new aero package gives you the ability to pass. I would have never been able to do that with that old aero package. I would have been stuck behind them guys. What we're doing in the sport, you're seeing some good racing. "It's been a blast. I had a good time today." The Rundown: Las Vegas driver grades 8. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Starting 20th, Earnhardt Jr. methodically worked his way through the field to earn his second top 10 of the season and move to 12th in the standings. Grade: B+ The Rundown: Atlanta driver grades 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The No. 88 Chevrolet was flying in the opening laps, but the hot start cooled as the long green flag run continued. On the final restart Earnhardt used a strong charge to get to the front and edge Kyle Busch for second. Grade: A Junior: 'Dad would have loved Jimmie' It was an emotional Sunday for both Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Atlanta Motor Speedway, as "Six-Time" tied Dale Earnhardt for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories with a total of 76. The son of "The Intimidator" met his Hendrick Motorsports teammate in Victory Lane to offer his congratulations and kind words. Junior also took to Twitter to show his support and voice how proud he was to come up short to the No. 48 Chevrolet. @DaleJr : Congrats to my friend and teammate @JimmieJohnson on tying my father today in Cup wins. Proud to have ran 2nd on this momentous occasion. Here's what else Earnhardt Jr. said of the milestone win: • "Knowing Jimmie Johnson and the way he operates, Dad would have loved Jimmie. How can you not like Jimmie? He's just a good guy who never stepped over the line with anything he's ever said or anything he's ever did." • "I don't have a problem calling him the best of this generation, even as a competitor of his and having to go out there and race against him. Obviously he will credit his crew chief and his team. That all has been real consistent throughout his career, and they do deserve some credit, but Jimmie is just a phenomenal talent." • "I told him on a couple occasions that when he tied daddy, he'd better say something cool, and he'd better tell them that it's awesome for him to tie him, because I know Jeff (Gordon) had the flag and all that, so that was awesome when your competitors and peers recognize your father like that." The Rundown: Daytona 36. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. One of the strongest cars all of Speedweeks, Earnhardt was charging to the front when his car -- penned "Amelia" -- broke loose and slid into the inside wall with 31 laps to go. Grade: B- Junior's 'Amelia' goes spinning at Daytona Pegged as the favorite prior to the start of the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 -- dubbed "Amelia" -- Chevrolet spun off Turn 4 with 30 laps to go, bringing out the fifth caution of the afternoon. Earnhardt, who was running in the top five, attempted an aggressive move high on the race track that resulted in a rough spin. "We were starting to move forward and get aggressive and I just lost it," Earnhardt said after being released from the infield care center. "I just got loose. I've been really working on the balance of the car. I've been pushing real bad all day, especially off of Turn 4. We just got it really free. We took two tires there and just didn't have overall grip I was hoping for. The Hendrick Motorsports driver started the "Great American Race" second beside pole-sitter Chase Elliott, who also went spinning early in the day. Junior, Danica celeb status on par with Kanye, Kate Upton Chalk up another top-10 finish for Dale Earnhardt Jr. The Celebrity DBI powered by Repucom has ranked the Hendrick Motorsports driver among its Top 100 athletes, pulling in at No. 10 overall, according to Sports Business Daily. According to the study, which measures the influence and relevance individuals have on the public, Earnhardt's celeb "DBI score" is 72.38, which gives him a celebrity status comparable to rapper Kanye West, musician Nick Jonas and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning. Respondents in the twice-a-week poll are asked to evaluate the celebrity based on eight attributes -- awareness, appeal, aspiration, breakthrough, endorsement, influence, trend-setter and trust. Stewart-Haas Racing driver Danica Patrick was right off Earnhardt's pace, ranking 11th among athletes, with a comparable celebrity status to model Kate Upton, actor James Franco and musician Bono. Three other NASCAR drivers appeared in the top 100, in six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson (33rd among athletes), three-time champ Tony Stewart (44th) and Kurt Busch (92nd). Dale Jr. wins on 15-year anniversary of dad's death After a day of outpouring on social media remembering the legendary Dale Earnhardt on the 15th anniversary of his passing, his son provided the perfect capper. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s victory in the opening Can-Am Duel at Daytona International Speedway assured the Hendrick Motorsports driver a starting spot up front in Sunday's 58th annual Daytona 500, a race he's won twice. But it also conjured up plenty of fond memories of racing at the track where Earnhardt lost his life in a crash on Feb. 18, 2001. "It's real special. I was thinking about that," he said. "I try not to make too big a deal. I've told all you guys in interviews we've done how much I like people to remember Dad, talk about Dad. It really warms my heart to see the stuff on social media and so forth. That's probably my best way to gauge the reaction to a day like this. You see a lot of people mention him, even the Braves and all that stuff. It's pretty cool." Earnhardt led twice for 43 of the 60 laps, snaring his fifth victory in Daytona 500 qualifying races at the historic 2.5-mile track. It was another show of muscle by the No. 88 Chevrolet nicknamed "Amelia," the entry that came home first in last year's main event. While the competition goals were clear-cut for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, Earnhardt Jr. said that he had some admittedly selfish motivations in the 500 preliminary. "I was daydreaming a little bit," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I'm guilty of daydreaming a little bit about winning this race tonight because of the day. That was special to me. Glad nothing bad happened, that we didn't tear our car up, because that would have been embarrassing on a day like this." Busch, Earnhardt Jr. win Daytona qualifying races Driving a car he believes is unbeatable, Dale Earnhardt Jr. added to his family legacy at Daytona International Speedway on the anniversary of his father’s death. Earnhardt won the first qualifying race Thursday night for the Daytona 500 to earn a starting spot on the second row for NASCAR’s biggest event. It was Earnhardt’s 17th career win at Daytona International Speedway. The late Dale Earnhardt leads all drivers with 34 career victories at Daytona. He was killed on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. "It’s another win at Daytona for the Earnhardts, adding to the legacy," Earnhardt said in victory lane. "We’re up here in the 50s now." The No. 88 Chevrolet that Hendrick Motorsports brought to Daytona won three times last year, and Earnhardt admitted after the qualifying race that he allowed himself to daydream about winning as a tribute to his father. "I try not to make too big a deal — I told all you guys how much I like people to remember dad and talk about dad," he said. "I’m guilty of daydreaming a little bit, about winning this race tonight because of the day. That’s very special to me. I was glad that nothing bad happened and we didn’t tear our car up because that would have been embarrassing on a day like this." Kyle Busch, the reigning Sprint Cup champion, won the second qualifying race, but several contenders wrecked their prized cars in a last-lap accident. Busch was trying to hold off Jamie McMurray on the final lap and briefly blocked him. McMurray moved up the track for another try, but Jimmie Johnson was in the same space and Johnson bounced off the wall to trigger a multi-car accident. Among those who wrecked strong race cars were Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., who will all have to go to backup cars for the Daytona 500.Kenseth had earned a front row starting spot for Sunday’s season-opener, but he’ll now forfeit it because of the crash. It wasn’t clear how much damage Kurt Busch and McMurray sustained, but Stewart-Haas Racing said it would not go to a backup for Busch. Only two spots were up for grabs in the 500 — one in each qualifying race. Michael McDowell earned the spot in the first race, while Robert Richardson Jr. earned the final transfer spot. Richardson only got the call two weeks ago from BK Racing to attempt the Daytona 500. "I was at home working on my ranch," said Richardson, who added every dollar he earns this weekend will go into a college fund for his newborn son. Richardson manages hay production as his full-time job at a ranch in Pilot Point, Texas. "The stress that I’ve been putting just on myself in general to make this race, I’ve been pacing the floor ever since I woke up this morning just eager to get this race underway, just eager to see how the outcome would happen." Failing to make the Daytona 500 were: Josh Wise, Cole Whitt, David Gilliland and Reed Sorenson. Earnhardt dominated the 150-mile race and easily darted around leader Denny Hamlin with six laps remaining to cruise to the victory. Earnhardt led 43 of the 60 laps in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and Hamlin seemed to be the only driver with a car strong enough to challenge the No. 88. Hamlin won last week’s exhibition race, but his Toyota didn’t have the help Hamlin needed when Earnhardt was ready to make a pass for the win. Hamlin finished fifth. Defending Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano was second and Ryan Blaney was third. Blaney had early issues with a loose wheel, but had assured himself a spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500 based on qualifying speed. Still, his Wood Brothers Racing team got him back on the lead lap and he was in position to work with Logano to make a late run at Earnhardt. Instead, the order didn’t change and Blaney’s finish opened up a spot in the Daytona 500 for McDowell. "It’s so intense. When Blaney had a problem there, we were counting on him racing his way in," McDowell said. "I can’t tell you what it means to make the Daytona 500. We’re racing Sunday and I can’t wait to get going." It’s the third time in seven years that McDowell has raced his way into the 500. He had to use a block on Whitt to preserve his position. The block led to Whitt spinning and bringing out the only caution of the first race. Dale Jr.: 'I've changed a lot of oil' Today, Dale Earnhardt Jr. owns auto dealerships. But there was a time when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver worked in one. In the service department. Quick lubes were his specialty. Can you hear it now? Dale Earnhardt Jr., twice a winner of the Daytona 500, 26 times a winner in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series and a two-time NASCAR XFINITY Series champion, asking if you wanted the synthetic or conventional blend? And all those customers he's served? What would they say now? "I remember when he changed the oil in my car." "That boy sure could align a front end." Neither has happened, unfortunately. No one has come forward to fondly relive past oil changes with the Hendrick Motorsports driver. And he didn't do alignments, anyway, so we'd know who really had a car serviced by Earnhardt Jr. "I was the quick lube guy," NASCAR's most popular driver for 13 years running said Tuesday during Media Day activities at Daytona International Speedway. "I got moved to a couple of different positions for a couple of months at a time. But I always kind of ended up back at the quick lube machine. That was strictly my job." The 41-year-old worked in the service department at his father's dealership for "a couple of years." The utensil drawer in the kitchen of seven-time series champion Dale Earnhardt held no silver spoons. "I changed a lot of oil," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I had a lot of fun doing that. I think I was there for two-and-a-half years. It was a fun time but I haven't really run across anybody that has said, 'You used to change the oil in my car back then.' " Earnhardt Jr. will be bidding for a third Daytona 500 title Sunday when NASCAR begins its 2016 season in earnest. The season-opening points event is scheduled to being at 1 p.m. ET (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR). It seems speed has always been a factor in Earnhardt Jr.'s life. Today it's on the track. Back in the service department, it was get 'em in and get 'em out in 29 minutes or less. "I got put on commission for a week and I made too much money; they took me back off commission because I was doing them in eight minutes," he said. "I was doing them pretty fast when I learned that I could make money doing it. I was going through them pretty quick." A little too quick, perhaps? "One time I drove out of the lot without the filter on the car and ran all the oil out of it right through the parking lot," he admitted. "It was hilarious." Earnhardt's 'Amelia' to take flight again at Daytona She flew across the Atlantic Ocean and broke nearly every barrier that was in place for female pilots in the early 1900s. She was relentless, fearless and bold. And now, Amelia Earhart is headed for the Daytona 500. Well, Amelia -- otherwise known as Chassis No. 88-872 for Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- that is. Earnhardt wheeled this particular superspeedway car at all four restrictor-plate races last season, earning two wins. Reusing a car that ran multiple races last season is unusual, as teams like Hendrick Motorsports have the resources to build brand new cars every year. But Amelia is special. "A car gets named when you drive it long enough to see a personality, typically," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said last month. "… We're going to take the same car because it was so successful. The fact that we're going to keep running it, I said, 'We gotta name it' and we were thinking of a woman who has accomplished something that was an awesome person that was something we could be proud of. "Amelia Earhart was the first thing that came to my mind." It's almost a perfect analogy, from the personality similarities to even their similar last names, Earhart and Earnhardt. Like Earhart, Earnhardt's 'Amelia' experienced great success in the form of two trips to Victory Lane last season -- but she also faced adversity, notably at Talladega in the fall when Earnhardt battled from the back to the front several times but failed to win his way into the next round of the Chase. And for Earnhardt, Earhart's redeeming qualities parallel the characteristics that every race car driver needs at the track. "(Earhart) must have been the most daring; she sort of fits that mold of the courage and determination that you need as a race car driver," Earnhardt said. "She must have had that and more to be able to do the things she did in her lifetime." However, there's one hiccup in Earnhardt's perfect tale: Earhart's eventual fate of disappearing while attempting to circumnavigate the earth on her final flight. This doesn't bother No. 88 crew chief Greg Ives in the slightest. "The way I look at it is, the eventual fate is to be going into the Daytona USA and being left there for a year," Ives said, referring to where winning Daytona 500 cars reside for a year. "And eventually what happens is after it comes out of the Daytona USA, (team owner) Mr. Hendrick puts it into his museum. "So, if (disappearing from the shop) the fate of the race car because we win the Daytona 500, I'm all for it." Fast facts for NASCAR's 2016 procedural changes Here is a breakdown of the procedural changes made on Thursday, as provided by NASCAR: 1. Field sizes and corresponding new points systems Sprint Cup Series: Maximum 40-car field (36 Charter team cars, 4 Open team cars), race winner awarded 40 points, 40th place awarded one point. XFINITY Series: Maximum 40-car field, race winner awarded 40 points, 40th place awarded one point. Camping World Truck Series: Maximum 32-truck field, race winner awarded 32 points, 32nd place awarded one point. New points systems apply to driver, owner and manufacturer championships. Existing 2015 Bonus points remain in place for 2016. 2. Qualifying: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 specific: - Thirty-six Charter teams will be assigned a starting position. - Four Open teams are eligible for starting positions: --- The highest finishing Open team in each Can-Am Duel race earns a starting position. --- The final two starting positions are awarded to Open teams based on Coors Light Pole Qualifying if not already a top finisher in a Can-Am Duel race. - Qualifying sets the front row for the Daytona 500 and the starting lineup for the Can-Am Duel fields, with the number of Charter team and Open team cars split evenly throughout both races. - If qualifying is canceled due to weather, the top two finishing Open teams from each Can-Am Duel race earn starting positions in the Daytona 500. - If the second Can-Am Duel race is cancelled due to weather, the highest finishing Open team from the first race earns a starting position, with the other three Open teams determined by qualifying. - If both Can-Am Duel races are canceled due to weather, qualifying determines all four Open teams. - If qualifying and both Can-Am Duel races are canceled due to weather, the combined practice speeds are used to determine the four Open teams. - If all on-track activity prior to the race is canceled due to weather, 2015 Owner points will be used to determine the four Open teams. All Other Championship Race events: - Thirty-six Charter teams will be assigned a starting position and four Open teams are eligible for starting positions. - Qualifying results will determine the Open team starting positions assuming the event is run as scheduled - If qualifying is canceled due to weather, the combined practice speeds determine the four Open teams - If practice and qualifying are canceled due to weather, Owner points determine the four Open teams (events 1-3 revert to 2015 Owner points) 3. NASCAR Overtime: For all national series For all three NASCAR national series, a race may be concluded with overtime, consisting of a new procedure for a green-white-checkered flag finish featuring an "overtime line." The location of the overtime line will vary by track. After taking the green on the overtime restart, if the leader then passes the overtime line on the first lap under green before a caution comes out (a "clean restart"), it will be considered a valid green-white-checkered attempt. However, if a caution comes out before the leader passes the overtime line on the first lap under green, it will not be considered a valid attempt, and a subsequent attempt will be made. If necessary, multiple subsequent attempts will be made until a valid attempt occurs. Once a valid attempt is achieved (clean restart), it will become the only attempt at a green-white-checkered finish. If a caution comes out at any time during the valid green-white-checkered attempt, the field will be frozen and the checkered/yellow or checkered/red displayed to cars at the finish line. NASCAR announces landmark new ownership structure NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France announced a milestone long-term agreement Tuesday, unveiling a Charter system that is expected to substantially increase team value and sustainability for owners competing in NASCAR's premier series. "Today represents a landmark change to the business model of team ownership in NASCAR," France said. "The Charter agreements provide nine years of stability for NASCAR and the teams to focus on the growth initiatives together with our track partners, auto manufacturers, drivers and sponsors." Thirty-six teams have been granted Charters and are guaranteed entry into each of the 36 points events. Standards for obtaining a Charter were based on participation during the past three seasons (from 2013 through July of '15). Four additional positions in the field each week will be determined through normal qualifying procedures as outlined in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book. As a result of the changes, fields for Sprint Cup races will now consist of 40 cars. The Charter system, a form of which owners have sought in an effort to bolster value of their organizations and which was initiated by NASCAR more than a year ago, will provide stability by guaranteeing sponsors and other potential partners continued participation for an extended period of time. NASCAR officials said the system would not have come into being without positive support and input from the various industry stakeholders with an end goal of providing the best racing and product possible. Charters are transferable, which France said "will aid in the development of long-term enterprise value for Charter members." Those organizations that have been awarded Charters are: Richard Petty Motorsports (2), Richard Childress Racing (3), Team Penske (2), Hendrick Motorsports (4), Roush Fenway Racing (3), Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (2), Joe Gibbs Racing (3), Michael Waltrip Racing (2), Stewart-Haas Racing (3), Furniture Row Racing (1), Front Row Motorsports (2), JTG Daugherty Racing (1), Tommy Baldwin Racing (1), Germain Racing (1), Go FAS Racing (1), BK Racing (2), Premium Motorsports (1), Circle Sport Racing (1) and HScott Motorsports (1). Three teams that competed full time in 2015 do not currently have Charters -- the No. 19 of Joe Gibbs Racing with driver Carl Edwards, the No. 41 of Stewart-Haas Racing with Kurt Busch and the No. 46 of HScott Motorsports with Michael Annett. The only way to obtain a Charter would be to purchase one of the existing 36 Charters. Michael Waltrip Racing closed its doors at the end of the 2015 season and team officials have not announced what will be done with its two Charters. France said the team owner agreements "will offer a more appealing environment for both current and prospective team owners at the NASCAR premier series level. "I've always stressed that if we can do things to improve the business of our stakeholders, we will pursue it," he said. "I'm very proud of what we've accomplished today with this agreement." The Charter system is the latest long-term effort put into place by NASCAR. Last season it was announced that individual track sanctioning agreements, which previously had been handled on a year-to-year basis, had been extended to five-year arrangements beginning in 2016. And new multi-year broadcast agreements with FOX and NBC began last season as well. In addition to the Charters, the agreement also includes the establishment of the Team Owner Council, a non-voting entity, which will have input into competitive and marketing matters going forward. Fast facts about NASCAR's team owner Charter system NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France joined with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owners on Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, to announce a landmark long-term agreement on an owner Charter system. The agreement provides teams with an increased business certainty and the ability to work more closely with NASCAR to continue to produce best-in-class racing. Below are fast facts about the comprehensive agreement. • This long-term agreement is for nine years. • There are 36 Charter teams, currently from among 19 organizations. The number 36 was not pre-determined -- NASCAR analyzed which teams showed a long-term commitment to the sport by attempting to qualify every week for the past three years. That criteria yielded 36 Charters. • Because of the above criteria, the following teams do not have Charters: the No. 19 of Joe Gibbs Racing, the No. 21 of Wood Brothers Racing, the No. 41 of Stewart-Haas Racing and the No. 46 of HScott Motorsports. • A Charter guarantees entry into the field of every Sprint Cup Series points race. Qualifying speeds still determine the lineup. • Sprint Cup Series fields will shift from 43 cars to 40 cars. That means 36 Charter teams are guaranteed to make every points race, and four non-Charter (or "open") teams will complete the rest of the field. • Charter owners may transfer their Charter to another team, for one full season, once over the first five years of the agreement. • Charter teams are held to a minimum performance standard. If a Charter team finishes in the bottom three of the owner standings among all 36 Charter teams for three consecutive years, NASCAR has a right to remove the charter. • Teams may sell their Charters on the open market. • Organizations now have a hard cap of four cars; there will be no fifth car for rookie drivers. NASCAR implements team owner Charter agreement for Sprint Cup Series During a historic event held today in Charlotte, N.C., NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France joined with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owners to announce a landmark long-term agreement that provides teams with increased business certainty and the ability to work more closely with NASCAR to produce best-in-class racing. In effect as the 2016 NASCAR season prepares to kick off this weekend, the new Charter system addresses three key areas -- participation, governance and economics -- to promote a more predictable, sustainable and valuable team business model. The agreement grants NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Charters to 36 teams, establishes a Team Owner Council that will have formal input into decisions, and provides Charter teams with new revenue opportunities including a greater interest in digital operations. "Today represents a landmark change to the business model of team ownership in NASCAR," France said. "The Charter agreements provide nine years of stability for NASCAR and the teams to focus on growth initiatives together with our track partners, auto manufacturers, drivers and sponsors. The Charters also are transferable, which will aid in the development of long-term enterprise value for Charter members." The system affords Charter teams that remain in good standing more predictable revenue over the nine years of the agreement. Along with improved financial certainty, the new framework is designed to increase the long-term market value of teams and provide the ability to plan farther ahead with existing, new and prospective partners. Similar to the five-year sanctioning agreements that NASCAR begins with tracks in 2016, team owner Charter agreements allow for longer planning cycles around competition, innovation, digital marketing, governance and research and development. "The new Charter program strengthens each of our businesses individually and the team model as a whole, which is good for NASCAR, our fans, drivers, sponsors and the thousands of people who we employ," said Rob Kauffman, co-owner of Chip Ganassi Racing. "This will give us more stability and predictability, and it will allow us to take a more progressive, long-term approach to issues. "NASCAR and the teams share a desire to preserve, promote and grow the sport and ultimately produce great racing for our fans and partners. These common goals served as the foundation for discussions and helped bring us to this unprecedented agreement. This is a great step forward for the entire sport made possible by Brian France setting a new course for the NASCAR industry and the owners coming together on shared issues. Everyone involved then compromised a bit to be able to come up with something that worked for all." Each Charter team owner has a guaranteed entry into the field of every NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points race. To maintain the historical openness of NASCAR racing, the balance of the field will be open for team owners who do not hold Charters. These Open team owners will compete for the remaining starting spots and positions in the race, as each event in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' starting lineup shifts in 2016 to a 40-car field. "The new team owner agreements will offer a more appealing environment for both current and prospective team owners at the NASCAR premier series level," France said. "I've always stressed that if we can do things to improve the business of our stakeholders, we will pursue it. I'm very proud of what we've accomplished today with this agreement." Retirement? Not on the radar for Earnhardt Jr. It's hard to imagine Dale Earnhardt Jr. not fitting in. As a 13-time recipient of the NMPA Most Popular Driver Award, beloved by fans and a star-studded symbol of stock car racing, Earnhardt is hardly the guy anyone would pinpoint as the one who wasn't quite gelling with the group. But there was a time when Earnhardt would sit down at the table with Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and his teammates then leave the meeting having made little contribution to the discussion. "For the longest time, I felt like maybe I was the odd man out or I just didn't fit in," Earnhardt recalled at Charlotte Media Tour on Thursday. "For whatever reason, it just didn't feel like I was a piece of the puzzle. ... We couldn't get our team going, we couldn't find success, I was unhappy. "I just never wanted to push myself to or involve myself in too much of any of the conversation because I was not accomplishing my goals on Sunday. So, what do I got to say? I've got to get my crap together first before I can come to the table with any kind of new ideas or direction." Happiness began to trickle in when Junior's trips to Victory Lane increased. After one lone win in five seasons, Earnhardt and crew chief Steve Letarte came back with a roar in 2014, winning the season-opening Daytona 500 and making three more trips to Victory Lane that year. He followed suit last season, winning three races with new crew chief Greg Ives. That's when Junior's mindset began to shift. "I'm glad that we're winning races and we're like an asset to everybody there and that we're a good team ... and they're excited to work on our cars and build our motors and all that stuff because we go to the track with a chance to win," Earnhardt said. "That's all you want as a mechanic or engine builder -- put your motor in the guy that's got a shot. So I'm glad we're finally at the level with the company." As Earnhardt tallied more wins, he seemed to mature off the race track, too. He celebrated his 40th birthday with longtime girlfriend Amy Reimann by his side, whom he proposed to during their trip to Germany in 2015. The Dale Earnhardt Jr. of 2016 seems more settled, more confident than his old self. It's something even Rick Hendrick noticed. "I think he enjoyed being young, and I think now that he's older, he's just now coming into maturity," Hendrick said with a laugh. "Maybe I shouldn't even have said that and it's going to come back to bite me, but I think he's just all of a sudden, he's planning a future with his wife -- he's comfortable. Then to win and know that he can go out there and win any race, any time, he's having fun. And you know what, I want him to stay that way. I want him to continue to have fun." And when Earnhardt's riding high, coming down seems tough, almost impossible. Despite his peers Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart announcing their own retirements, Earnhardt's improvement on the track makes it difficult to answer one of the biggest questions that confronts the 41-year-old driver: When will he hang up his fire suit for good? For Earnhardt, it's a delicate balance. "I don't want to be here too long, (but) I don't want to (retire) too early," Earnhardt said. " You want to feel like the time's right. "(Gordon and Stewart) felt like the time was right. And hopefully I'm in the same position. I've said before, that you want it to be your decision. You don't want to be fired out of the sport. You want it to be on your terms." Earnhardt's own terms deem that the retirement process also be steady, well thought-out -- he wants to avoid saying "what if?" when the curtain does eventually fall. "I'd be a fool to turn this off right now," Earnhardt said. "To slow down this machine would take about a two-year plan. I will talk to Jeff and I'll talk to Tony about how they went about that decision and structured it. "But I can't even imagine when that would be because things are going so well ... We've got a job to do. Every year we keep getting better, we're racing better, we're winning. I feel like I've got to be here in that next step. "If it flat lines, or I feel like I've flat lined or I feel like I'm part of the problem or I'm holding the team back, then we've got to start thinking about it. But everything's going in the right direction right now." The day Earnhardt decides to step aside from racing is yet to be determined. But it doesn't appear to be happening any time soon. He has too much to say at the team meetings now. Schedule for 2016 Charlotte Media Tour The 2016 Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour is here with most of the teams and the sanctioning body meeting with the press corps to look ahead to the upcoming season. NASCAR.com will have you covered with complete coverage of the week, which caps off with Jerry Cook, Bobby Isaac, Terry Labonte, Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on the night of Friday, Jan. 22. Below is the full schedule of live-streaming events on NASCAR.com Tuesday, January 19 —11 a.m.: NASCAR —1:30 p.m.: Joe Gibbs Racing —3:15 p.m.: Furniture Row Racing —5 p.m.: Fox Sports Wednesday, January 20 —9 a.m.: Richard Petty Motorsports —10:45 a.m.: Roush Fenway Racing —3:30 p.m.: Team Penske Thursday, January 21 —11:10 a.m.: Richard Childress Racing —1:30 p.m.: Stewart-Haas Racing —3:15 p.m.: Hendrick Motorsports. Eligible drivers and format announced for 2016 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona NASCAR announced today the 25 eligible drivers and the format for the season-opening 75-lap Sprint Unlimited at the new Daytona International Speedway motorsports stadium on Saturday, Feb. 13. The event, which will be broadcast live on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM, marks the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race following the completion of DAYTONA Rising, the $400 million frontstretch redevelopment project that has transformed Daytona International Speedway into the first motorsports stadium in the world. "We're ready to go," said NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell. "The anticipation for this season, this event and this venue is unprecedented. We are excited how the new stadium will provide a state-of-the-art showcase for the brightest stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series." Once again, the non-points event will be split into two segments with a competition caution at lap 25 separating the segments. A popular element introduced before the 2015 event returns this year: select fans will be paired with each crew chief for a random drawing to determine starting and pit road positions. The drawings will take place on Friday, Feb. 12 at the Alert Today Florida Stage inside the Sprint FANZONE beginning at 3:30 p.m. The 25 eligible NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers include the 2015 Coors Light Pole Award winners, former Sprint Unlimited race winners and former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full time in 2015. All 16 drivers from the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup are also eligible for the race, and any remaining open positions are filled based on 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship driver points. Eligible drivers are: 2015 Coors Light Pole Awards winners · AJ Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano. Former Sprint Unlimited Race Winners · Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart. Former DAYTONA 500 Coors Light Pole Award winners Greg Biffle, Austin Dillon, David Gilliland, Danica Patrick, Martin Truex Jr. 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers: · Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman. 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship driver points: · Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson. If an eligible driver does not enter the race, the open position will be filled based on 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship driver points. The first five provisional drivers are Casey Mears, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Sam Hornish Jr., David Ragan and Trevor Bayne. Tickets for the Sprint Unlimited are available online at DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. Fans can follow @NASCAR and @MissSprintCup on Twitter to engage in the #SprintUnlimited conversation. NASCAR Fan Appreciation Day set for January 23 For the third consecutive year, the NASCAR Hall of Fame will open its doors for FREE for NASCAR Fan Appreciation Day. On Saturday, Jan. 23, fans will have free access to the Hall for a full day of activities, including autographs and Q&A sessions with current drivers and NASCAR Hall of Famers. Fans will be admitted into the Hall on a first-come, first-served basis in lieu of needing a ticket. However, tickets to the below autograph sessions, highlighted by 13-time Sprint NMPA Most Popular Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. must be secured in advance. Vouchers for these autograph sessions will be available for free on NASCARHall.com starting at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 16. Each fan can secure up to two autograph session vouchers. Session One (9 a.m.): AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Ben Rhodes Session Two (10 a.m.): Dale Earnhardt Jr., Erik Jones, Timothy Peters Session Three (11 a.m.): Kasey Kahne, Daniel Suarez, Ben Kennedy Session Four (12 p.m.): Brian Scott, Ryan Reed, Daniel Hemric Session Five (1:30 p.m.): Aric Almirola, Ty Dillon, Tyler Reddick Session Six (2:30 p.m.): Martin Truex Jr., Justin Allgaier, Christopher Bell Session Seven (3:30 p.m.): Chase Elliott, Elliott Sadler, Matt Crafton In addition, up-and-coming stars of the NASCAR NEXT program and NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2016 inductees Jerry Cook, Terry Labonte and Bruton Smith will participate in Q&A's and autograph signings throughout the day. Advance vouchers are not required for these sessions. Fans in attendance will be among the first to see a series of new exhibits and facility upgrades. Artifacts from all five Class of 2016 inductees will be on display in the Hall of Honor, an exhibit that opens Friday, Jan. 22. Fans can also relive the 2015 NASCAR season with updated Memorable Moments and Champions displays. No. 88 team names new lead engineer for 2016 Tim O'Brien will fill the vacant lead engineer position for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team in the 2016 season, the team confirmed. O'Brien worked with Clint Bowyer upon his arrival to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2012 before serving as the lead engineer for the No. 55 MWR team in 2015. His tenure with the Waltrip-owned team followed a seven-season stint with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The position became available after former No. 88 lead engineer Kevin Meendering left Hendrick Motorsports to crew chief for Elliott Sadler's newly minted JR Motorsports ride in 2016. Meendering served as the No. 88 lead engineer for five seasons before his departure. Earnhardt Jr. most popular for 13th straight year Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been named NASCAR’s most popular driver for the 13th consecutive year. Earnhardt was presented the award Friday night at season-ending awards ceremony at the Wynn Las Vegas. He joked during his acceptance speech that he thought he’d lost the award this year to Matt Kenseth, who received a huge ovation at Martinsville for intentionally wrecking Joey Logano. Bill Elliott holds the record for most popular driver awards, winning the fan vote 16 times during a career that spanned 37 years. Dale Jr.'s Axalta paint scheme revealed for '16 (Pic) Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Axalta have revealed their paint scheme for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The unveiling took place on Wednesday via the @AxaltaRacing Twitter handle during Champion's Week. In October, Axalta and Hendrick Motorsports announced that the coatings company was moving its primary sponsorship to Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet with Jeff Gordon ending his full-time racing career in 2015. Axalta also expanded its number of races as a primary sponsor from 10 to 13 while extending its deal with Hendrick to 2018. This 2015 season marked the 23rd year of partnership between Axalta and Hendrick. The Rundown: Miami 40. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt was caught up in the Lap 46 incident and needed significant repairs on pit road before returning to the track. Dale Jr. 'would block' for Gordon to win title at Miami Despite giving a bit of an indecisive answer earlier in the week about who he would root for to win Sunday's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was clear on the "Dan Patrick Show" on Thursday -- Jeff Gordon's his guy. "I'm going to obviously pull for my teammate, Jeff Gordon, because I want the boss man (Rick Hendrick) to be happy with Jeff winning the championship, and that's a hell of a way to go out," Earnhardt said on his morning appearance on the NBCSN program. "He's been racing for, what, 20-something years now and still has the ability to go out and win races and battle for championships all the way to the very end. What a storybook ending that would be." Junior had previously said in a Twitter Q&A after his win at Phoenix that he's "a company man, but I'm also pulling for (friend, Martin Truex Jr.)." But if it came down to it, Junior implied he'd block Truex's No. 78 Chevrolet -- or anyone else -- on the final lap if it helped Gordon win his fifth and final premier series title. "I would block. … I can't pull over to give him a spot. I can't let him have a position to give him a point, but yeah, I would block," said Earnhardt. "And I'll race those other guys (Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick) very, very hard when I'm around them. Those other three competitors are going to get some hard competition from me and any of the other teammates that are out there." Earnhardt Jr. achieves new milestone at Phoenix Dale Earnhardt Jr. did something for the first time in his 16-year NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career on Sunday by virtue of his win at Phoenix International Raceway. The Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 win gave Earnhardt Jr. three victories this season. Coming off a four-win year in 2014, it's the first time Junior has ever won three or more races in consecutive seasons. His three wins in 2015 also ties his mark from the 2001 season. Earnhardt's six-win 2004 remains his personal standard when it comes to victories in a season. For his career, Junior has 26 premier series victories -- which ranks him tied for 27th in NASCAR history with Denny Hamlin and NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s career wins Year Number of wins 2000 2 2001 3 2002 2 2003 2 2004 6 2005 1 2006 1 2007 0 2008 1 2009 0 2010 0 2011 0 2012 1 2013 0 2014 4 2015 3. The Rundown: Phoenix 1. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior fans that waited out the rain delay were rewarded with the HMS driver's third win of the season. Earnhardt Jr. wins rain-shortened Phoenix race Persistent rain forced Sunday's Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway to end early after 219 of 312 laps. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was credited with the win at the end of a long day. Kevin Harvick was second, with Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson rounding out the top five. Harvick, Busch and Martin Truex Jr. will join Jeff Gordon in the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway next Sunday. Rain began falling around 1:25 p.m. ET at Phoenix, which underwent a ceremonial race-day name change to Jeff Gordon Raceway to honor the four-time series champion. A fleet of NASCAR Air Titan track dryers began circulating the 1-mile track approximately 20 minutes later as precipitation began to taper off. The race was called at approximately 11:40 p.m. ET after rain began to fall once again. The race was initially scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET, but was pushed to approximately 9:15 p.m. ET. There had previously been just one rain-shortened race among the 38 premier-series events in the track's history. NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace prevailed here in October 1998 in a race cut from 312 to 257 laps. The 312-mile event was the last of three races in the Eliminator Round, which determined the four drivers eligible for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crown. The Rundown: Texas 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt held onto a car that was "wrecking loose" and was the beneficiary twice en route to his 16th top-10 at Texas. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 'I ain't going to argue with what Matt did' Surrounded by an entourage of Team Penske officials and handlers, Joey Logano walked down Martinsville Speedway's pit road in street clothes, virtually unrecognized in the oncoming darkness Sunday night. He ran into crew chief Todd Gordon, and the two stopped to speak for a few minutes. There were gestures and smiles exchanged, a sign they didn’t feel the No. 22 team’s title hopes were snuffed just yet despite Matt Kenseth’s hit job in Turn 1 -- a crash that left Logano last of eight drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings. The 25-year-old made his way through the crews rolling their cars back to the garage, then hopped over the exterior pit wall in one smooth move and jumped into a golf cart, joining wife Brittany. The golf cart zoomed off into the night, but Logano’s competitors were left behind still trying to digest what just happened. The general view: Logano probably had it coming. “I ain’t going to argue with what Matt did,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “Matt felt like he was justified with how Joey wrecked him at Kansas and then was arrogant about it afterward. That was really what got under Matt’s skin more than anything – how Joey was arrogant about it. When you damn wreck a guy, admit it, you know?” Kevin Harvick said he wasn’t surprised by Kenseth’s actions. He recalled a previous incident where he got into Kenseth at Martinsville, and “it wasn’t 50 laps later that I was in the fence.” “That’s kind of an eye-for-an-eye situation with Matt,” Harvick said. “There’s really no in between with Matt. Racing around him for a long time, you kind of know where you sit with him.” On Monday’s edition of the Dan Patrick Show, Jeff Gordon said Logano was “gloating” about his move at Kansas that left Kenseth wrecked. That didn’t help the situation, Gordon said. On Sirius XM, Gordon compared the incident to what he did to Clint Bowyer at Phoenix in 2012 and said every move on the track has a consequence - whether drivers are racing to win or not. He said he believes Kenseth will pay a high price for his retaliation. It’s unclear whether Kenseth will be penalized for his move, but one thing is certain, Earnhardt Jr. said. “Don’t wreck Matt Kenseth, I’ll tell you that right now!” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Do not wreck that boy!” The Rundown: Martinsville 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. "We might as well get an attempt at it (the final restart), but it's pretty dark," Earnhardt told his team as he lined up third for the final restart. Earnhardt Jr. speaks openly about Talladega finish Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he is proud of his team's second-place performance on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, even more so than any of the No. 88's victories this season, but he said he's never going to watch a replay of the race, look at pictures of it or seek out others' opinions about it. Appearing Tuesday on the Dale Jr. Download on Dirty Mo Radio, Earnhardt Jr. spoke openly, and at times emotionally, about the outcome of a race that ended under caution and denied him the chance to advance in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Last week, NASCAR changed the rules at Talladega in order to limit a green-white-checkered finish to one attempt, and when a wreck happened shortly after Sunday's final restart, the race ended under caution with Earnhardt Jr. on the verge of passing eventual race winner Joey Logano for the lead. "A lot was going on at the end of the race," Earnhardt Jr. said. "... From inside the car, I felt like I got a pretty good restart on Joey before they called that restart off, the one we didn't make it to the (start-finish) line on. "The next time, Joey got me a little bit better, I mean we were still kind of side-by-side, but I wasn't quite as far up on him. And by the time we got to where they called the next yellow, I was just passing him." But even if the race were allowed to continue for another 100 feet and Junior passed Logano, the Hendrick Motorsports driver wasn't sure he would have felt much differently. "I got a little knot in my stomach, little sick about how it ended," Earnhardt Jr. said. "... I don't know if we could have celebrated that kind of victory as hard as a well-earned victory. "It sucks. Sucks for NASCAR. Sucks for us. Sucks for everybody. I don't want NASCAR to get a black eye over this deal, because I really love the sport. I think they did the best they could under the circumstances. We got a rulebook and we went by it, and that's the results. I like that." Earnhardt only bright spot after Talladega ending Thank goodness Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed dignity in defeat after he was bounced from NASCAR's playoffs. The class shown by NASCAR's most popular driver in not criticizing the outcome was the one positive takeaway from a bad ending to Sunday's elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway. At least four drivers accused series champion Kevin Harvick of manipulating the finish, and an overwhelming pro-Earnhardt crowd left dissatisfied when a change to the rules prevented him from racing for the win. It was a win he had to have, too, to advance into the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. But NASCAR said last week that in an effort to maintain some semblance of safety, it would make just one attempt to finish the race under the green flag instead of the usual three tries. Earnhardt supported the decision before the race, and didn't change his mind after Harvick hooked Trevor Bayne on the restart to trigger an 11-car crash that froze the field before Earnhardt had a chance to chase leader Joey Logano into the first turn. ''I feel like no matter the rules, when the race is over, I can live with the result as long as everyone else is going by the same rules,'' Earnhardt said. ''Per the rule book, it sorted out and I finished second. I'm OK with that.'' His fans showered Logano's car with beer cans. Their anger may have been misdirected. Harvick knew he had a problem with his engine and knew his car likely wouldn't go on the restart. Had he forfeited his position in the running order - a move one would only do as a courtesy to avoid a potential pileup - it's likely the reigning series champion would have plummeted in the standings and have been eliminated from the Chase. So he was told over his team radio to block as many cars as he could on the restart, an attempt to cling to the best finish possible. Instead, Bayne shot around Harvick's slowed car then tried to cut back in front of him to get back in line. The in-car camera appears to show Harvick looking constantly in his rearview mirror in an apparent effort to ward off any more cars. The replay, though, seems to indicate he turned right into Bayne's bumper to spin him and bring out the race-ending caution. Among those questioning Harvick's intent were Bayne and David Gilliland. Far more direct in their accusation of race manipulation were Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin, who were both eliminated from the playoffs when the caution flag came out. NASCAR has so far said only that its review of the incident showed Harvick did nothing on purpose. Doesn't matter, though. It's a bad look for the champ, who already this Chase has shoved Jimmie Johnson, left without comment after running out of fuel at New Hampshire and then was accused by other teams of intentionally damaging his race-winning car at Dover to avoid a thorough NASCAR inspection. NASCAR should be extremely sensitive to accusations of race manipulation, particularly since the 2013 fiasco at Richmond in which Michael Waltrip Racing used a series of maneuvers to put a driver in the Chase. It took NASCAR almost a week to sort out all the shenanigans and it was made clear by chairman Brian France that manipulating races was a very serious crime. With MWR, there were several smoking guns of intent. This time, it's impossible to prove that Harvick deliberately turned right into Bayne to save his season. And even if NASCAR wanted to punish Harvick, there's no easy cleanup. NASCAR can't undo the final restart, in which Hamlin was caught in the wreck. NASCAR also can't give Earnhardt and Kenseth the chance to race for the victory both needed to advance. A points penalty against Harvick wouldn't do much. All he has to do is win one of the next three races - and this stretch includes Phoenix, where he's won four straight and five of the last six - to advance to the championship. But cleaning up the cloud surrounding Harvick is just one part of the problem. Talladega under no circumstances should be an elimination race because it's a crapshoot and simply not fair to drivers racing for the championship. With so much on the line, their fate shouldn't be so out of their control at the unpredictable, high-banked track. NASCAR knew well before Sunday that the chances of the field successfully racing to the finish without wrecking were slim to none, so it altered the green-white-checkered flag rule for one particular race - and even that one attempt at finishing under green was useless. Since everyone knew a wreck was more than likely, why even bother with the charade? Just let the race finish under the original caution and save everyone the post-race headaches that seem to be a Talladega staple. The Rundown: Talladega 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt led a race-high 61 laps but didn’t get a chance to race for the win after the field was frozen shortly after the final restart began because of a caution during the only green-white-checkered attempt. Earnhardt OK with ruling that denied him final shot at 'Dega Dale Earnhardt Jr. worked himself into position to race to the finish for another victory at Talladega Superspeedway and a spot in the third round of the playoffs. Denied the chance, he refused to gripe about the anti-climactic finish Sunday that left him behind winner Joey Logano after the race ended under caution because of an accident on the one attempt at a green-white-checkered flag finish. ''I feel like no matter the rules, when the race is over, I can live with the result as long as everyone else is going by the same rules,'' Earnhardt said. ''So I felt like, per the rule book, it sorted out and I finished second. I'm OK with that. We could argue they could have waited another 100 feet to throw the caution, but they didn't have to. They threw it when they needed to. I'm fine with that.'' He appeared poised to get a shot at overtaking Logano at a track where he's won six times. NASCAR made it clear leading up to the race that it would only make one attempt to finish the race under green-flag conditions. Logano was leading when a spin in traffic behind him extended the caution before he took the green. Kevin Harvick's car struggled to pick up speed on the restart, triggering a multi-car accident. Earnhardt wasn't among the drivers who seemed miffed at Harvick, who preserved his spot in the third round of the playoffs. After leading a race-high 61 laps and finishing second, he wasn't questioning NASCAR rules officials either. ''I know those guys up in the booth, and I really believe in the choices they make and decisions they make for the sport, whether it's in the middle of a race or a new rule in the middle of the week, whatever it is,'' Earnhardt said. Earnhardt came into the race 11th out of 12 drivers in the Chase standings but liked his chances. He'd driven his No. 88 Chevrolet to victory in a qualifying race at Daytona in February, won there again in July and in between picked up another victory at Talladega. Logano called Earnhardt ''the best speedway racer that we know'' and said holding him off would have been a challenge. Earnhardt would have been assured of spot in the third round of the Chase with a repeat win in Alabama. ''I'm more proud of the drive I had today than the two wins this year,'' Earnhardt said. ''The two wins came a lot easier than this second place did. ''We got shuffled out. I didn't know if we could get back up there. They formed a line around the top. That was my job. Somebody else did it. I was sitting there about 10th. I was thinking, 'I've never been in this situation. How do I pass these guys?' But I started working on it and we got one at a time until we finally got up there in the top three.'' He had to overcome some issues along the way, including a case of the jitters and nervous stomach that left him feeling ''like crap all weekend.'' Earnhardt mistakenly thought vibrations were caused by a loose wheel, and he got a pass-through penalty when a crew member came over the wall too soon on a pit stop. ''I also came into that box real careful because I didn't want to slide,'' Earnhardt said.'' I think they were anticipating me rolling in the box sooner. That was probably a little bit my fault, my responsibility. ''My crew guys, over the wall guys, are getting a little rough treatment here lately. The guys I got, if we stick together, we're going to be great next year. I believe in them.'' Dale Jr. confident in his car heading into Talladega He's Talladega's favorite son, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. has everything in place to have a magical weekend -- a successful Talladega history, unwavering support from the locals and a car that has proven success at plate tracks. That last item might be the most important. Junior's No. 88 Chevrolet -- sporting a "cursed" Diet Mountain Dew scheme, as he joked on Twitter earlier is this week -- is actually the same chassis that's been to Victory Lane three times this year. It won the first Daytona Duel in February, at Talladega in May and again at Daytona in July. At a place such as the massive 2.66-mile oval, the largest in NASCAR, having confidence in what's under him is more important to Earnhardt Jr. than anything else. "We've won here this year and we've ran good and won at Daytona over the last several years," Earnhardt said Friday. "So when we come to all the plate tracks we feel confident we can do well, and we feel confident in the car. The confidence that you have in the car is really where it all stems from. When you don't believe in the car, you make (worse) decisions." The success here doesn't hurt, either -- Junior is tied with Jeff Gordon among all active drivers with six wins at Talladega. His dad, "The Intimidator", is the all-time winner here with 10, and this weekend is the 15-year anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's 76th and final career win. Earnhardt Jr. recounted some of that 2000 race with alarming accuracy Friday, noting that the pressure also gets ratcheted up -- Chase or no Chase -- at Talladega because of the Earnhardt legacy of excellence here. The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs, of course, only adds to that. Sunday's CampingWorld.com 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) is a postseason elimination race, and Earnhardt Jr. almost certainly must win it to advance to the eight-driver Eliminator Round. "There's no denying the intensity and pressure it puts on drivers like myself to be in a cutoff situation where you're eliminated if things don't go perfectly on Sunday," Earnhardt said. "But I think it's what the fans enjoy. If I'm a fan, I like it." The Hendrick Motorsports driver finds himself in this position after a pair of finishes outside the top 20 earlier in the round. He finished 28th at Charlotte, the opening race of the 12-driver Contender Round, following an incident with Carl Edwards and several ensuing trips into the wall. A 21st-place finish last week at Kansas deepened his hole and put Earnhardt Jr. 31 points behind eighth-place Martin Truex Jr., who is in the cutoff spot. Sunday is not mathematically a must-win scenario to advance in the postseason, but it's close. Here's an example. If Junior finishes second Sunday and leads at least one lap, but not the most laps in the race, he would earn 43 points. In order for him to advance in the postseason, Kevin Harvick (fifth in the standings), Jeff Gordon (sixth) and Brad Keselowski (seventh) would all have to finish 34th or worse; Truex Jr. would have to finish 33rd or worse; and Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman, ninth and 10th in the standings, respectively, would have to finish outside the top 25. So, yeah, winning makes everything simpler. And winning at Talladega is something the Earnhardts do better than anybody else. "We're trying to do as good a job as we can, and when the race starts we want to run up front and try to stay toward the lead," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I think I need to be in the lead with 30 or 20 (laps) to go to have a really, really good shot at it. "Hopefully it's exciting, but I'd love to lead the last 30 straight.” Earnhardt Jr. needs to come up big at Talladega Dale Earnhardt Jr. has struggled in the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs and needs a good run at Talladega Superspeedway to avoid elimination in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Luckily for Earnhardt, he’s pretty good at Talladega. And he’s headed into Sunday’s race with a proven car. The No. 88 Chevrolet that Earnhardt will race Sunday won a qualifying race at Daytona in February, won here in May, then won at Daytona again in July. A fourth win in the car will automatically move him into the eight-man third round of the Chase. Still, he's not exactly breathing easy. "It's real intense, there's no denying the intensity and the pressure it puts on drivers like myself to be in a cutoff situation where you're eliminated if things don't go perfectly on Sunday," Earnhardt said Friday. Earnhardt is 11th in the 12-driver field after sub-par races in the second round. He finished 28th at Charlotte and was 21st -- lowest of all Chase drivers -- last week at Kansas. But Talladega is his track, and the crowd will be firmly behind him. They root for him in these grandstands like no other driver, and the roar when he charges to the front can make the ground shake. Earnhardt is a six-time winner at Talladega -- tied for most among active drivers with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon -- so having this track play such a big role in his title chances gives him confidence. Earnhardt noted Sunday that there's no other track than Talladega that he'd rather be at this week facing elimination. "We've won here this year and we've ran good and won at Daytona over the last several years," he said. "So when we come to all the plate tracks, we feel confident we can do well and feel confident in the car. The confidence that you have in the car is really where it all stems from." He sits at the bottom of the standings with Kyle Busch (ninth), Ryan Newman (10th) and Matt Kenseth (12th). Busch was in solid position this race a year ago -- he was second in the standings -- only to be caught up in a wreck and eliminated. So no one heads into Sunday feeling safe, and only Joey Logano has earned the automatic berth into the third round. Logano won the last two races -- he had contact last week at Kansas with Kenseth that spun Kenseth out of the lead, and denied Kenseth an automatic berth into the third round. "There are certainly going to be some people that race scared and racing scared, to me, means sometimes you race not to win, but to not lose as far as the points are concerned," said Brad Keselowski, who is seventh in the standings. Keselowski was in a must-win situation a year ago, and drove his way to victory lane to continue his playoffs. Eliminated that day were Busch and Hendrick drivers Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne. Most drivers have varying strategies of perseverance for 500 miles of plate racing, and many simply watch how it develops. That's what happened in the spring when one long single-file line of drivers circled the track and no one pulled out of line -- even with the win in reach. "I think we've seen races here, in fact the last spring race, we saw that where the race stayed single-file for a long, long time," Keselowski said. "To me, (that) is kind of somewhat a showing of racing scared, where you're happy with where you're running and you don't want to do anything to jeopardize that so you stay in line." He wouldn't reveal what he'd like to do to maintain his spot in the playoffs Sunday. "I'm not really all that interested in sharing what my plan is now," Keselowski said. Earnhardt had a much more simplistic approach. "When the race starts, run up front and try to stay toward the lead," he said. "I think it's important to be in the lead in the last 50 laps of the race, so we're going to try to be there." No. 88, three others receive warnings post-Kansas Four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams received warnings after post-race inspections for the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, including the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team. The No. 88 team with Dale Earnhardt Jr. received a warning for failing pre-race inspection twice. The No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing team with Alex Bowman also received a warning for the same reason. The No. 83 BK Racing team with Matt DiBenedetto received a warning for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice. The No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team with Ryan Blaney received a warning for the following infraction: Section 10.7.2.b. Blaney finished seventh at Kansas, while Earnhardt Jr. was 21st, DiBenedetto was 30th and Bowman was 31st. If any team or person accumulates six or more warnings in a six-month period from the first warning, a P2 penalty could be issued by NASCAR. P2 penalties can include point deductions, fines and suspensions that can carry over into the next season. The Rundown: Kansas 21. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt's Chase hopes took a hit with 100 laps to go when he had to make an unscheduled stop for a loose wheel. Dale Jr. faces must-win situation at Talladega Dale Earnhardt Jr. used to own Talladega Superspeedway. After a disappointing run at Kansas Speedway in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400, he'll need to re-ascend to the throne next Sunday if he is to keep his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship hopes intact. Can do, Earnhardt, who finished 21st at Kansas and two laps off the pace at Kansas, said after exiting his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on pit road. "Don't count us out," he said. "We got confidence and we definitely have the car to do it ... and Talladega is a race we can win." Earnhardt did not have the car to do it at Kansas. Nor did he have the precision in the pits that championship hopefuls need. He started 15th in the second of the three Contender Round events and moved backward from there. He was plagued by vibrations a couple of times in the race and then, on Lap 160, what he believed to be a loose wheel sent him to the pits under green. When he emerged, he had dropped off the lead lap. It marked the second time in the Chase that a loose wheel caused him problems. At Dover a couple weeks ago, he was plagued by one. But before he was about to pit, a caution saved him from having to make a green-flag stop and allowed him to advance to the three-race Contender Round. Despite the wheel problems, Earnhardt insisted after the Kansas race that he has big confidence in his crew and crew chief. "I'm fine," he said. "We'll get it figured out. I believe in my guys. I really do." Earnhardt will start the race at Talladega next Sunday 11th in points and 31 points out of the eighth and final berth in the Eliminator Round. A good finish won't be good enough for Earnhardt's championship chances. He will likely need The Finish. His overall history at Talladega says a victory is very possible. Earnhardt won the spring race at Talladega this year -- but his the last victory before that was in 2004. Earnhardt, who said he arrived at Kansas knowing he would likely need to win Talladega in order to advance, said, basically, "so what" to that. "I know that one race, one opportunity, one chance makes the odds feel bad, but we won there this year," he said. "And we went to Daytona (which, like Talladega is a restrictor-plate track) and ran third in the 500 and we won our 125 (qualifying race)." Earnhardt was asked late Sunday afternoon about the frustration of having such a good season boil down to one event. "I'm not frustrated and I'm not emotionally drained or anything like that," he said. "The Chase is going to give you these kind of results. "I've been in this before and it is what it is." Junior stays silent after Charlotte woes Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn't spoken with NASCAR officials about fluid on the track last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and he hasn't talked with fellow driver Carl Edwards about contact early in the Bank of America 500. Both events ended with the No. 88 Chevrolet making contact with the outside wall and were factors in his 28th-place finish. For now, the Hendrick Motorsports driver said, the focus is "on the next two races to try to win so I can advance. "If we don't advance," he said, "we can change our focus." First up is Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR). Earnhardt will start 15th in the 43-car field. "No, I didn't talk with either one of them," Earnhardt said prior to qualifying Friday at Kansas. The oil likely went unnoticed because of "shade or whatever it was that the billboards cast across the track. I don't know why (NASCAR officials) didn't see it or didn't know it was there or didn't understand it was there." "I think we were in good shape to rebound and get a top-10 finish before we hit the oil and the wall," Earnhardt said. "That definitely hurt our opportunity." As for the incident with Edwards, which occurred earlier in the race, Earnhardt said it was impatience on the part of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver that led to the contact. "He didn't hit me in the quarter panel, he hit me in the back of the car," he said. "I think he was just impatient there." Less than 15 laps later, Earnhardt Jr. brought out the caution when a right-side tire went down, a result of the contact with the wall. He restarted 37th, one lap down, but was able to work his way back onto the lead lap he hit the wall again. The finish left Earnhardt 11th out of the 12 Chase for the Sprint Cup contenders. Only the top eight advance into the Eliminator Round, which will be determined following the Kansas and Talladega Superspeedway events. "Right now, it is so difficult at some of these mile and a halves," Edwards said, "everyone is so protective of their position and … aggressive and trying to get every spot you can. It's racing and you just have to do the best you can. "You have to make decisions in the heat of the moment and every once in a while stuff happens. I'm definitely glad we didn't suffer any damage from it (at Charlotte) and I wish it wouldn’t have turned out the way it did to end up ruining the 88's (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) day, but it was just tough racing." Low downforce prevalent in 2016 rules package NASCAR announced the base 2016 rules package for Sprint Cup Series teams on Wednesday, and the low downforce setup that received rave reviews from drivers following races at Kentucky Speedway and Darlington Raceway is the centerpiece. Next year's base package includes a 3.5-inch spoiler (currently 6 inches), a 0.25-inch front leading splitter edge (currently 2 inches) and a 33-inch wide radiator pan (currently 38 inches; it was 28 inches at the Darlington and Kentucky races). The result of the smaller spoiler and other components will produce less downforce -- downward thrust of a car created by aerodynamics -- which drivers say gives them more control of the car and also results in both less throttle time and slower speeds in the corners. "NASCAR has worked tirelessly with our teams, drivers, manufacturers and Goodyear to develop a rules package that provides fans with the best racing possible," Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said in a press release. "The success of the races at Kentucky and Darlington in similar trim proved extremely valuable in accelerating rules development for 2016. Now, as teams have even more time to prepare and a strong baseline of data, we anticipate the racing to be even better." The low downforce rules will also allow Goodyear to develop a tire that complements the new package and produces more fall-off, which would likely lead to more passing. A softer tire, like the one built for Darlington, led to drivers conserving their tires while slipping and sliding all over the track. This base package is planned for all tracks except Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway; each track will have its own tire combinations and drive train configurations, a flexibility NASCAR sought to produce the best racing for various track lengths and layouts. Other changes in effect in the base package are adjusted rear gear ratios to maintain 9,000 RPM maximum engine speed, and a 1.38 third gear ratio for tracks smaller than 1.25 miles. Teams began 2015 with a rules package that featured both less downforce and less horsepower. A move to take even more downforce away resulted in a second package used only at Kentucky and Darlington as officials experimented with what the '16 package might look like. NASCAR also tested a high drag package at Michigan and Indianapolis. The reaction from drivers and crew chiefs following the events at Darlington and Kentucky amounted to rave reviews. • "This is what race car driving's all about. And I feel like now it's back in the driver and crew chief's hands to get their car handling like it's supposed to, not just an arms race of who builds the fastest cars in the shop." -- Denny Hamlin • "Sold. Keep doing it. Ship it." -- Carl Edwards • "I think it was awesome. We had a lot better show. You saw cars spinning out on their own, slipping and sliding around. I thought it was really close racing, passes for the lead -- stuff we haven't seen in a long time." -- crew chief Darian Grubb Superspeedways Daytona and Talladega have a few tweaks for next year, too. Engine roller lifters will replace the current solid lifters (adding approximately 10 horsepower), which in turn will reduce the size of restrictor plates from 29/32 inches to 57/64 inches. The digital dashboard will also become mandatory in 2016 for all races, and safety enhancements include a new fire suppression activation system, right-hand side double NACA duct to better cool drivers at tracks where a side window is used and an enhanced safety belt restraint system. Wednesday's announcement followed a lengthy period of dialogue between the sanctioning body, teams, drivers, manufacturers and Goodyear. Representatives from Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota, as well as others within the industry, met with the sanctioning body at New Hampshire regarding the packages, and drivers have met with NASCAR several times this season to discuss many issues, including rules. "Our team at the NASCAR R&D Center is constantly looking at the racing, and evaluating ways to continue to improve it," O'Donnell said. "Using science and technology and qualitative data compiled from world-class engineers throughout the industry as our guideposts, we will always look to make the racing better for our fans." NASCAR announces base 2016 rules package NASCAR announced today the base NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rules package to be used during the 2016 season. The package was delivered to teams after an extensive collaborative process between NASCAR and industry stakeholders. The base package will include a 3.5-inch spoiler, a 0.25-inch front leading splitter edge and a 33-inch wide radiator pan. These components will provide lower downforce on the cars, and Goodyear will develop tires to complement them. Earlier this season, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Kentucky Speedway and Darlington Raceway featured a similar aero package. "NASCAR has worked tirelessly with our teams, drivers, manufacturers and Goodyear to develop a rules package that provides fans with the best racing possible," said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. "The success of the races at Kentucky and Darlington in similar trim proved extremely valuable in accelerating rules development for 2016. Now, as teams have even more time to prepare and a strong baseline of data, we anticipate the racing to be even better." Characteristics of the lower downforce rules package includes more off-throttle time for drivers and decreasing corner speeds. This generates more passing zones over the entire track, and allows for multiple tire combinations to be levered. In addition to the base package, each track will continue to feature specific rules, including tire combinations and drive train configurations, to create the best racing for each track length, layout and surface. Rear gear ratios will be adjusted to maintain a maximum engine speed of 9,000 RPM and a 1.38 third gear ratio will be used at all tracks smaller than 1.25 miles. The digital dashboard, which was optional for teams during the second half of this season, will be mandatory in all vehicles. "Our team at the NASCAR R&D Center is constantly looking at the racing, and evaluating ways to continue to improve it," O’Donnell said. "Using science and technology and qualitative data compiled from world-class engineers throughout the industry as our guideposts, we will always look to make the racing better for our fans." Several safety updates have been instituted, including a double NACA duct where a right-hand side window is used, a fire suppression system activation cable routed to the dash or right-hand side leg board and a seat belt restraint system that meets SFI 16.6 specification. Dale Jr.'s 2016 Nationwide paint scheme revealed (Pic) In a special video featuring selected Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans, Nationwide revealed the No. 88 paint scheme for races in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Watch the video that was tweeted out below to see how fans helped to unveil the new look. Nationwide will be a primary sponsor for 21 races on the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2016. O'Donnell: 'Can't debate Kyle and Junior' NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's "The Morning Drive" that he and other NASCAR officials "did not see oil" on the track during Sunday's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "I can't debate Kyle (Busch) and (Dale Earnhardt) Junior," O'Donnell said, referencing the drivers' stating there was oil on the track. "They're in the race car, they say they hit it. It's not something we saw out there. We'll continue to talk to them and see what we can maybe improve on in the future. "We had personnel even out of the truck almost on their hands and knees out there to make sure there wasn't any (oil)," O'Donnell said. Both Busch and Earnhardt Jr. were adamant after the race that oil that wasn't cleaned up from a previous incident led to each of them hitting the wall in separate incidents. "We all hit the wall," Earnhardt Jr. said after the Hendrick Motorsports driver finished 28th in the opening race of the Contender Round of this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. "I hit the wall, the 2 (of Brad Keselowski) hit the wall, then we went another lap. I pitted, a bunch of other guys hit the wall. "There was oil down there. It wasn't speedy dry (used to absorb fluids put down on the racing surface). I've raced this (expletive) for 20 years, I know what oil and speedy dry is. We hit fluid, flew into the freaking wall hard. That's not speedy dry. There was oil up there." O'Donnell also thanked fans for sticking it out until Sunday as, "we did not see a window at all," to get the race in during the rainy Saturday night for which the event was originally scheduled for. And as far as that long-awaited 2016 schedule, O'Donnell mentioned it's coming "very, very soon." The Rundown: Charlotte 28. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt lost his right-front tire and faded through the field before hitting the wall to bring out the fourth caution period. Earnhardt Jr., Busch question NASCAR clean-up efforts Two of NASCAR's top drivers were adamant that oil not cleaned up from a previous incident led to each of them hitting the wall in separate incidents during Sunday's Bank of America 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch bounced off the outside wall shortly after Justin Allgaier had brought out the day's seventh caution flag. "We all hit the wall," Earnhardt Jr. said after the Hendrick Motorsports driver finished 28th in the opening race of the Contender Round of this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. "I hit the wall, the 2 (of Brad Keselowski) hit the wall, then we went another lap. I pitted, a bunch of other guys hit the wall. "There was oil down there. It wasn't speedy dry (used to absorb fluids put down on the racing surface). I've raced this (expletive) for 20 years, I know what oil and speedy dry is. We hit fluid, flew into the freaking wall hard. That's not speedy dry. There was oil up there." Earnhardt was already running outside the top 25 after an earlier incident had put his No. 88 Chevrolet in the wall. Allgaier's entry began slowing with smoke trailing out the rear of the No. 51 HScott Motorsports entry on Lap 182. Earnhardt said it might have been a "blown hose" that sprayed fluids across the track and that shadows cast by billboards ringing outside of the track could have made it difficult to see. "(Expletive), man, guys hit the fence, what do you want me to do?" Earnhardt said. "I hit the (expletive) wall. I know I hit oil. I hit it. I promise. I'll argue with (NASCAR) all day long because I know I'm right. They won't argue about it. ... They shouldn't want to argue about that. A lot of cars hit the wall down there." Busch's Toyota eventually slipped up and into the fence in the turn as well, continuing a day of misfortune for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. "You now, can't pass anybody -- single-lane race track and then you put oil on the top lane to try to make anything happen and then you put yourself in the fence, so thanks to NASCAR for cleaning that up," Busch said after finishing 20th. With two races remaining in the Contender Round, at Kansas Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, Busch sits 10th and Earnhardt 11th in points. Only the top eight will advance to the three-race Eliminator Round (Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix), with a chance to be one of the final four to battle for the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. Brad Keselowski (Team Penske) finished ninth and holds the No. 8 points position, 10 points ahead of Busch and 19 ahead of Earnhardt. Richard Buck, NASCAR Managing Director of the Sprint Cup Series, said afterward that officials "listen to our drivers and our spotters; we get calls all day long. We've got spotters around the track, officials, clean-up and stuff and we'll make the rounds over the radio. "In that instance we actually had men on the ground walking that high groove and they couldn't see anything," he said. Caution car driver Brett Bodine and official Buster Auton were also evaluating the condition of the racing surface in the area in question. "So we got the reports and we looked everywhere," Buck said, "including putting people on the ground walking the area where they said the oil was, and there was no oil. "Sometimes, with some of these lubricants … there is some staining to the track. We'll go back and do a double-check on that just to make sure; we did that today and we feel absolutely confident that there was no oil up in that very top groove or down below." Race winner Joey Logano (Team Penske) said there was radio chatter among his crewmen about possible oil on the track, but that he had no issues. "I was warned," Logano said. "My spotter did a great job warning me that people were talking about it, so when someone comes over the radio and says 'Hey, they're talking about oil in the middle of the race track,' then you probably shouldn't run in the middle of the race track." Sunday's race was run a day later than originally scheduled due to rain that washed out all on-track activity on Saturday. Earnhardt Jr. hammers wall twice at Charlotte Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s placed his Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup hopes up against an uphill climb Sunday afternoon after a pair of brushes with the wall at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet scraped the wall on Lap 69 after contact with fellow Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor Carl Edwards. He continued at a slower pace with an apparent tire rub developing, eventually smacking the outside wall in the same place between Turns 1 and 2 five laps later. "Hit the (expletive) wall pretty good," Earnhardt told crew chief Greg Ives after his first contact with the retaining wall. Earnhardt stopped for fresh tires and repairs, sending him tumbling down the leaderboard to 38th place, one lap down in the first event of the three-race Contender Round, the second stage of the Chase playoffs. Earnhardt struggles early at Charlotte Sprint Cup Chase driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit the wall on lap 70 at Charlotte on Sunday, leaving him one lap behind the field in the opening race of the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs. Earnhardt was running in the top 10 when Carl Edwards tapped his rear bumper, forcing him into the wall. Earnhardt remained on the track for five laps before his right front tire went down, bringing out the caution and causing him to pit. He was 35th on the restart. It’s been a struggle so far for Hendrick Motorsports. Kasey Kahne hit the wall on lap 58 and went behind the wall. Jeff Gordon was the only Chase driver running outside of the top 15 before Earnhardt's wreck. Jimmie Johnson was knocked out of the Chase last week. Earnhardt forced to make hard decisions for JR Motorsports Dale Earnhardt Jr. has tried for five years to push Josh Berry's career forward. He got him one Xfinity Series start this year driving for JR Motorsports, and was ecstatic when Berry turned it into a seventh-place finish last month at Richmond. So thrilled, he used his time before reporters after the race to plead Berry's case. ''We all but begged in that media center after the race,'' Earnhardt said. ''We put ourselves on the mat there. I thought we were brutally honest about the situation.'' The situation is simple: It takes money to run a race team, and the funding has to come from corporate sponsors. With 139 employees to support at JR Motorsports, Earnhardt has to make business decisions that often break his heart. The team won the Xfinity Series championship last year with Chase Elliott, but Elliott and sponsor Napa are moving to the Sprint Cup Series next season. It's created a void at JRM that has to be filled, and Earnhardt will do it with Elliott Sadler, who brings healthy sponsorship from OneMain Financial. The decision wasn't popular on social media, as Earnhardt and his JRM staff received backlash over Sadler's hiring. Why didn't he give Berry the seat? How come he doesn't run nephew Jeffery Earnhardt at JRM? Shouldn't he help his brother, Kerry Earnhardt, get a ride? What's he going to do with Regan Smith next season? In a perfect world, Earnhardt could make everyone happy. But even in Elliott's championship season last year, JRM did not break even. The financials of running a race team means Earnhardt has to make hard decisions that he explained this week in an interview with The Associated Press. ''People say to me all the time 'Why don't you put him in a car?' Well, I'm not a sponsor. I'm a car owner,'' Earnhardt said. ''I want to have Josh Berry racing for me and have Jeffery racing for me and not in the Cup Series in a start-and-park car. I'd have fun with Kerry at plate races, I'd be dragging Dale Jarrett out of retirement. I'd be doing all kinds of fun damn stuff if I had my way. ''But it's just not that simple. It takes money, and it always has.'' Running a race team was meant to be a hobby for Earnhardt. He took pride in having a legends car run at the tracks around his hometown of Kannapolis, and it was an ego boost when one of his drivers won. The organization slowly grew, Earnhardt was able to create a workplace for his friends and family, and in 2008 they hit a high. Brad Keselowski was winning national series races for JRM, which was now a championship contender. JRM today is two full-time cars racing for the Xfinity Series championship, and an all-star car that runs when Earnhardt has the funding. ''We didn't plan for it to get this big, but to keep up with everybody, we had to,'' he said. ''It's way bigger than I ever thought it would be.'' So are the expenses. Earnhardt estimated he needs roughly $6 million in sponsorship per full-time car, and every race that goes unfunded costs about $150,000 for the team to put the car on the track. ''Instead of breaking even, we have been losing money on cars on the regular, and that's the way it has been up until the last six months,'' Earnhardt said. ''We have the potential to have a profit next year.'' The signing of Sadler gives JRM stability that was a comfort to his employees. He's hopeful to figure something out to keep Smith next season, but there's no guarantees. Smith is in his third season with JRM and last week scored his second win of the season. He's third in the Xfinity standings, and has not finished lower than third in the championship race since joining the team. But if the money isn't there, Earnhardt can't run Smith. ''I'm very fortunate to be with a strong race team right now, and a team that has a shot at the title,'' Smith said Thursday. ''That's what I'm focused on and next year is 2016. We're going to worry about 2015 right now and take things as they happen.'' Earnhardt wants Smith back next season, and he wishes his plea last month at Richmond had led to more phone calls about Berry. He said there's been interest that could potentially put Berry in anywhere from three to six races in the No. 88 next season. For now, he's facing the same challenge as every other team owner in NASCAR: It's very hard to bring in sponsorship for lesser known drivers. ''There's not a lot of willing corporate sponsors that have a couple million dollars to risk or gamble on something they don't know a lot about,'' Earnhardt said. ''We see the talent. But a guy who owns a company in middle America, he doesn't see it. You can tell him all day long, 'This kid has got it, I need you to pump some money in and let's take him racing!' It's just not that easy to convince him.'' Earnhardt remains committed to JRM and the Xfinity Series, despite the difficulties he has found come in chasing wins and dollars. He doesn't need JRM to be a money-maker - he understands that just breaking even is a victory - but wishes outsiders understood he's got a business to run when he makes some of his decisions. ''It'd be awesome if this thing made millions of dollars, but it doesn't, but we have family and friends here and it's really about the employees,'' Earnhardt said. ''It's a place that we get to keep open and grow and build partnerships. And it's part of my legacy. ''I want my legacy to be more than just being a driver when it's all said and done. I don't think anybody is ever going to go, 'Man he put so much into this sport as an owner.' To have my name loosely tied to the beginnings of Chase Elliott's career is a sense of pride. To have that same connection to Keselowski is a huge feather in my cap. It's special to me. Maybe other people wouldn't get that return out of it, but I do.'' Hendrick teams now guarding against parts failures in Chase Hendrick Motorsports took time in its weekly meetings to address the parts failure that cost Jimmie Johnson a shot at a seventh championship. Johnson was eliminated in the first round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship when an axle seal broke on his car Sunday at Dover. The failure occurred 103 laps into the race and he finished 41st to fall into the bottom four of the Chase standings. While the issue could be a quality control problem, four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon said HMS discussed ways to ''make sure that's not something that bites us going forward. ''If I wrote down the list of inexpensive parts on the car that can fail at anytime on any given weekend, you'd blow your mind,'' he said. ''It's unfortunate that it happened, and trying to actually diagnose exactly what caused it and why it happened, it's tough. Other teams will tell you these kinds of little gremlins can reach out and grab you at any time.'' Gordon said HMS, which still has Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Chase, can take ''procedural'' steps to guard against failures. ''I think we can take some extra precautions to maybe make it better, but there's more of a long-term solution to it that we can't really address right now,'' he said. Earnhardt seemed less concerned with the issue. ''Just a freak accident. The seal can get a nick or tear throughout the weekend moving an axle in and out,'' he said. ''We've never had any problems with our seals and everything's always looked good with our cars. You never know. You hope you don't have an issue with that, and something as simple as that can ruin your day.'' Dale Jr. wants to keep pit crew as is Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he doesn't anticipate any further changes to his pit crew even though teammate Jimmie Johnson has been knocked out of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Earnhardt and fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon advanced into the Contender Round of the Chase, which begins this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnson, a six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, did not secure one of the 12 Chase positions, falling by the wayside when a rear axle seal failed during Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. Speaking to the media Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Earnhardt couldn't guarantee that there would be no changes in his over-the-wall crew, "but I would like to keep my guys," he said. Earnhardt's last win came in July at Daytona. His pass of Jamie McMurray in the closing laps at Dover vaulted him into the Contender Round, but he and his team had to overcome a loose wheel during the race to put themselves back in contention. A caution allowed Earnhardt to pit and correct the problem and kept him from having to come to pit road under green-flag conditions. "I'll be honest with you. … I don't know what's going to happen. You might find out tomorrow that somebody got changed," he said. "I don't think you build a guy's trust … he needs to know that you believe in him; the same for the driver. The driver needs to know the team believes he can do it. "I think the (tire) carrier, the (tire) changer, all those guys want to think that the driver and everyone involved believes in them when they go over the wall. "If I take the 48 guys because I think they're better, then what am I going to do next year when we have to start from scratch again? All those guys that are on my car now are going to be pissed off because I don't believe in them because I took the 48 guys when the going got tough. "So I don't believe in doing that. I think that my guys can do it; I think we will find the combination that works for us to get to the end of the season and beyond." Earnhardt's No. 88 crew has been retooled in recent weeks, most recently for Dover as front-tire changer Scott Brzozowski replaced David Mayo, who had earlier been replaced by Kevin Novak but had been brought back onto the main crew. The addition of Brzozowski can possibly be a game-changer for the team, according to Earnhardt. "I hope that Scott wants to stick around beyond this season," he said. "I actually talked to him today. "It's not like we need two new (tire) changers. We just need one key guy that can come in and kind of elevate the standard and push everyone. Over the past couple of years when we've had great pit crews, a lot of the guys that we've been working with this year were on those teams. "If you get one guy in there that’s kind of a key player … like a wide receiver or a quarterback is to a football team, he can really elevate the play of everybody around him and boost the entire crew; just the confidence that those guys have going over the wall when he's a part of it changes the whole consistency of the team." Gordon's No. 24 team picked up the services of tire changer Nick Odell recently, which freed up the move for Brzozowski to the 88. Gordon, a four-time champion in his final full-time season, is still searching for his first win in 2015. "We really want Scott to try to wrap his brain around sticking with us," Earnhardt said. "We could really use a guy like him on the 88 car to bring some stability to the rest of the group. I've got a lot of faith in our guys; it's not like we need to go crazy and blow it up, go looking outside our system." Any crew changes for his team, he said, would be orchestrated by crew chief Greg Ives and Hendrick Motorsports General Manager Doug Duchardt. Swapping individual crew members heading into the Chase isn't unusual. There have even been cases of swapping entire crews, in the middle of a race no less, as Johnson and Gordon did in 2010. "I know teams have done that before but I just feel like, yeah you might get somewhere in the short term and get some stability but over the long term you basically have just destroyed the integrity of the team you have," Earnhardt said. "Having those guys back at the beginning of next season is not going to be an option. They're not going to want to work for you once you take them off the car during the Chase." The Rundown: Dover 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The final caution flag was a lucky break for Earnhardt, who took the opportunity to address a loose wheel. He then used a solid restart to slip past fellow Chase contender Jamie McMurray and punch his ticket to the next round. New Earnhardt Jr. paint scheme for 2016 revealed (Pic) TaxSlayer.com revealed Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s paint scheme for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race the company will sponsor next year. The bright red look is different from a typical Junior scheme, but the man who drives the No. 88 Chevrolet likes it -- after all, he helped design it, according to the company, and Junior said on Twitter that he was influenced by one of his dad's paint schemes. TaxSlayer.com is expanding its involvement with JR Motorsports in 2016 while also beginning a new relationship with Hendrick Motorsports. It will serve as the primary sponsor for a total of 10 NASCAR XFINITY Series races in 2016, appearing on the No. 7 JRM Chevrolet currently driven by Regan Smith as well as the No. 88 entry that has been fielded for various drivers this season. In addition to serving as the primary sponsor of Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Sprint Cup entry for one race in 2016, TaxSlayer.com will also be an associate sponsor throughout the year. Dale Jr. edges out McMurray to advance in Chase It was a second-half battle between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jamie McMurray and it wasn't settled until the final lap of Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. It wasn't for the win. But, in this scenario, it was just as important. Earnhardt Jr. finished third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, McMurray finished fourth and that order determined the final spot in the 12-driver lineup for the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The two drivers finished tied in the final points standings after the three-race Challenger Round, but Earnhardt Jr. earned the final transfer position based on having the better finish of the two drivers (his Dover result) in this opening round. A fast restart by McMurray's Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet inside the final 100 laps of the 400-lap event took Earnhardt Jr. by surprise -- "I didn't see that kind of speed in his car all day," Earnhardt said -- and had some wondering if Earnhardt would be the second Hendrick Motorsports to fail to advance. Teammate Jimmie Johnson, felled by a broken rear axle seal, finished 41st and dropped from Chase contention. It was a final caution, the result of oil put down by the No. 40 of Landon Cassill on Lap 373, that gave Earnhardt Jr. his opportunity. "Jamie was trying to squeeze down in front of Matt (Kenseth) into Turn 3 and get to the bottom, and they really slow-rolled that corner for some reason, both of them," he said. "I just went to the outside because it was about the only shot I had to pinch anybody down, pinch Jamie down if I could get to his quarter panel, and that's how it worked out. "I thought we were about the third- to fifth-best car, and we just fought all day for track position, and we passed a lot of cars and had a lot of fun." The No. 88 crew chief, Greg Ives said having the two earlier wins was fortunate but that "we shouldn't even be in this position right now. "Running out of fuel (at Loudon), we ran well enough to finish in the top three (there)," he said. "This is not indicative of where our team is; the heart and the fight we had today showed where this team is at." Earnhardt had finished 12th in the Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway, then ran out of fuel in the waning laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to wind up 25th. He came into Sunday's cutoff race 12th in points and just one point ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch. "I feel like we've got pretty good speed," Earnhardt said. "We lost a little ... over the summer and I think we're gaining a little bit on it. We've still got some more to find." McMurray was disappointed in the outcome -- he was making his first appearance in the Chase -- but was pleased with what his team accomplished this season. "Our goal at the beginning of the year was to make it into the Chase," he said. "The unfortunate part is we didn't run well enough the first two races; we ran great today. We got a lap down and then Matt (McCall, crew chief) did a really good job adjusting the car and getting it back to where we had a top five car; our pit crew did an awesome job, our team did a tremendous job today; we just didn't run well enough the first two races." Finishes of 16th and 14th in the first two Chase races put McMurray 11th in points headed into Dover, one point ahead of Earnhardt. Kevin Harvick dominated the race to vault his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team into the Contender Round. Busch, Earnhardt, McMurray and Aric Almirola completed the top five. "I really thought just being consistent would get us in and it was close, we just needed one more point," said McMurray. Bonus points for race wins, awarded for during the first 26 races and used to help determine seeding for the opening round, are not awarded after the first round. Therefore, the 12 drivers advancing into the Contender Round each have 3,000 points heading into next weekend's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Changes made to pit crews for Earnhardt, Gordon Former Joe Gibbs Racing tire changer Nick Odell has signed a deal with Hendrick Motorsports that will make him a member of the No. 24 pit crew, the team confirmed. Odell drew interest from several teams after he was released by JGR last week. He was a longtime front tire changer for the No. 18 Toyota driven by Kyle Busch. Scott Brzozowski was the front tire changer for the No. 24 team. He came to Hendrick Motorsports after working with the No. 39 crew of Ryan Newman at Stewart-Haas Racing. Brzozowski will move from the No. 24 team to the No. 88 team of Dale Earnhardt Jr. as its starting front tire changer. Brzozowski will replace David Mayo, who will return to a backup role. The roster moves are in effect starting at Dover. It's the second tweak to Earnhardt's pit crew in the past month. The changes to the No. 18 team last week came after changes to several teams in Chase contention, including the No. 88 pit crew, the No. 2 crew for Brad Keselowski's Ford and the No. 78 group that services Martin Truex Jr.'s Chevrolet. Junior: 'I'm not mad at Greg (Ives)' for fuel miscue Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of fuel in the closing laps of Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, leaving the Hendrick Motorsports driver with a 25th-place finish, teetering on the edge of elimination from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The two-time 2015 winner holds a one-point lead over 13th-place Kyle Busch heading into the weekend's AAA 400 race at Dover International Speedway, the site of the final event of the Chase-opening Challenger Round. With the threat of yet another earlier-than-predicted Chase exit looming over the No. 88 team, Earnhardt discussed the New Hampshire race, the upcoming event at the "Monster Mile" and whether he's mad at his crew chief, Greg Ives, for miscalculating his fuel level on the weekly Dirty Mo Podcast. "I guess we'll get right to it -- we ran out of gas. I really didn't know we were short on fuel but we ended up running out and I know the 4 and the 41 ran out of gas also," Earnhardt said. "It sucks, you know? It sucks that things ended up that way. To be honest with you, I'm not mad at Greg. I'm not mad at anybody. If you're going to race for 20 years, you're going to have days like this. You're going to have races like that and you're going to have miscalculations. "In this sport, races are won and lost and positions are gained and lost and speed is gained by just fractions of an inch and very small measurements. You push everything from how the car's made and goes through tech to the fuel mileage; you push everything to the very breaking point. And you've got to gamble and be aggressive. Sometimes those gambles are going to pay off and sometimes they're not. You're going to have these kind of things happen and that's just the way it is." To hear Junior talk about the situation Sunday – while he was walking through the woods, relaxed and about to go sit in a hunting stand, no less – with such poise and calmness was interesting. The 40-year-old has gone through long stretches of less successful times in which he tended to pin the blame on those around him. In a situation that tends to typically be blamed on crew chief error, Earnhardt chose not to bury Ives, something he admitted he may have done in the past. "If it happened to me 10 years ago, I'd be complaining like a spoiled brat. I'd be throwing everybody under the bus. I don't feel like that today," said Earnhardt, who finished outside the top 10 at NHMS for the first time since 2013. "I think Greg is a huge influence on our performance and he wants to take responsibility for what happened. I don't want him to do that. We make decisions together. He's not the only guy up on that pit box. We make these decisions together, but he's feeling pretty bad about what happened. But he's going to pick himself up and go on down the road to Dover and try to do what we have to do. I'm not mad at him. He is a huge reason why our performance is better this year." In fact, the performance that Ives has brought to the table in 2015 is immeasurable. Even with Sunday’s middling result, Earnhardt is on pace for the best average finish of his career – 10.8 – and should be a legitimate contender for his first title, if he advances past Dover. Performance could've fallen off dramatically when long-time crew chief Steve Letarte stepped down from the 88 pit box to jump into the NBCSN booth, but it hasn't. It's actually improved. It's not a coincidence. "I'm competing and performing and running on a consistent basis more than I ever have. I'm proud of the year we've had. When you make a change and you change such a powerful player on the team like the crew chief position or the driver position or the lead engineer, it's going to have an effect," Earnhardt said. "What you want it to be is seamless and you want to always improve that position. If you change the driver, you want a better driver. If you change the crew chief, you want a better crew chief. You don't want to move laterally or regress. "I told Steve Letarte this when he was going away. I said, 'I'm going to shoot you straight. You've got to help me find a better person than what you are. You've got to help me fill this void. You've got to let me know what you think about the guy coming in. He's got to be as good or better.' I feel like we've done that. I know that Greg's going to learn and go through these growing pains and he's going to be a star. He's going to be a superstar in this sport. He'll learn from today. He'll put this in the notes and he'll never make that mistake again and we'll never make it together. Now, the series shifts to Dover, a difficult track that Earnhardt hasn't seen Victory Lane at since his mid-20s. In 2013, he started on the pole and finished second in this race – a result that would likely keep him in the Chase. One big problem is the 4 car of Kevin Harvick, which Earnhardt admits has 'been faster than everybody every week' and sits behind him in the standings. Harvick is among the favorites to win the race, which could have dire implications for the 88. "We feel like we've got a good enough team to go to Dover and do what we've got to do and make it to the next round, so let's go do that," said Earnhardt. "Put (New Hampshire) in the rearview mirror, folks, nothing you can do about it now. "Just go on back to work and get our (expletive) done." The Rundown: Loudon 25. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt ran in the top 10 for most of the day but had to pit in the final laps to refuel. DALE JR. TO TV When Dale Earnhardt Jr. saw some of his fellow drivers acting as guest analysts during Xfinity Series races, he tweeted he wanted a turn in the broadcast booth. Fox listened and put together a deal with NASCAR's most popular driver. He'll be in the booth next season, but his races have not yet been determined. ''(Fox) extended the offer to me that we can give it a shot,'' Earnhardt said. ''I want to go up there next year and watch a few races, or watch one race, and see what I'm getting myself into. It looks like a lot of fun.'' Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Danica Patrick, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray have all been in the booth this year for either Fox of NBC Sports Network. ''All the drivers who did it (looked great, sounded great, and they seemed to have a lot of fun doing it,'' Earnhardt said. ''I don't know if it's a career path for me - it just depends.'' The Rundown: Chicagoland 12. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt lost several spots in the closing laps when he committed to the top line off the restart and was stalled behind cars on older tires. No. 88 makes pit crew changes before Chase The No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team has made a couple of recent changes to its pit crew. David Mayo is back as the team's front tire changer after being replaced earlier in the season by Kevin Novak. Mayo is a longtime changer replacing Novak, who spent time at Roush Fenway Racing and then the No. 38 car this year before getting a shot with the No. 88 team at Darlington and Richmond. To go along with the change made on the front, there was a change made in the rear. In late summer, Devin DelRicco replaced rear changer Joe Slingerland. DelRicco will continue in that position heading into the Chase. The Rundown: Richmond 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Unhappy with his car in practice on Friday, Earnhardt started 29th and climbed through the field, cracking the top five with 80 laps to go. Junior will 'step up' throwback game next year Dale Earnhardt Jr. said his eighth-place finish Sunday at Darlington Raceway was the result of a monumental effort from his crew over the course of a blazing-hot weekend. He also said there's plenty of work still to do when it comes to keeping pace in embracing the track's throwback theme. Earnhardt touched on all those points and the reception for a popular rules package during Tuesday's edition of the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast on Dirty Mo Radio. It was his final monologue before the regular-season finale this weekend at Richmond International Raceway, where the field for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup postseason will be set. Earnhardt, who has already clinched a playoff berth in the field of 16, enjoyed not only the fruits of a grueling weekend at the historic track, but all of the vintage touches from an industry-wide retro event. His Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 crew joined in the fun with a paint scheme paying tribute to Cale Yarborough in his Valvoline years, but Junior said more can be done to prepare for the next Bojangles' Southern 500. "I hope that the throwback idea at Darlington is going to stick," Earnhardt said. "I'm pretty sure it will after this weekend. There was a lot of teams that went the extra mile -- Larson and his guys, the 3 group, the Petty group did an awesome job, the Wood Brothers, they looked great. Think we're going to see this every year. At least I hope that the teams come back harder next year. "I know we've got to step our game up to compete with some of these guys on the throwback schemes, so it's going to be a lot of fun. Hopefully this is something that is a bit more of a tradition over the years for Darlington." While the track returned to tradition, the 43 teams returned to using the low-downforce rules package that was first seen at Kentucky Speedway in July. Teams dealt with a softer-compound tire on a coarse surface, which -- in conjunction with a reduction in aero stabilizers -- produced plenty of passing and hard-to-control cars. Earnhardt was among the drivers offering a positive review. "The low-downforce package seems to be showing a lot of great things, showing some good racing," Earnhardt said. "I think the fans are really enjoying it. Any time the drivers get out and they're that happy and excited about what they just did and how much fun they just had and how challenged they were, I think the fans really like that. I think fans want to see the drivers challenged. I think the fans want to see it be difficult, and it really is with this low downforce. You're really driving that car for all it's worth. "And it's fun. It's funner. It's harder, but it's funner. Hopefully, it'll be like that at a lot of other tracks, and I'm sure we're going see this package more next year." The Rundown: Darlington 8. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports: Junior's post-race description of Sunday's race as "challenging" but "very rewarding" was fitting, as the No. 88 team took a while to find their groove throughout the weekend, eventually finishing 18 spots ahead of their 26th-place starting position. Dale Jr. talks Chase, wedding plans As Dale Earnhardt Jr. enters the final idle weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, he acknowledges that his Hendrick Motorsports team needs to do some homework to improve their chances in the postseason Chase. But on a personal level, he's also going to take time to do his own homework, gathering ideas for how his upcoming wedding might unfold. Earnhardt recounted an eventful night at Bristol Motor Speedway, assessed his team's playoff hopes and talked nuptials during this Tuesday's edition of the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast on Dirty Mo Radio. Earnhardt Jr.'s playoff eligibility is safe, thanks to two regular-season victories that have sealed his spot on the 16-driver Chase Grid. But the 40-year-old driver said his No. 88 team needs to make headway against its rivals in the performance department. Joe Gibbs Racing has won six of the last nine Sprint Cup events, and Team Penske's Joey Logano has captured two of the last three checkered flags. "We've got to work on this Chase. We've got to get ready for that," Earnhardt said. "We've got a couple of races left before that happens, so we'll try to learn as much as we can. I think that it's been commented on in the media, and Jeff (Gordon) and myself and (Hendrick Motorsports GM Doug) Duchardt and all the people at Hendrick are certainly aware that we need to make some gains and work real hard to try to improve to put ourselves in a more comfortable position going into the Chase so we're more confident about our opportunity to win a championship because we're definitely seeing some teams perform really well right now and just trying to figure out where we need to improve to give them a hell of a run for it. "Not too concerned. You know the sport can cycle pretty quickly, and hopefully we'll peak at the right time. Before joining the Sprint Cup circuit in taking a rare weekend off, Earnhardt said he would participate in an open test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, site of the championship finale race Nov. 22. Then it's off to be a part of a friend's wedding, which he said could prepare him for the planning stages with fiancée Amy Reimann. "Looking forward to that. Maybe I'll take some notes and try to recharge our batteries this last off weekend for the rest of the season. This season went by pretty fast and I think the end of it's going to go by just as quick." The Rundown: Bristol 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt fought to stay on the lead lap mid-race and recorded back-to-back beneficiary passes on the fourth and fifth caution periods. He then held on for his 15th Bristol top 10. Junior, Dude Perfect teach us how not to drive a car Junior, Dude Perfect teach us how not to drive a car: Video. The Rundown: Michigan 10. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt restarted 15th on Lap 188 and picked up five spots in the closing laps to earn his 14th top-10 of the year. Earnhardt Jr. moved by gift from fan (Pic) Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted that he was "grateful" for a gift from a fan Sunday at Michigan International Speedway -- even if he doesn't know who left it. The classic photo of father Dale Earnhardt in front of his Wrangler-schemed car even came with an autograph. Quite a gift for Junior, who is still represented by the jeans company. It was nice timing, too, considering the Earnhardt image was promoting the 1982 Southern 500. Current drivers have been revealing their own throwback schemes in anticipation of this year's Bojangles' Southern 500, which returns to the Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway. The Rundown: Watkins Glen 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. "I just about dislocated my shoulder trying to grab it, but it’s gone," Earnhardt radioed his team after removing the brake tape from his floorboard. The Rundown: Pocono 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt and his team battled through a variety of issues -- a pit road penalty and mid-race spin among them -- to be in the right place and climb from 17th to fourth in the final 10 laps as the leaders ran out of fuel. Pocono trouble claims Dale Jr.'s hopes of a repeat win Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn't able to defend his Windows 10 400 title Sunday at Pocono Raceway, but after overcoming a self-induced pit-road penalty, on-track contact and a severe vibration, he was happy with a fourth-place finish. "Just had more fuel than everybody else," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We had a lot of trouble today." By Lap 40, the No. 88 car moved up to third from 15th at the start as pit strategies played out. But when he came to pit road 13 laps later, Earnhardt Jr. was caught speeding entering pit road. "Tach wasn't working right so we got caught speeding on pit road," Earnhardt Jr. said. "That was kind of my fault because we have a backup plan, and I didn't use it very well I guess. We got behind, and never could really get our track position back." Falling to 25th by Lap 70, Earnhardt was caught between Cole Whitt low and Casey Mears high in Turn 1 on Lap 72, bringing out the seventh caution of the race. "I must have come down on Cole Whitt down there into Turn 1," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I didn't think I had anybody underneath me. I was just kind of taking it easy getting down into the corner off the gas and waiting on everybody to sort it out. I must have come down on him. We got a little damage there. We fixed that. Got back out there." By Lap 80, Earnhardt Jr. had fallen back to 36th place after fighting a vibration that neither he nor crew chief Greg Ives could diagnose. "We had a lot of vibrations for some reason, not the driveline vibrations, kind of like a bad tire or something," Earnhardt Jr. said. "The right front shook real bad on one set, and the right rear shook bad. "We ran good lap times throughout the day. We got in front of the leader there one time and was running some good laps until we had a real bad vibration kick in and turn sideways down there." After seven cautions in the first half of the race, only one caution came out in the second 80 laps, and the No. 88 team was able to climb into the top 20 by Lap 140. Host of the popular "Back In the Day" show on SPEED Channel, Earnhardt Jr. was surprised that NASCAR waved no yellows in the final 63 laps and threw in a throwback Sunday reference to the year before his birth. "The booth up there, they turned the clock back to 1973 and let that thing play out a little bit, let everybody run out of gas," Earnhardt Jr. said. "That was pretty cool, kind of like some of the older races where you just can't count on them to throw the cautions at the end. They didn't today." Sitting 17th at Lap 150, several cars ran out of Sunoco Green E15 in the final 10 laps, and Earnhardt Jr. was able to earn his third top-five finish in the last five races. He was joined in the top six by fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon in third and Jimmie Johnson in sixth. On Friday, Earnhardt Jr. said Hendrick Motorsports may not be "on top of the mountain any more," and since his win at Daytona, the team has only led four laps over the past four races, including two on Sunday by Gordon. As Joe Gibbs Racing continues its recent dominance with its fourth consecutive victory and 353 laps led in that stretch, Earnhardt Jr. was optimistic that his team may have turned the corner. "Really enjoyed the power we had today," Earnhardt Jr. "We had great motors. I could tell down the straightaway it was as good anybody or better. "We just got to work on our car. Our car wasn't very good all weekend in the corner. We had a lot of balance issues we never really cured so that held us up. We weren't as good as we were earlier this year. "Still a top-10, top-five car, but just barely a top-five car. I thought we had a good enough car to win here when we come here in the summer earlier, but we lost a little on the balance." Junior: 'We're not on top of the mountain' Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the only driver other than Kyle Busch to win one of the past five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. However, the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet is aware that the four-team organization that he calls home has been a bit off in recent weeks, especially compared to that of Joe Gibbs Racing, in its first year of fielding four cars. "I think you got to be honest with yourself. The Gibbs guys have found more speed. They look like over the last couple of weeks to be a lot stronger and that we're not on top of the mountain anymore, by ourselves anymore, at least. They found some speed and we need to combat that with speed of our own. In the past five races, JGR has four wins (all by Busch) and nine top fives. During that same stretch, Hendrick has just one win and three top fives (Earnhardt won at Daytona and has two of the top fives). And since that win at Daytona, Hendrick Motorsports as an organization has led just two laps in the past three races, while JGR has led 330. "I don't think anybody is sitting there… It's business as usual as far as I can see. We definitely understand when we don't perform well. Last week was frustrating. I don't think we've been too thrilled over the last month about how things have gone for us. From Rick (Hendrick) on down, you get the impression that things need to be better and everyone needs to work harder. "We have meetings every Tuesday. We had that meeting with the team and then we have a meeting that all the drivers and the crew chiefs are together, Rick's there. We have that meeting every Tuesday and everybody, whether we are all running great, we talk about how to get better. And if we aren't running well at all, we talk about how to get better. Even when things are going good, you see areas where you need to keep working. Because you know it cycles in this sport." Things do indeed cycle around. Last season, Hendrick won 13 races to JGR's two. And this season both organizations have six wins each. As things stand now, if Busch can get into the top 30 in points by the regular-season finale at Richmond, JGR will likely send all four of its drivers into the Chase. And while Jimmie Johnson and Earnhardt have clinched spots in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne are still looking for that elusive win, but it should be noted that they each hold spots in the provisional Chase Grid based on their point positions. "It's a never-ending pursuit to build the fastest race car week in, week out. And it looks like right now it's a mad scramble to get ready for the Chase. I'd love to be sitting here three-tenths faster than everybody and fighting only my teammates for the win. We need to work a little harder to get a little more and be ready for the Chase to be able to get out there and compete. "It definitely looks like our competition has improved and so I think we can be honest with ourselves. We definitely aren't where we want to be. But I've seen it before. These guys are working on it every single day trying to find that speed and make that difference back up and put ourselves back to have the advantage on the straightaways and in the corners. I'm not too worried about it. We got the best resources. We got the best boss man and he doesn't quit and he doesn't settle for second. He's in there pushing everybody everyday." The sport's most popular driver will look to turn the recent fortunes of the organization around on Sunday in the Windows 10 400 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Pocono Raceway where he qualified 15th. Earnhardt is sponsored by Microsoft this weekend, the company that makes the operating system that is in the title sponsor of the race. Junior has a favorable history in recent years at Pocono, completing the season sweep of both NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events last year and has four top fives in his past five races here. In June, he finished 11th in a race won by Martin Truex Jr, which snapped a five-race win streak at Pocono for Hendrick. After finishing the opening practice session in 14th place, Earnhardt was a bit disappointed but said the team learned what was needed for race trim. "We think we learned what we were missing for race trim, but we needed to switch over to qualifying to get some opportunities to make some qualifying runs because time was running short. We felt like what we did to the car for qualifying is what is going to help our race trim stuff and the balance of the car came back in our mock runs for qualifying. So that made me feel pretty good, it made me feel a little bit better. "We will see what we have tomorrow," said Earnhardt. "I'm really anxious to get ourselves back into race trim for those practices tomorrow and see how we can sort our stuff out and see where we really are. We've always run good here, there shouldn't be any issues. We showed up with some issues. I'm anxious to get to work on the car and see where we can figure out where we are going to be and be competitive." Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Win or bust at Indy Sunday's annual NASCAR stop at Indianapolis Motor Speedway had a Murphy's Law quality to it for Dale Earnhardt Jr. But the 40-year-old driver, while frustrated, said that in the grand scheme of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup points system, the run of Brickyard bad luck barely matters. Earnhardt described the set of circumstances that led to an unsavory 22nd-place finish at Indy in a sigh-filled Tuesday edition of the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast on Dirty Mo Radio. "Not a lot of fun out there," was the sentiment after a late pit-road mishap then a spin after contact with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne -- all with less than 20 laps remaining. "With several laps to go, we were sitting out there in 16th or so and we were going to come down pit road and get four tires," Earnhardt told Dirty Mo Radio. "I don't know, we didn't. The reason is because who the hell cares where we finish if we can't win the race. I mean, we were going to come down pit road in 16th place. A lot of guys around us pitted and we were going to get four tires and come out probably ... we might beat two guys, we might lose two spots, what the hell ever. So it was a wash in my opinion." Earnhardt did enter pit road in 16th place, but left in 22nd after an air-gun failure slowed his stop for service, leaving his No. 88 Chevrolet team only able to change two tires instead of four. Earnhardt recovered from that and his slight brush with the Turn 1 wall to stay on the lead lap. With two regular-season victories in hand and his spot in the Chase playoffs assured thanks to the points format instituted ahead of the 2014 season, Earnhardt was able to shrug off the disappointment more easily ahead of Sunday's Windows 10 400 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) at Pocono Raceway. "With the old system, you would do everything you could to get the best finish you could," Earnhardt said, "and that might mean forgoing the win and (saying), 'Hey man, if we do everything X, Y and Z and get lucky on the restarts, we might run 10th or we might finish eighth,' like some of those guys that we were racing with. But who damn cares about that? I'm sitting in 16th with 20-some laps to go, a lot of guys behind me are coming for tires. Do I want to be the last guy on old tires? No. I don't want to get eaten up by new tires, get in the wrong line on the restart and get screwed and not be competitive and not be on the offense. "We've got two wins, we're in the Chase, so what the hell's it matter between 10th and 20th? Who cares? If we do everything right, we finish 10th. If we don't do everything right, we finish 20th, but it's a wash either way. Doesn't even matter with this points system." Earnhardt bemoaned the sequence of yellow flags at Indianapolis and how the No. 88 team's strategy was adversely affected. Still, he championed the power of creative thinking from atop the pit box -- a resource that crew chief Greg Ives will have to employ this weekend at Pocono, where short-pitting, targeting fuel windows and other pit strategies frequently come into play. "The way this system works, you just go win, and if you can't win, do what everybody else ain't doing," Earnhardt said. "Do something different. Try something different. The same-ol', same-ol' is just going to get you the same boring-ass result." Dale Jr.: 'It was a real hot race' The hot weather at New Hampshire Motor Speedway had an affect on several drivers in the 5-hour ENERGY 301 with a few drivers needing to go to the infield care center after the race for heat-related issues. On "The Dale Jr. Download on Dirty Mo Radio, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he was feeling the effects of the heat later that night. "It was a real hot race," Earnhardt said. "Seen a lot of drivers wore out. I was hot, my face was hot. Rest of me was fine, just my face. It was kind of weird. Even later at night trying to go to bed, my face felt like it was sunburnt." Earnhardt scored a fifth-place finish in the 5-hour ENERGY 301 for his 10th top-10 finish of 2015 and his fourth straight top-10 showing at the Magic Mile. But to get that top five wasn't easy. "We had a bad gauge. Oil pressure gauge was showing 120 pounds and that's not good." And then there was some contact with Kurt Busch around the two-thirds mark of the race took Earnhardt outside the top five and down to 24th when he pitted under caution before a Lap 204 restart. "We got on the outside of the 41, racing with Kurt a lot during the day. I don't think he knew I was out there. We got on the outside of him in 1 and 2 and coming off of Turn 2, he just came up like his spotter didn't tell him I was there and I torn his bumper up. His bumper got stuck in my bumper. It was causing us a lot of problems so we ended up having to come down pit road and pull his bumper out of my bumper and patch a hole. Fix this and fix that. I didn't know if we were going to be as competitive with all that trouble but we ended up driving back up through there. Had a pretty good car, that helps us out in a situation like that." However, Earnhardt was able to work his way up through the field and was racing Matt Kenseth late for fifth-place. The two drivers competed for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in 2000 and have come through the Sprint Cup ranks together, dating back to when Kenseth finished second in the then Busch Grand National Series (now the XFINITY Series) to Earnhardt in 1998. "Right at the end I got to race pretty good with my buddy Matt Kenseth. Me and him have raced each other all our careers. It's always fun to sort of work together on the race track and race each other. He wanted that top-five finish and so did I. He was struggling pretty bad and I was having a hard time getting around him. I ended up finally getting around him so that was pretty cool." Now, the series shifts to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, IMS Radio, SiriusXM) where a new high-drag package will be run at the 2.5-mile track. The driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet has just one top-five finish in 15 starts at the Brickyard and is looking forward to running this new rules package for Indianapolis. The same type of package will also be run at Michigan International Speedway in August. "Got new rules, big spoilers, lot of drag. There's not more downforce. From what I am told there is a piece that they put on the bottom of the rear bumper that actually makes this package have less downforce in the back then what we have ran all year. I don't know how true that is. That's what Jeff Gordon's been telling me. So can't really call this the high downforce package, it's just a high drag. We'll see how the racing is and looking forward to it. Should be an interesting weekend for everybody." The Rundown: New Hampshire 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Despite a power issue, Earnhardt recorded his 10th top-five of the season and improves to rank third in the points. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Has a New Name Here’s one you didn’t see coming: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. has changed its name to Jr. Jr. The artful Detroit indie rock duo of Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott shared the news from their social media pages. In a lengthy post, the band formerly known as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. start with some background -- a supportive letter from NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr., who wrote in 2011 that “I thought it was clever and I personally have no problem with your band’s name. You will not hear from any lawyers on our end should you choose to keep the name.” Though they’ve worked under that moniker since 2009, Epstein and Zott give a solid reason for going with a clean new name: confusion. As the band’s fanbase has grown, “so has the amount of confusion caused by the name Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.” the note continues. “Some of it is no big deal and easily cleared up. But sometimes we get sad and bizarre requests sent to our social media sites or emailed to people we work with. We’ve had people drive long distances to shows only to be disappointed when they realize it’s a neurotic Jew and wild haired gentile from Detroit they’ve paid to see. A number of times now we’ve received hope filled inquiries from people who have dying relatives that only want to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr. (the driver) before they pass. Those sorts of interactions feel a little voyeuristic and eerie, and even attempting to simply clarify the situation means you’ve added a moment of embarrassment to someone’s day when they’re already going through a lot.” Jr. Jr. will go by that name from Friday, and it’s attached to their forthcoming Warner Bros album, which is the act’s first through the major since 2011’s It's a Corporate World. Dale Jr.'s a fan of track-specific packages NASCAR isn't likely to introduce any new aerodynamic packages for this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but moving forward, track-specific packages are expected to become the norm for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he's just fine with such a move. "Absolutely. I think that makes the racing more interesting," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said during a break in Wednesday's open test session at Chicagoland Speedway. "I think it's more interesting for the fans to go through that cycle of learning about these packages and what they do and what type of racing they create. I think it would be really a feather in the cap for the networks. It would give them so much information and ammo to broadcast and put on a good show. Plus I think ... it's a good way to sort of tweak and adjust the racing to make better racing at that track." Earnhardt was one of four drivers who spent three days testing at the 1.5-mile track. On Monday and Tuesday, Earnhardt joined Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing), Sam Hornish Jr. (Richard Petty Motorsports) and JJ Yeley (BK Racing) for a two-day Goodyear tire test. Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing), Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing), Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing), Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing), Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing), Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing), Clint Bowyer (Michael Waltrip Racing) and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske) joined the group on Wednesday for the open portion of the test. It is, Earnhardt said, "a great time to be involved in the sport." "For me, it's exciting to go through these (changes)," he said. "You know, this is a three-day test and normally I hate testing, but it's been fun trying to learn and understand, so I'm excited just to see what happens – whether this stuff works, fails, whatever – but it's fun to go through it. Good to rearrange the furniture in the living room, so to speak, to something different. "It was same-old, same-old for so long, so this is kind of neat and exciting – unprecedented really. They used to cut the spoilers and trim them for makes and models throughout the year and adjust to try to level the playing field, but this is a big deal, really, to change the whole thing for everybody at this track and then try something so extreme at another track." Likewise, he said, aero package changes for Indianapolis and Michigan – where a taller spoiler will produce high drag, "is really extreme and should really alter the racing and what it looks like there. What it'll look like, I don't know. But it's not going to be the same. Fans are going tune in to see that, whatever it is that happens. That's great." At Chicago, Goodyear officials wanted to confirm their tire selection for the upcoming kickoff to the Chase. It's a similar tire to the one run at Texas and Homestead. Teams wanted to gather as much information as possible before returning here Sept. 18-20 for the start of the 10-race Chase. On Monday, Greg Stucker, director of race tire sales for Goodyear, told SiriusXM NASCAR that the Chicago test would also include the lower downforce package used this past weekend at Kentucky Speedway. "Not saying that it's an option for September but we're on the race track, let's get a look at it and see if it shows us the same results that it did earlier in the year at Charlotte and when we tested it at Darlington just a couple of weeks ago," Stucker said. Teams will also run a lower downforce aero package at Darlington in September. According to Earnhardt, there were issues with the current tires using the lower downforce package at Chicago, however. "We saw the tires tearing up," he said. "We tore up from right-front tires. (Martin) tore up one, I tore up one, (Hornish) tore up one, and when Goodyear sees that, man, the red flag comes out and you've got to slow down and there's just not enough time to really prepare for the right tire and get the right tire on the car to get it ready for this race in the Chase. "So I think we run the 2015 current package that we ran all year here, and who knows what'll happen next year, though." Dale Jr. feels right at home at ISC Archives It's the room in back, hidden behind the large steel door where humidity and temperature are constantly monitored. Walk down the hallway, past the trophies and timing equipment, beyond the library and the filing cabinets overflowing with photographs. Just beyond the autographed pace car and the workbench that held who knows how many toolboxes through the years. Step inside and be greeted by history. From floor to ceiling, on the left and right, footage of races and television shows, reel after reel after reel containing a video timeline of sorts of NASCAR is stored here. For a history buff such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., the room is as significant as the 2.5-mile track located barely a mile away. "There's a lot of neat stuff in here," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said while visiting the ISC Archives and Research Center, located near Daytona International Speedway, earlier this month. "I think the photos are important; the film is overwhelming to me because I love to watch old races and sort of get an idea of what it was like back then and that's really the best way to do it. It's awesome to see this stuff being taken care of. "As a collector of old races and old film, that's sort of the Holy Grail back there." Points races, special events (Busch Clash, Budweiser Duel, Sprint All-Star Race) and even movies can be found here. It's what might or might not be here, though, that interests Earnhardt Jr. His father, seven-time NASCAR premier series champion Dale Earnhardt, scored his first win at Bristol Motor Speedway in 1979. NASCAR races weren't carried live on network television at the time and only select events, such as the Daytona 500, received abbreviated coverage. The '79 Daytona was the first to be carried live from start to finish by CBS. "That (Bristol) race wasn't televised, wasn't broadcast. So there isn't even a partial digital copy being traded among those … groups out there that are in those inner circles. That's who I deal with … they are trading races that were broadcast. Someone had the opportunity to record them off television. A lot of this stuff here is just raw footage that the public doesn't have access to. So now I know where to go." Earnhardt said he has seen footage of his father's '79 BMS win "in highlights … so I know it exists." Outside of that particular race, he said "any footage that’s unobtainable from '79, '80," interests him. "Dad's first two years. Besides that, I'm a big '70s guy I guess. Any of the races from the '70s, because a lot of stuff in the '80s was broadcast … you can obtain it through trades and whatnot working with guys that are in those collector groups. So a lot of things in the '70s is unique because it’s one of a kind." The photo library turned up, among other things, pictures of driver Jimmy Means, a childhood hero. Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Means, Jimmy's son, often spent race days together in the garage. Herb Branham, senior manager for the Archives & Research Center, presented Earnhardt Jr. with another special memento – a framed set of photos of Earnhardt's grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt. "That's going up on the wall," Earnhardt said proudly. A final stop before heading back to the track put Earnhardt behind the desk of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. One of the latest additions to the archives, the room is a re-creation of the office used by France during much of his tenure as the head of the sanctioning body. The desk, furniture and fixtures came from France's original office. "This is one place I never thought I'd be, in Big Bill’s office sitting at his desk in his chair," Earnhardt said. "What a special place. "Not only is this where you can find a lot of history, but somebody's here taking care of it. I appreciate NASCAR, everything they do to hold onto that history and keep it in good shape." Dale Jr. discusses run-in with Danica Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a bad night at Kentucky. You've heard about his run-in (run-into?) with Danica Patrick. On "The Dale Jr. Download" on Diry Mo Radio, Earnhardt detailed how the night unfolded with crippling brake problems. "Admittedly, Kentucky's not one of my best tracks, and the rain didn't help things," Earnhardt said. He learned a lot in the XFINITY race and hoped to carry some of that knowledge from his eighth-place run Friday night into Saturday night's Cup race. But the trouble started when he forgot to flip some switches. "I forgot to turn on switches that cool the brakes and keep the tire temps down. We took off running there in the first run and the brakes started fading a little bit. Luckily, the caution came out and I was able to get the switches on. "Come down pit road, pull the tape off the brakes and that should fix it. Everything should go back to normal and the pedal should come back, and that's not what happened. It continued to get worse and worse each run." The No. 88 car was pretty good, definitely top 10, Earnhardt said, but things kept getting worse from there. "We ended up having a lot of brake problems. It got so bad at one point that if I didn't pump the brakes all the way down the straightaway, it would go to the floor in the corner. So we're sitting there pumping the brakes, pumping the brakes, pumping the brakes lap after lap after lap. Just staying out there tyring not to get passed til we fixed it. "Caution would come out, we'd bleed the right front. Run out of time. Bleed the brakes on the left front. … But it would eventually get hot on the long run. "…Anyhow, I started taking it easy, sort of running along pumping the brakes a lot. I had just let Danica go by and down the back straightaway I'm pumping the brakes and they're not … I can't pump 'em all the way to the floor on the straightaway cause you don't want to slow the car down while you're trying to accelerate. You're just trying to get the fluid up, get the pedal up, but when we got to the corner, I mash the brake and it went all the way to the floor. I let off the brakes and mashed it again. At this point I'm gonna hit her. I let off the brakes and mashed it again and it goes to the floor and I ran into the back of her. There's wasn't nothing I could do about it." Junior said the fact that he hit Patrick saved him from going into the wall, so that was the "silver lining" of the incident. "She flew off the handle, got pissed off. Our spotters communicated and told her about the brakes. She still ran into us on pit road for whatever damn reason." Junior doesn't really blame Patrick for being mad, admitting he's been in that position before, too, and has lost his cool at times. But he's not happy about what transpired after their wreck, either. "That just brings a lot of unwanted attention to both of us for the wrong reasons." After that, a full replacement of brake fluid helped, and the No. 88 came home 21st. All said, Junior was happy with a car that was still able to pass amid pumping the brakes. And the team learned a lot heading into Darlington Raceway, which is the next race to use a similar low downforce package on Sept. 6. Teams get set for Chicagoland open test The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup doesn’t begin for another 10 weeks at Chicagoland Raceway, but a dozen teams are scheduled to be at the 1.5-mile track later this week for an open team test. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick Motorsports), Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing), Sam Hornish Jr. (Richard Petty Motorsports) and J.J. Yeley (BK Racing) are participating in a two-day Goodyear tire test Monday and Tuesday. They will be joined by Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing), Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing), Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing), Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing), Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing), Clint Bowyer (Michael Waltrip Racing) and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske) for the open test. On Tuesday morning, Earnhardt Jr. tweeted that Hornish tested a high downforce package on Monday while a low downforce package was scheduled to be run on Tuesday. @DaleJr : Test day2. Heard @SamHornish tested @NASCAR high downforce package yesterday. We start day2 with the low downforce package. #RunninInCircles While a lower downforce rules package similar to that used this past weekend at Kentucky Speedway isn't expected to be in play when the series competes at Chicago in September, any additional testing with the setup on the 1.5-mile track would give both Goodyear and the teams additional data going forward. At Daytona International Speedway earlier this month, Earnhardt Jr. said he was open to trying a different aero package for Chicago while testing. "I think it's a great idea to go there and take whatever package they would like to try," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said. "Because it's a great opportunity … we will be there three full days." Earnhardt said implementing the lower downforce package for the test didn't necessarily mean the package would be used in the opening Chase race. "We will go through and see what happens up until the Chase with these different packages they want to try and then maybe come to a decision to change something in the Chase," he said. "But until then nothing in the Chase is really going to change as far as I've been told. I feel comfortable about that." A similar rules package will be in play when the series travels to Darlington Raceway in September, and a high drag package is scheduled for races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michigan International Speedway later this year. The rules package in place for Saturday's race at Kentucky featured a shorter spoiler as well as changes to the splitter and splitter extension panel. While weather problems forced the cancellation of a scheduled extended practice on Wednesday at Kentucky, as well as qualifying on Friday, the 267-lap race featured a record number of green-flag passes throughout the field. Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer for NASCAR, didn't completely close the door on the possibility of an aero change for any of the 10 Chase races, five of which will be contested on 1.5-mile tracks, when speaking with members of the media last week, saying, "All options for us are still on the table." "Our position today is that these are the race packages and this is kind of where we're at for '15, but as those conversations take place over the next couple weeks, that could change," he said. Monday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, O’Donnell said, however, that there were no plans to implement different aero packages for Chase races. "We're going to stick with our plan," he said. "This was something that we developed with the garage area. What are the specific races that we can target together? Everybody feels really good about the plan that we have in place so we'll continue on that path. We're learning a lot this week as well as we take all the data from Kentucky. … "There were some reasons why we picked the race tracks we did from a (preparation) standpoint, and (we) feel like we want to stick to the plan right now." The opening Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 20 at Chicagoland Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, MRN, SiriusXM). The other nine Chase races will be contested at: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Rundown: Kentucky 21. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt, complaining of a lack of brakes, smacked the wall on Lap 136 to bring out the sixth caution flag. After subsequently bumping Danica Patrick, Earnhardt spent time on pit road where his crew tried again to fix the issue. Earnhardt, Patrick have fences to mend after Kentucky clash The relationship between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick will need repairing before two of NASCAR's most popular drivers head to this weekend's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A couple of on-track incidents late in Saturday night's race at Kentucky Speedway left both with damaged Chevys, low finishes and a little bad blood between them. Earnhardt's brake problems resulted in his No. 88 car tapping the back of Patrick's No. 10 with about 60 laps remaining, sending her into the outside wall to bring one of a track-record 11 cautions. A clearly upset Patrick cursed Earnhardt on her radio before returning the favor as they entered pit road during the ensuing caution. She bumped the back of his car and caused it to swerve before heading to her pit stall to repair right-side damage. Earnhardt sounded somewhat understanding of Patrick's reaction. ''She will chill out,'' he said. ''It happens to all of us. I'm not too worried about it. I got a pretty good friend so I think we will be able to talk it out.'' Earnhardt finished 21st and Patrick 34th. Patrick didn't speak with reporters afterward. A release on Sunday morning only said she was involved in an accident ''not of her making.'' Earnhardt was contrite afterward as he explained the brake issues. He said he didn't intend to hit Patrick, who previously drove for his JR Motorsports team in the Xfinity Series. The brakes ''got worse and worse and worse and I probably shouldn't have been racing as hard as I was when we ran into the back of Danica,'' Earnhardt said. ''But I went into that corner and mashed the brakes to the floor. I pumped it three times all the way to the floor and then ran into her. There wasn't anything I could do. It sucks. I don't like running into Danica because it gets a little too much attention, but I'm sorry for that.'' Danica rips, bumps Junior after wreck Dale Earnhardt Jr., battling brake issues all night long, got into the back of Danica Patrick's No. 10 Chevrolet shortly after the 200-lap mark, spinning the Stewart-Haas Racing driver out and bringing out a caution in Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. "I didn't have any brakes," Earnhardt told his team after the contact on Lap 206. "I don't even know why we're out here." Brake issue or no brake issue, Patrick did not take kindly to it. After the incident, Patrick radioed to her team to relay the message to Earnhardt to, "Go (expletive) yourself." She then caught up to him on pit road and gave Junior's No. 88 a shot from behind, a move that Earnhardt quickly reciprocated by swerving in front of her to cut Patrick off. Uncensored video reveals Dale Earnhardt Jr. was too worried about wreck to celebrate his Daytona win Uncensored video reveals Dale Earnhardt Jr. was too worried about wreck to celebrate his Daytona win: video. The Rundown: Daytona 1. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. It was initially a muted celebration for Earnhardt's second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory of the year as he watched Austin Dillon's horrifying crash from his rear-view mirror after the checkered flag at Daytona International Speedway. His No. 88 ride dominated, leading six times for 96 laps in the 161-lap main event. Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Austin Dillon's crash: 'I was near tears' Dale Earnhardt Jr. crossed the finish line as the winner of the Coke Zero 400, then looked in his mirror and watched in horror as a car sailed into the fence. Austin Dillon's crash just past the Daytona International Speedway finish line left Earnhardt -- and many others -- shocked and shaken. Dillon was unharmed, but five fans suffered injuries. One was taken to a local hospital in stable condition before being treated and released. The other four were treated at the track's infield care center. "It scared the (crap) out of me," Earnhardt said. "I was near tears. I didn't even know who it is, but you just don't want to see anybody get hurt. It's an awful feeling." Earnhardt said he could see a black object go into the air pretty high, which meant it was the bottom of a car. He immediately feared for the driver's life and also wondered if fans in the stands would be in jeopardy. After pulling to pit road, he found teammate Jimmie Johnson and shared his concerns. Both drivers, Earnhardt said, were "frightened." At that point, he said, "the racing doesn't matter anymore." Earnhardt won his fourth points race at Daytona, the track where his Hall of Fame father died in 2001 while driving a No. 3 car. Dillon brought the No. 3 car back to the Sprint Cup Series just last year and was driving it when he crashed Monday morning (though Earnhardt had no way of knowing it was Dillon at the time). Part of his fear was not only for the fans, but wondering if any of his friends were hurt. "We have all become closer friends, I think, because of the (motorhome lot) environment," he said. "We all sort of live in this community, and you may not like everybody, but you damn sure grow to respect them and don't want to see anybody get hurt." Earnhardt Jr. wins rain-delayed Daytona race Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the rain-delayed Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway, which ended at 2:41 a.m. Monday with a horrific last-lap accident that sent Austin Dillon sailing into the fence. The outcome wasn’t in doubt as Earnhardt dominated the entire race. But as the pack of cars chased him on a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish, contact in traffic sent Dillon’s car sailing upside down into the fence. The car tore down a section of fencing and Dillon sailed back onto the track. His mangled car landed on its roof and crew members from several teams raced to check on Dillon. The crew members quickly waved to alert that Dillon was fine, and the grandson of team owner Richard Childress ultimately climbed from the car and raised his arms in the air. A stunned Earnhardt seemed speechless as he crossed the finish line on his team radio. "Oh My God. That looked awful," Earnhardt yelled into his radio. He followed with a string of expletives as he tried to comprehend the frightening accident. Crew chief Greg Ives immediately radioed his team to not pull Dillon from the car. "Whoever is in that window, if he’s OK, do not touch him. Tell him to stay in there," Ives said. Earnhardt continued to inquire about Dillon, who earned his first career win at Daytona in Friday night’s Xfinity Series race and has been close with the Earnhardt family his entire life. Dillon was present for many of the late Dale Earnhardt’s 34 wins at Daytona. "Is everybody alright? Is everybody in the grandstands OK?" Earnhardt asked. It appeared a handful of fans in the stands were being treated for minor injuries sustained from debris from the car that flew into the seats. In victory lane, Earnhardt still seemed a bit shaken. "That was terrifying to watch," he said. "You know a wreck like that has such high potential for someone to get injured. You just wonder about everyone else in the grandstands. It was touch and go there for several moments. I’m more thankful that everyone seems OK." Dillon was seen and released in Daytona’s infield care centre and said he had a bruised forearm and tailbone. The accident was similar to a 2013 crash in the Xfinity Series when Kyle Larson’s car sailed into the fence, sending debris into the stands that injured 28 fans. Larson’s car was destroyed as it ricocheted back onto the track. Jimmie Johnson, who finished second to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Earnhardt, said Dillon’s wreck was one of the worst he’s ever seen. "I’m shocked that Austin Dillon is even alive," said Johnson. "I expected the worst when I came back around." The accident overshadowed Earnhardt’s second win of the season — his first was in May at Talladega — and his first in this race since 2001. It was his fourth Sprint Cup Series win at Daytona. The wreck was also the main focus at the end of a day that began early Sunday but quickly fell off schedule because of weather. The race began at 11:42 p.m., a delay of 3 hours, 34 minutes for rain. Drivers spent the time doing an array of different activities: Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano went into the stands to thank fans for sticking around, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. used social media to prove he can do a headstand. They also stopped by the NBC studio to help the network fill air time in its first race broadcasting NASCAR since 2006. When the race finally began, and the field circled the track waiting for the green flag, reigning NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick made note of the unusual start time by wishing his crew a good evening before correcting himself to morning. It then took just three laps for the action to begin as David Gilliland sliced across the front of Clint Bowyer to trigger a nine-car accident that collected Logano and Danica Patrick, among others. Tony Stewart, winner of the 2005 race that ended at 1:42 a.m., sliced his way through the carnage then grumbled on his radio about early-race aggressiveness. "Somebody please remind me how much Lap 2 pays again?" he smarted. Dale Jr., Letarte reunite to relive July 2001 win On NBC's pre-race show, Steve Letarte visited Dale Earnhardt Jr. to watch his emotional Daytona win in July of 2001, which marked the first time that he returned to the track since his father's tragic death five months prior. Dale Earnhardt Jr. on returning to Daytona after the crash that killed his father: "I could tell my buddies were like, 'Man, what's going on? How is it going to be? What's the deal?' So, as soon as we got there, we drove around to Turns 3 and 4, right where dad hit the wall and lost his life. And, we stopped, and everybody got out and I just walked around a little bit by myself. I just spent some time there seeing how I would feel. I didn't want to fall apart in front of all of my guys and everybody in the race and the garage. It was good. I was like, 'Man, dad loved this place and I'm still at peace with this place. I still love being here and looking forward to racing here many more years." Steve Letarte: "Have you ever gone back and relived or re-watched that race in July [that you won]?" Earnhardt Jr.: "Oh yeah, tons of times." Earnhardt Jr. on his Daytona win: "I was wide open the whole time. Panicking. How many laps are left? Are we going to have enough laps left? Just full-throttle panicking." Earnhardt Jr.: "I think that win right there made the whole company feel like they could move on and that things were going to be alright. We could be a strong team… you just don't see victory celebrations like this every week. It was special." Earnhardt Jr. while watching his first interview after his win: "[Laughs] I sound like an idiot. Once you drive in there and you get out of the car, and you're in Victory Lane, I think the emotion and everything sort of sucks me in." Earnhardt Jr.: "I know that a lot of people took pleasure in how that worked out. And if they couldn't have won the race, I heard that 100 times in the garage the next day. 'If I couldn't have won that race, man, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way." Earnhardt Jr. wins pole in rainy Daytona Beach Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned the pole for Sunday’s race at Daytona International Speedway because his crew chief correctly predicted the weather. Greg Ives instructed Earnhardt to go flat-out at the start of Friday’s first practice session because the rules state the field will be set by practice times if a qualifying session is cancelled. When rain washed out the Saturday session, Ives proved to be a skilled weatherman. "I asked Greg before we went out to practice what we were trying to accomplish in that first practice and that was the first thing he mentioned, was to go out that first run and try to put a lap down because the weather wasn’t looking real good," Earnhardt said. "That was his decision. It ended up working out for us." NASCAR’s most popular driver is a two-time Daytona 500 winner and won this race in 2001. By earning the pole, he got first choice of pit selection, which he believes will be beneficial Sunday. "That will be great to have that first stall because if we have a shot to win this race, we are going to need to be up on the front row toward those last couple of restarts," he said. "I think that leading the race at the end is the best place to be. That pit selection will give us an opportunity to be more competitive on pit road trying to get that sought after position coming off pit road that final stop." Austin Dillon will start second and will be followed by Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard and Trevor Bayne. David Gilliland will start sixth, and AJ Allmendinger, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne round out the top 10. Jeff Gordon will start 24th in his final race at Daytona. The four-time NASCAR champion, who is retiring at the end of the year, won the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500 and the May race at Talladega. "I’m pretty bummed that it rained out — we were on a heck of a streak this year, with two poles on the superspeedways," Gordon said. "I wanted to keep that going and I felt like our car had some really good speed and that we had a shot at doing that." Gordon is aware that this is his final event at Daytona but wasn’t feeling sentimental. He’ll be back to the track next year as a television analyst for Fox. "It’s hard for me to really put all those thoughts and feelings into perspective, knowing that I have half the season still to go," Gordon said. "I don’t think it’s really going to hit me until we get further down into the final part of the season, but this place has meant a lot. It’s going to be tough not coming back here and being behind the wheel. But I’m also really excited about calling this race next February." The qualifying washout meant Michael McDowell and Ryan Blaney failed to make the 43-car field. It was a big blow for Blaney, who had an engine failure in his Daytona 500 debut but was the lone Ford capable of competing for the win at Talladega in May. He finished fourth and might have had a shot at the victory, but few drivers were confident enough in the rookie to work with him in the closing laps. But that performance earned him enough respect that he might have been able to contend and get drafting help on Sunday. "I was really looking forward to qualifying and getting into the race," he said. "Some stuff we can’t control and this is one of them. This is the bad part about running part-time." #TBT: Dale Jr. wins first Daytona race since dad's death Note: NBC Sports Network is reairing this race on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET as part of its NASCAR Classics series. The 2001 season was far from an easy year for the NASCAR world. The sport was shaken to its core by a crash on the closing lap at Daytona International Speedway during the Daytona 500 that led to the passing of NASCAR Hall of Famer and seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt. The races in the weeks after were filled with emotion as Dale Earnhardt, Inc. driver Steve Park won the week after the Daytona 500 at Rockingham. Two weeks later, Kevin Harvick, in just his third career Cup start, scored his first career win in the re-numbered No. 29 car for Richard Childress Racing. Harvick had been tapped after the Daytona crash to take over the car, which had been Earnhardt's No. 3. Many wondered what would happen when the sport returned to Daytona that summer for the Pepsi 400 as an emotional scene was sure to unfold. The 2001 Pepsi 400 also marked NBC's initial foray into NASCAR race coverage as it was the first race the network televised as part of a six-year pact with the sport. An interesting coincidence is that this year's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona will be NBC's first premier series race under its new TV contract that kicks in this season. The booth for that first race featured play-by-play man Allen Bestwick with analysts Wally Dallenbach and Benny Parsons. Britney Spears gave the command to start the race.?? Here is the intro NBC used for races in 2001 featuring the song "Fuel" by Metallica. (Video) At the time, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 26 years old and in his second full-time season in the sport's top series. He came to Daytona that summer on a 39-race winless streak. After experiencing the loss of his father, his 2001 season was very much up-and-down as you might imagine. He came into Daytona the sentimental and emotional favorite. The race had plenty of emotion in the air as Sterling Marlin led the field to the green flag. Starting 13th, it took Earnhardt 26 laps to get his No. 8 Chevrolet to the front and from there it was his show for most of the night. Dale Jr. led 116 circuits in the 160-lap race en route to his third career premier series win and his first at Daytona. The win was anything but certain though, as Junior had to hold off DEI teammate Michael Waltrip (who held off Junior to win the 2001 Daytona 500), Elliott Sadler and Ward Burton to win by 0.123 seconds. (Video) When the checkered flag dropped, the crowd at Daytona roared with approval as Dale Jr. took the victory under the lights. There were tears and jubilation among the crew members and one heck of a burnout, not to mention a big embrace with Chocolate Myers, the fuel man with RCR on his dad's team. The celebration spilled over to the infield with Dale Jr. and Waltrip, who never got to truly celebrate the Daytona 500 win that year, embracing. In Victory Lane, an emotionally drained Dale Jr. told NBC's Bill Weber, "Man, I just don't know what to say. I am worn out. I got to thank my buddy Tony (Eury Jr.), my crew chief for hanging in there with me. All my friends, all the guys on the crew. "I had a great car. It was all car, 100 percent. I was just holding on." On his father he said, "he was with me tonight. I don't know how I did it. He was there and Michael helped me. I guess we're even now." He also predicted that he would be "crying sooner or later." "I dedicate this win to him. There ain't nobody else I could dedicate this win to that it would mean more to me." (Video) Waltrip said of his role reversal with Dale Jr. from the last Daytona race, "I just wanted Dale Jr. to win so bad and I wanted to be a part of it. …I was committed to Dale Jr. just like he was to me in February." The victory would be the first of three Junior recorded that season as he later added victories at Dover and Talladega in the fall. NBC returns to NASCAR premier series coverage after a nearly nine-year absence, with Sunday night's Coke Zero 400 (7:45 p.m. ET). Rick Allen will handle the play-by-play duties alongside analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte. Dale Jr. explains why he didn't move Stewart Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored a seventh-place finish at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday for his second straight top-10 finish at the California road course. Yet, it was Earnhardt's racing with Tony Stewart that had his fans wondering why he didn't try to move the three-time champion for position. "I had a great race with Stewart," Earnhardt said on "The Dale Jr. Download" podcast on Dirty Mo Radio. "A lot of fans -- reading their comments on Twitter -- thought I should have moved him out of the way. There are two options as far as moving a guy at this race track. It's Turn 7 and Turn 11, and he was not blocking me going into those corners. "He would give me the inside braking zone and I would get down there on his inside and he was smart enough to take a line that would give him good drive-off to be able to beat me out of that corner and into the esses to take that position back. You can't run over a guy that's giving you the option to pass, and I just didn't have enough race car at the time." Earnhardt also explained that a left rear tire rub was causing him to lose a lot of grip as he was pursuing Stewart. "So coming out of Turn 4, I needed to be right on the back of the 14, and I didn't have the grip in the left rear exiting that corner that he did. Coming out of that corner, he would kind of squirt away a little bit and get two or three car lengths on me. So when I get into the braking zone in Turn 7, I would use up everything I could just to get even with him and that wouldn't put me in position for a good exit. It was real difficult. "I really used up that set of tires there and that tire rub was bothering us a little bit. Tony was driving an awesome line. He was running great laps. He would put together great corners everywhere and wouldn't give me a lot of opportunity. Getting into Turn 11, I never had enough position on him. Coming out of 10, he had three or four car lengths on me every time so it wasn't like I could just drive down in there and boot him out of the way. I did all I could do in the braking zone just to get back to him." All in all, though, the Hendrick Motorsports enjoyed his run at the 1.99-mile track. He finished third in this race last year but was involved in accident with Matt Kenseth that he recalled while racing with Hendrick teammate Kasey Kahne. "I ran hard with the 5 at the end there. At the end of the race, he bonsaied into Turn 11 on the last lap and tore the whole right side off the car but we survived. Both of us got back out of the corner and down the straightaway to finish so that was good. I wrecked the hell out of Matt Kenseth last year at this race and me and him had some pretty good side-to-side action so that was fun to race with Matt clean without putting him in a tire barrier like I did last year. "I knew it would be fun. If you can run every lap there, you are going to have a good time." With the first road-course race of the season behind him, Dale Jr. has turned his attention towards the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' second trip to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola (Sunday, 7:45 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM). Of his three Daytona wins, only one has come in the summer, and that was in 2001. And with one win this year (at Talladega Superspeedway in May), Earnhardt wants more. "It's a long, hard run to Homestead, and we don't need to get complacent. We need to keep charging. We definitely need to get another win or two before this Chase and continue to work on finding speed to separate ourselves from the competition. That's something that you think about when you get to the halfway point of the year. "It's definitely a time to sit down and communicate and reflect and make sure everybody is on the same page. You can't just motor through this whole season without taking a moment to get everybody together. "Greg's (Ives, crew chief) doing a great job. All the guys, we got a great team. We got a bunch of good, hard-working guys that all get along. We'll probably look back on where we are today, years from now, and it will really sink in how good we have it at this particular time when it comes to guys we got and how easy it is to work with each other. We're in a good place. We're real fortunate." DALE EARNHARDT JR. JOINS STEVE LETARTE FOR PERISCOPE Q&A TOMORROW DALE EARNHARDT JR. JOINS STEVE LETARTE FOR FACEBOOK CHAT & PERISCOPE Q&A TOMORROW: Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 30, at 10 a.m. ET, two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. joins his former crew chief and NBC Sports Group NASCAR analyst Steve Letarte for a Facebook chat from Facebook.com/NASCARonNBC. Following the Facebook chat is a live Periscope Q&A from the @NASCARonNBC Twitter handle with Earnhardt Jr. and Letarte at 10:30 a.m. ET, hosted from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Fans can tweet and post their questions to Facebook for a chance to have them answered by using the hashtag #NASCARonNBC. The Rundown: Sonoma 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt rallied from his 20th starting spot to crack the top 10 by Lap 20 and earned his 10th top-10 of the year. Junior explains proposal, timeline for kids The marriage will likely take place sometime next summer. Kids? Somewhere down the road, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at Sonoma Raceway. “Of course, you want to have children,” NASCAR’s most popular driver said. “I think the greatest accomplishment in life is to be able to raise a child. That’d be awesome. … I’ve felt that way for a long time; but it’s just a timing thing. Get married first and find that person that you want to spend your life with.” Earnhardt, driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, proposed to long-time girlfriend Amy Reimann a week ago while the couple was in Germany during a short break in the Sprint Cup Series season. “She definitely wants to have kids and I’ve always wanted to have kids. That’s definitely something we’ll be looking at,” he said. The trip had been in the works for several years -- Earnhardt was interested in his family’s lineage and information gleaned from the Internet was only so definitive. “Even though it is Ancestry.com and they do a great job and have a great service, you still have to see this stuff with your own eyes to believe it,” he said. “Because we are talking about stuff that is 300 years old and there is a lot of hearsay that can get injected into something like that over that time.” The wedding proposal was planned, if not rehearsed. “It didn’t have to be perfect and maybe if it wasn’t perfect that was a good thing,” he said. “I didn’t want to set it up to where it was cheesy I just wanted it to be natural and impromptu. “The town we were in was Illesheim (Germany) and my 10th and 9th grandfather lived there, went to church there and that church is the church that they went to. It’s over 1,000 years old apparently, a very old church. The town is very old. There were 300 people living in it 300 years ago and there are 300 people living in it today. Nothing has really changed.” So standing inside the same church attended by his ancestors centuries ago, Earnhardt said he knew the moment had arrived. “I’ve been planning on it for several months. I was hoping for years that Amy and I would get married and it just seemed like over this last year, it made more sense to me and that the timing was right. And I picked that particular spot just because I wanted her to feel special. “I think to do it at that particular time, at that moment while we were in that church, may make that moment more memorable for her. And I thought it was just a great place to do it. I thought about it. Every other spot that I could think of just didn’t measure up, you know? It just wasn’t good enough or special enough for her.” Earnhardt Jr. says Confederate flag 'offensive' Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s most popular driver, called the Confederate flag "offensive to an entire race" Friday while voicing his support for it being removed from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse. NASCAR this week said it backs South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s call to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds, and noted that it bars the flag symbol in any official NASCAR capacity. Earnhardt backed NASCAR’s position when asked about the issue before practice at Sonoma Raceway. "I’ve made my comments about the Confederate flag several times, and I stand behind NASCAR’s stance to remove it," Earnhardt said. "I think if it’s offensive to an entire race, it really does nothing for anybody to be there flying. It belongs in the history books, that’s about it." The flag issue was heightened last week after nine black churchgoers were slain in Charleston, South Carolina. The suspect in the case, Dylann Roof, embraced Confederate symbols before the attack, posing with the rebel battle flag, and that revelation has prompted a reappraisal of the role such symbols play in the South. Confederate flags have long been common among the tens of thousands of fans at NASCAR races across the South and that’s not likely to change unless the motorsports series or racetrack owners decide to bar them — a daunting prospect given the size of the crowds and NASCAR’s own acknowledgement that fans have a right to freedom of expression. Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt’s teammate, added that Hendrick Motorsports has long prohibited any merchandise that uses the Confederate flag symbol. "Everything that we can control, we’ve eliminated the ability to use it in any way and show up in any of the things we’re involved with," Gordon said. "That’s the stance I see that NASCAR has taken and has had for several years. I’m in support of what they’re doing. "It’s a delicate balance. We race all over but the South is an area where we have a lot of fans and everyone has a different opinions and expression of that." NASCAR provides a proving ground for Microsoft (Pic) Microsoft's involvement in NASCAR, which has grown steadily in recent years, has taken a giant step forward with Monday's announcement that the Fortune 500 company is now an Official Technology Partner of NASCAR as well as a major technology partner of Hendrick Motorsports. According to officials with both the sanctioning body and the Redmond, Washington-based tech company, NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports will adopt the Windows 10 and Microsoft Azure cloud computing platforms "to deliver technology solutions to help improve performance on and off the track." To support the launch of the Windows 10 operating system, the HMS No. 88 Chevrolet of driver Dale Earnhardt will carry a special Microsoft Windows 10 paint scheme for this weekend's Sprint Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway, the Toyota/Save Mart 350, as well as the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway scheduled for Aug. 2. Windows 10 is scheduled for launch July 29. "You've heard Brian (France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO) talk about this rush to innovation," Steve Phelps, Chief Marketing Officer for NASCAR, said. "A lot of that innovation is through technology. ... "This is another opportunity to showcase that NASCAR is a great place for business for sure, but also for technology companies to come in and prove that their technologies are helping our sport." Ultimately, Phelps said, such collaborations will help "get the fans closer to the sport and engage them more" in addition to providing the necessary tools and technology "to help on the competition side ... whatever those things might be that ultimate bring better racing to the fans. "What exactly that looks like at this point is still in development; we're still having discussions," Phelps said. "It's in our best interest to try to get there, and they certainly want that. They want to use NASCAR as a marketing platform to try and reach new customers and obviously this Windows 10 opportunity and using NASCAR as a platform is a really important start for us." NASCAR officials began using a Windows mobile inspection application last year to improve and streamline the inspection process. "We started our relationship with NASCAR some time ago and now were a moving that into a relationship with Hendrick Motorsports," said Jeremy Korst, GM, Windows Product Marketing, said. "It is important to us because it allows us to show other business customers in a sport as challenging and as technologically driven as NASCAR, that what the teams are doing trackside and throughout their processes demonstrate how Microsoft can bring that type of solution to such a challenging situation. Telling other customers about that is important to us. Demonstrating that 'hey if this works for Hendrick and NASCAR, it's going to work for a lot of other organizations outside of the sport as well.' "We see it as a tremendous opportunity to leverage Microsoft and Windows technology as part of the sport going forward. There is a lot more work to do, but we're excited about what we're going to be doing in the near term." Microsoft began its NASCAR involvement in 2008, as a team sponsor affiliated with BAM Racing. The alliance with Hendrick, and specifically Earnhardt Jr., marks its return from a team perspective. HMS has won 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles and currently fields entries for Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne, in addition to Earnhardt Jr. "For us, the first phase is adopting the new Windows 10 operating system across Hendrick Motorsports," said Doug Duchardt, General Manager for HMS. "The next phase (will involve) how we can apply Microsoft technology to our business side and also to our competition side. We have a small amount of time to make important decisions at the track so anything we can do to work on how to make those decisions quicker and more accurately we look at. "Microsoft has the technology and the capability to get there. ... They are one of the top technology companies in the world and we're very honored that they chose Hendrick Motorsports to partner with." Windows 10 will be available as a free upgrade for qualified Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices. NASCAR, Hendrick team with Microsoft to drive technology, innovation A global leader in technology and innovation, Microsoft has ramped up its involvement in NASCAR with new multi-year official agreements with both the sanctioning body and 11-time Sprint Cup Series champions Hendrick Motorsports. The collaborations designate Microsoft as an Official Technology Partner of NASCAR and a major technology partner of Hendrick Motorsports. Both NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports will adopt the Windows 10 platform and Microsoft Azure to deliver technology solutions to help improve performance on and off the track. In addition, Microsoft will support the upcoming launch of Windows 10 with primary sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Chevrolet SS at Sonoma Raceway on June 28 and Pocono Raceway on August 2. Windows 10 will be the Official Operating System of Hendrick Motorsports. "NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports are perpetual innovators in motorsports," said Steve Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice President, Developer Experience and Evangelism at Microsoft. "This sport demands constant innovation, to have its boundaries pushed, so that the sport delivers the exciting experiences expected by fans. The Windows mobile inspection application we launched last year is a great example of how innovative solutions can push boundaries and make the racing experience even better. We're looking forward to the next solutions that we can deploy with both NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports to push each of our organizations forward." NASCAR and Microsoft first collaborated in 2014 to make car inspections more efficient and improve communication among NASCAR officials in the garage. By using the Windows mobile inspection application, NASCAR has reduced the time spent examining cars prior to races nearly in half. Officials can also monitor in real-time the progress of each race car as they are inspected for safety and competition-specific regulations. "Partnering with a global leader like Microsoft heightens our commitment to drive innovation and adopt state-of-the-art technologies across our sport," said Steve Phelps, NASCAR chief marketing officer. "Microsoft has a proven track record as a technology solution provider and the development of the Windows mobile inspection app has reinvented our inspection process. As we look to the future, we're excited at the prospect of developing new applications and leveraging Windows 10 and Microsoft Azure services that will make our sport more competitive, exciting, and accessible to fans." Microsoft will utilize two-time Daytona 500 champion Earnhardt as a spokesperson to promote Windows 10, which will be available July 29 as a free upgrade for qualified Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices.* In addition, its new multi-year partnership with Hendrick Motorsports will incorporate technology solutions and training across the team, including competition, business and IT functions. "I'm a big technology user and really enjoy Microsoft products," said Earnhardt, who is NASCAR's 12-time most popular driver. "Kicking off the Hendrick Motorsports relationship with Windows 10 is a unique opportunity, and there's no doubt our ongoing technical partnership will help us raise the bar in many areas. It's great to see Microsoft is having such a positive experience with NASCAR and wants to do more across the sport. We're excited to be a part of that." The announcement was made in advance of Microsoft's participation at the NASCAR Fuel For Business (NFFB) Council™ meeting taking place on June 25 in San Francisco, serving as the presenting sponsor. These quarterly meetings are designed as forums where Official NASCAR Partners meet and do business with one another. Since 2004, these quarterly meetings have facilitated more than 1,000 "speed meeting" sessions among Official NASCAR Partners, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue and savings to its participating members. The worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential, Microsoft becomes the latest blue-chip brand to join NASCAR as an Official Partner. According to a recent analysis of sponsors currently in the sport, one-in-four FORTUNE 500 companies are now invested in NASCAR, with a 50% year-over-year increase in technology companies entering the sport from 2013 to 2014. * Some hardware/software requirements apply and feature availability may vary by device and market. The availability of Windows 10 upgrade for Windows Phone 8.1 devices may vary by OEM, mobile operator or carrier. See windows.com/windows10upgrade for details. Drivers choose their four NASCAR Majors The PGA's prestigious U.S. Open takes place this weekend at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Washington. Regarded as one of professional golf's most important events, the U.S. Open accompanies the PGA Championship, the British Open and the Masters Tournament as the four Majors of the sport. So, what are the four NASCAR Majors -- the top four races in NASCAR? Dale Earnhardt Jr.: "The Daytona 500, the 600 at Charlotte, the 400 at Indy. That fourth event, I think you could plug in pretty much any other race. A short track at Bristol, maybe because of the uniqueness of that particular track. Talladega, Michigan. You know, all the other races sort of fit that criteria. But those are the big three I think, that stand out above the rest. The (Daytona) 500, (Coca-Cola) 600, 400 at Indy are the three most important events. The fourth one could be any of the rest of the events on the schedule.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets engaged while on trip to Germany (Pic) Dale Earnhardt Jr. asked his longtime girlfriend to marry him while the pair vacationed in Germany to research his family history. NASCAR's most popular driver has been dating Amy Reimann since 2009. She posted news of the engagement on Twitter with a photo of the pair in a Lutheran church where Earnhardt's family had attended seven generations and 300 years ago. Reimann wrote she was ''completely overwhelmed'' with love and joy while describing herself as the ''happiest girl in the world.'' Earnhardt then reposted the picture, adding: ''Looking forward to the rest of my life with this amazing girl.'' Earnhardt has been giving fans a thorough play-by-play of his trip to Germany and where his family emigrated from in 1744. His sister and brother-in-law are also on the trip. Dale Jr.: Letarte will be 'really good' in booth With former crew chief Steve Letarte's broadcast booth debut weeks away, count Dale Earnhardt Jr. as among those excited to see what happens. "I want to watch because I think Steve is going to be really, really good at it," Earnhardt told NASCAR.com at an AMP Energy promotional event last week in Concord, North Carolina, not too far from Hendrick Motorsports and Charlotte Motor Speedway. Aside from listening to the crew chief who guided him to five wins over four seasons (2011 to 2014) the driver of No. 88 Chevrolet shared what he hopes to see on broadcasts in general. "If you ever watch a race on TV and then listen to the MRN broadcast, you see a distinct difference. A radio broadcaster has to put in a real, hard effort to paint this picture because there's no visual. That's what we used to have in the broadcast booth and it's been lost because broadcasting has gotten a lot more gimmicks and a lot more tricks up their sleeve. "The fact that you're actually watching the show instead of listening to it, sort of takes the responsibility off the shoulders of the broadcaster and puts it on the shoulder of the editor and producer. The show looks exciting on TV. And I think it sort of needs to lean back the other way. "If you listen back to Ken Squier and those guys, back in the day, they sound a lot like MRN does today. Because they're taking responsibility to feed the energy to the audience. That's super important. "I'm excited to see how Steve and those guys do as far as … they really can sell that show. Even if it's a boring race, can they make fans believe it's one of the greatest ones they've seen? That's really a gift and I think Steve's got that quality, so I'm looking forward to seeing it." Earnhardt believes that the coverage of the sport goes a long way to the perception of it. "I think that the way that the sport's perceived, whether the racing is good, whether the racing is boring, whether fans enjoy watching the races is directly connected to the quality of the broadcasts and the ability of the broadcast to sort of deliver the show." Letarte and Jeff Burton will serve as race analysts, while Rick Allen will serve as the play-by-play announcer. NBC's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race coverage begins Fourth of July weekend with the Coke Zero 400 (July 5, 7:45 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM). NBC and NBC Sports Network will televise the final 20 races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season in 2015 in the first year of a 10-year deal to televise the sport. Dale Jr. focused on preparing for the Chase Consider the summer stretch of races one long test session. When you've got the fastest car or the strategy falls your way, go for the win. When you don't, or it doesn't, learn as much as you can. Second or fifth or eighth or whatever, if it's not a win, make it a lesson and move on. At least that seems to be the approach for Dale Earnhardt Jr., the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series most popular driver and one of 10 drivers who already have a win this season. His victory earlier this season at Talladega Superspeedway likely guarantees the Hendrick Motorsports driver one of the 16 spots in this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He'll still race for wins between now and the cutoff race this September in Richmond. But being as prepared as possible when the Chase arrives is his focus. Maybe it was Sunday's second-place finish to Stewart-Haas Racing's Kurt Busch at Michigan International Speedway that resulted in his outlook, but whatever the reason, Earnhardt said he "just ain't going to worry about it." "We've always done well during the first 26 races and never done well in the Chase, so I'm just concentrating on the Chase now that we're locked in," he said. The No. 88 team, led by crew chief Greg Ives, will still be trying to win as often as cars are on the track, but "(if) we don't win them, it doesn't really matter to me where we finish just as long as we've got fast cars and we're understanding how to get better," Earnhardt said. The 40-year-old has qualified for the 10-race Chase for four straight seasons and seven overall. But he's cracked the top five in the final points standings just once in recent years, failing to contend for the title with each opportunity. Perhaps a different approach will provide better opportunities and produce the desired results. "Over the last several years we've been as good or better than anybody during the regular season and … just haven't showed up in the Chase," he said. "I told my guys after Pocono when we ran 11th with about a third-place car that I wasn't going to worry about finishes and I wasn't going to worry about trying to get everything I can on finishes. I was just going to go to the track, try to win, try to learn. We need to make sure when we get to the Chase we understand everything we can about the car and how to deliver the best car every week. "Trying to be as consistent as you can and finish as well as you can, (that) can kind of mask some of your weaknesses, I guess. You can forget that you need to work." Sunday's runner-up finish was Earnhardt's eighth top-five of the year. A good long-run car didn't get a lot of opportunities to hit its stride in a race that was interrupted early and often – there were three cautions in the first 54 laps, and red-flag delays due to rain ate up more than two hours of scheduled on-track time. "When it came to the restarts, we didn't take off as well as the 41 (of Busch)," Earnhardt said. "We saw the same thing at Charlotte, the 78 (of Martin Truex Jr.) and the 41 take off real good. We were just kind of tight waiting on the front to work, don't have the good speed that they have the first three or four laps, and that was the difference, (that) and the 4 (Kevin Harvick) having the trouble he had. He had the field covered. I think on the long run, again, we were one of the best cars." The on-again, off-again status of Sunday's race was annoying, but didn't hinder the team, according to Ives. Everyone was dealt the same hand. "I think it was actually good for us," said Ives, 15 races into his first season as a Sprint Cup crew chief. "I think we do a great job as a team trying to stay focused on what it is at hand. "Dale comes to the pit box and we discuss racing. We're only here to win races, so him coming back and telling us what the car's doing so we can come back and adjust on it where we need to get better and kind of lay out our strategy a bit for him … when that happens, it kind of keeps the team focused on what we need to do." The Rundown: Michigan 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Despite a loose-handling condition, Earnhardt climbed his way through the top 10 in the final 48 laps before NASCAR called the race. Earnhardt, Edwards don't miss Chase-related pressure Just over halfway through the Sprint Cup regular season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. can be about as carefree as he wants on the racetrack. ''We could run terrible,'' he said. ''We could have accidents every week and still make the Chase.'' That's certainly an extreme way of putting it, but Earnhardt is one of several drivers who can rest easy, having already won a race to put themselves in almost certain position to make NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup. So those racers can relax - and maybe drive a bit more aggressively for the win, because it probably doesn't matter if a move backfires. ''Once you have a win and you're in the Chase you can really kind of let it hang out and have a little more fun,'' said Carl Edwards, who won at Charlotte three races ago. ''It takes a little bit of the anxiety away and little bit of the pressure, and everybody is just a little bit more loose.'' Nobody has mathematically clinched a spot yet in the Chase - drivers have to be in the top 30 in points to make it. But the 10 drivers with victories have little reason to worry about their postseason chances. That's not to say they'll be mailing in these next few weeks. Earnhardt added a pair of third-place finishes after his victory at Talladega in May. He's been out of the top 10 the last two races, but that's a risk he's willing to accept, especially if it's a byproduct of trying to finish first. ''Winning races is so important. ... Only the winners get the acknowledgement and are relevant, so for our sponsors, partners, for network, for awareness, everything comes down to winning. People don't remember this great run you had, that you finished fifth,'' Earnhardt said. ''Since we've got the win, we're locked in. We can calm down and not be nervous and worried about our points in that situation, and we just go race. Second, fifth, it's really about the same thing.'' It's a simplistic way of looking at each race, one Earnhardt says he enjoys. ''It's not like we're just kicking our feet up,'' he said. ''You're really racing and enjoying it in its purest form, like you did when you started.'' Edwards, in his first season after joining Joe Gibbs Racing, can use this relatively calm period in the season to build toward the Chase. ''My teammates are so good,'' he said. ''We go to these meetings and I feel like I'm in school. I'm learning from these guys. I'm so excited to apply that and have the opportunity to race in a low-stress environment.'' Earnhardt won at Michigan in 2008 and 2012, snapping long losing streaks both times. After this weekend's race, the Sprint Cup schedule has a break that will allow him to head to Germany for about a week to research some family history. Earnhardt has German ancestors who were there in the early 1700s. The auto industry is big in Germany, of course, but Earnhardt says this is a vacation - not a work-related tour. ''I just want to be anonymous,'' Earnhardt said. ''I just kind of want to go over and disappear for a while.'' He sounds a bit like a baseball player about to enjoy the All-Star break. The difference is that in baseball, you can't wrap up a playoff berth in July. ''The pressure to be in the Chase, the pressure from everybody watching and the networks and the broadcasts and the partnerships, all that stuff sort of makes racing a lot harder to enjoy, because there's just so much pressure on success,'' Earnhardt said. ''It's not like that when you first start out. You kind of miss that a little bit, so when you get that Chase position kind of locked in, you can go back to just enjoying racing for what it was.'' Dale Jr. shares influence on Michigan look (Pic) The paint schemes on his No. 88 Chevrolet continue to impress Dale Earnhardt Jr., especially his look for this weekend. At a 7-Eleven just minutes from Charlotte Motor Speedway, Earnhardt showed off the fresh look that his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ride, sponsored by AMP Energy, will have at Michigan International Speedway for the Quicken Loans 400 (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM). "This is definitely unique," Earnhardt told NASCAR.com. "I like the idea behind the paint scheme and how it came about. I had a little influence on the paint scheme itself. I think it's pretty cool. I have never ran a car with purple on it, so that's new. "And I enjoy being involved in that part of it. I want to like the car that I'm driving. I want to like the way it looks, and that sort of is a bit of a motivating factor behind driving the race car in the first place, is to be able to design it and paint it yourself." So what influence did Junior have on the look that fans ultimately chose as the winner in a Facebook contest. "Some of the logo placements. The big deal on the door. They had some other things going on, where all that was a lot smaller, and I thought some of that stuff should get really blown up and be obnoxious on the side of the car to sort of give the car a little bit more of a dynamic look and some more energy. "They sort of had these little passion fruit emblems placed sporadically along the car and they were a lot smaller. And I just thought, 'Man this stuff should be coming at you and be really big.' " The Concord, North Carolina 7-Eleven location won the event and appearance from the sport's most popular driver by being the store of the 70-plus 7-Eleven's in the Charlotte area to sell the most AMP Energy drinks from May 18 to June 3. Passion Fruit is one of four new flavors AMP Energy recently introduced to its product line of energy drinks and is the one that will be featured on the No. 88 Chevrolet. Fans came in full force to see the Hendrick Motorsports driver, and the interaction with Junior Nation is something that the driver values tremendously, whether it is in person or through social media. Last month, Earnhardt crossed the one million followers mark on Twitter. "Trying to keep an understanding, I guess, of where they're at mentally with what we're doing, whether they're enjoying the marketing, the partnerships that we're creating. What they think about our racing and obviously our efforts out on the track. The best way to really get an understanding of that is to reach out and have conversation and let 'em rip. They tell you about the cars that they like, the partnerships you've created that they like and give you a good idea of where to focus your energy." This weekend, Earnhardt will be competing in the Irish Hills at the 2-mile venue at Michigan. He has two wins in 31 starts at the track and both of those wins snapped sizable winless streaks. Last year, Earnhardt finished seventh in the June race and fifth in the August race. The driver, who is fifth in the point standings and won at Talladega Superspeedway last month, feels good heading into the weekend. "I really enjoy racing there. Every time we show up to the racetrack, we go with new ideas because Greg (Ives, who is in his first year as the crew chief of the No. 88 team), he brings a lot more to the table that we didn't have last year. We ran great last year, but anytime you bring in a new guy, with new ideas, it adds to it and you hope that it improves and hope that it allows you to be more competitive. "The cars have been real fast and real fun to drive this year and that's a real, direct connection to Greg and his ideas and his ability to work with our lead engineer, Kevin (Meendering). I'm looking forward to it. We should run well, have fun. We've been enjoying ourselves this year, and it should be another week of that." #TBT: Dale Jr. snaps pair of winless streaks (Video1, Video2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a knack for ending winless streaks at Michigan International Speedway. While his current drought is only four races thanks to his win in May at Talladega Superspeedway, there was once a time when NASCAR's most popular driver ended a pair of glaring winless streaks at the 2-mile track located in the Irish Hills of Michigan. With the Sprint Cup Series heading to MIS for Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM), it's a good time to look back at 2008 and 2012, when the Hendrick Motorsports driver quieted the critics and brought roars from the stands. When Junior entered Victory Lane on June 15, 2008 after he took the LifeLock 400 checkered flag, it brought plenty of relief to Junior Nation, knowing that Earnhardt's decision to leave Dale Earnhardt Incorporated for Hendrick Motorsports could pay off. By picking up his first win since 2006 -- in just his 15th race with his new organization – it allowed his fan base to exhale a bit and focus on all the wins to come in the years ahead (more on that later). In the video above, you may have noticed the final lap lacked much drama, as Junior won the race after Patrick Carpentier spun on the white flag to bring out the yellow -- meaning all Earnhardt had to do was maintain speed as he came to the finish. It worked out because the No. 88 was running low on gas -- Junior didn't even have enough to do a victory burnout and needed to be pushed to Victory Lane -- so if the final lap had been run at full speed, it's possible he'd have run out. Besides, the slow lap just gave fans a chance to cheer louder and longer. Now, as for all of those "wins to come in the years ahead" -- they didn't. Following his landmark win in 2008, Junior then found himself mired in a 143-race winless streak, equating to just under four full seasons. Gas or no gas, after a streak like that, Earnhardt made sure he celebrated with one of the best burnouts we've seen in recent years after he took the Quicken Loans 400 checkered flag in 2012. Worth the wait. Dale Jr.'s paint scheme for Daytona revealed (Pic) The Coke Zero 400 is at 7:45 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 5 at Daytona International Speedway (NBC). It will be the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race televised on NBC this season. Kids' Choice Sports 2015 nominations Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Sports awards show airs live on Thursday, July 16. Don't Try This At Home Award Dale Earnhardt Jr. (NASCAR) Danny Davis (Professional Snowboarder) Kelly Clark (Professional Snowboarder) Lindsey Vonn (Professional Alpine Ski Racer) Nyjah Huston (Professional Skateboarder) Travis Pastrana (Motorsports) Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 'I had a blast' at Pocono Dale Earnhardt Jr. came to Pocono Raceway looking to join the select company of Bobby Allison and Tim Richmond as the only drivers to win three straight races at the Tricky Triangle. And while that didn't happen for the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet, his reaction on pit road after the Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 wouldn't have given away an 11th-place finish. "I had so much fun today," Earnhardt said after the race, his first result outside the top 10 at Pocono in his last five starts at the 2.5-mile track. "My car was awesome, we were passing five, 10 cars on restarts, having a blast." Earnhardt started the race 20th and by Lap 20, found himself in the top 10. On Lap 75, he was running in second place and looked to be making his way toward the lead. He would spend a good amount of the next 50 circuits in the top five before restarting sixth on Lap 126. On that restart, Earnhardt made contact with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne, resulting in some left-rear quarter-panel damage on the No. 88 Nationwide Chevy. Junior went from sixth to 12th in a short span before pitting under the next caution on Lap 131. He explained what happened after the race. "I can't visually picture what exactly I saw coming off of Turn 2, but I thought I was up on the quarter-panel of the 2 (Brad Keselowski)," Earnhardt said. "I knew the 5 (Kahne) was down there, and I thought the 2 yanked off the wall as if he had almost hit the fence or something. He sort of yanked the car to the left, and I saw that and moved and hit the 5. Tore the left side of my car up. I'm sorry whatever it did to Kasey. I'm sure it didn't help him being run into like that." Junior restarted in 28th on Lap 134 and in two green flag laps had moved up to 17th before another caution came out. He was able to do something similar on the next restart on Lap 140, moving up to 11th before the last caution of the day occurred. From there, he couldn't work his way into the top 10 over the final green flag run of 16 laps, despite recording the most green flag passes (83) and second-most quality passes (41) on the day, according to NASCAR loop data. "I'm racing hard. It's so hard to pass here. You got to take every position you can and when you get a position on a guy, when you can get to his quarter-panel and draft, you got to go." Earnhardt also didn't think the team's pit stall did them any favors, a result from their worst starting spot since the April race at Richmond International Raceway. The 88 team had stall No. 12, which was right in the middle of the first block of 24 stalls on pit road at Pocono. "We had a really bad pit stall behind the 4," Earnhardt said. "They had to pick last because of their penalty and ended up forced into the stall behind us. So we had to come around him all day and the 16 come around us all day. So we're terrible getting in our stall, losing several spots because of that. And that cost us a lot." Still, on a day where he could have been disappointed by his showing and seeing Hendrick's five-race winning streak at Pocono end, the sport's most popular driver remained very upbeat. "We had a good enough car to run in the top three. Probably not win the race, but I had a blast." Earnhardt aiming for 3rd straight Pocono Raceway victory Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte were as much a comedy team around the garage as they were championship contenders last season. Carefree and cracking jokes, Earnhardt and his crew chief were best buds, one-liners flowing as often as victory lane champagne. ''Everything's on the table as far as conversation,'' Earnhardt said. The chemistry on the Hendrick Motorsports team led to Earnhardt's career renaissance in the No. 88 Chevrolet. He won the Daytona 500, swept Pocono Raceway and was in the thick of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship until the final races. Like so many great comedy duos, Earnhardt and Letarte split up. Letarte took his open mic skills to the NBC Sports broadcast booth. Greg Ives, a race engineer for Jimmie Johnson's record run of five consecutive championships, was team owner Rick Hendrick's No. 1 choice to replace Letarte. Light on laughs, Earnhardt and Ives have clicked on the track. They have eight top 10s, won at Talladega and are fifth in the points standings. And they're back Pocono, where Earnhardt reigns as the defending race winner. Earnhardt won both races on the tri-oval track last season and is trying to become the third driver in Pocono history to win here three straight times. Tim Richmond swept in 1987 and won the June 1987 race and Bobby Allison swept in 1982 and won the June 1983 race. There's another streak on the line, as well: Hendrick drivers have won the last five Pocono races (Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne have the other three). ''We've just got really good stuff,'' Earnhardt said. ''Your car really shines here, whereas the driver is a little bit of a factor.'' Earnhardt was a major factor last season and seemed poised to win his first Sprint Cup championship. He stamped himself a legitimate contender at Pocono when he became the first driver to sweep both races at the track since Denny Hamlin in 2006. In June, Brad Keselowski gift-wrapped the win when he yielded the lead with five laps left in a desperate attempt to clear debris from his grille and cool his overheated engine. Keselowski's gamble backfired - he couldn't get the draft needed from the lapped traffic to clear his car and make one final pass for the win on Earnhardt. Earnhardt led three Hendrick drivers in the top 10. In August, Earnhardt said before the race the No. 88 was better than his winner in June and he proved it when he held off the hard-charging Kevin Harvick down the stretch for the win. Earnhardt swept a track for the first time since Talladega in 2002. ''Miss not heading to (at) poconoraceway,'' Letarte tweeted this week. ''Last year was a blast.'' Earnhardt said Letarte made all the right calls in both races. ''Steve got real aggressive on his pit calls and that's what's going to put you in position to win,'' he said. ''We also had a fast car. Ran pretty well.'' Earnhardt would love to three-peat - and repeat the sweep - at Pocono. And maybe have some fun. ''We're just really all business right now, for the time being,'' Earnhardt said. ''We win some more races, we can get more jovial.'' Long NASCAR's most popular driver, Earnhardt has connected even more with his Junior Nation on Twitter - 1 million followers and counting. He tweets about the treehouse he's having built in his backyard or about being a regular barfly on his days off. Ives is widely regarded as one of the most detail-oriented guys at Hendrick. He cut his teeth while working under Johnson's longtime crew chief, Chad Knaus - arguably the most cunning and calculated guy in the NASCAR garage. Ives guided Chase Elliott to the 2014 Xfinity Series championship at JR Motorsports, which is co-owned by Earnhardt. ''He's not the jokester Steve was,'' Earnhardt said. ''The lounge is a lot more business, less jokes, less talk about family and what happened last week. ''I don't know Greg well enough. We're working on our relationship and we have a lot of trust in each other. The relationship will continue to get better the more we work together.'' Ives said two distinct personalities has worked to their advantage when the pressure rises late in a race ''I try to stay as even-keeled as possible, try not to get too high or too low,'' he said. ''Sometimes that hurts us. If Dale is one way or the other, I try to be the opposite of him at that point. When he gets excited, I have to calm him down. When he's down, I've got to pick him back up.'' With or without a laugh track, Earnhardt and Ives share common goals of winning races - and a championship. Junior takes blame for Dover disappointment Carrying the very unofficial title of NASCAR's official grillmaster, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has plenty of experience getting the timing right in his frequent barbecues. Perhaps that's why overcooking his entry onto pit road last weekend at Dover International Speedway left such a sour taste. A crucial pit-road speeding penalty just past the halfway point proved to be an insurmountable obstacle to Earnhardt's chances in the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks. But Earnhardt, in his weekly analysis on the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast on Dirty Mo Radio, said that he was pleased with the speed in his Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet as he twice rallied from deep in the field to a 14th-place finish. "I still had fun driving the car. I hate I fouled up there and screwed up coming onto pit road and disappointed the guys," Earnhardt said. "We just worked so hard to get all that ground back and get back on the lead lap, and I sort of screwed it all up. So that's difficult to deal with but you've got to put it behind you to be able to move on to the next event, and we're going to some tracks where I think we can do really well and I'm looking forward to it." Earnhardt started from the rear of the 43-car field, dropping back during pace laps after the crew was forced to make repairs to the No. 88's rear gearing during Saturday's final practice. Earnhardt lost a lap early, but regained it with some savvy pit strategy from crew chief Greg Ives and the fortunate timing of the race's second caution period. That lead-lap advantage, however, went away with a penalty during the next round of green-flag pit stops. Earnhardt lost two laps in the process, but the net effect wasn't terribly costly in the scope of the season. The 40-year-old driver has already all but sealed his berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs after posting a regular-season win at Talladega Superspeedway last month, allowing him to take more chances ahead of the 10-race championship fight. "Trying to get everything we can," Earnhardt said. "We can be real aggressive with pretty much everything we do since we have the win and we're locked into the Chase. Sometimes, that's going to bite us, and it bit me today. After that we just worked real hard to get everything else we could out of the race. Ended up gaining a bunch more spots and getting back into the top 15 there, but definitely had a much better car -- a top-five car for sure." While the result was less than desirable, Earnhardt emerged confident that the performance should carry over to the series' October visit to Dover, site of the finale to the Chase-opening Challenger Round. Earnhardt and Co. finished a disappointing 17th at the Monster Mile last fall, but hopes Sunday's comeback-filled effort is something the team can build upon. "Starting in the back definitely made things difficult for us, so I'm pretty happy with the speed in the car," Earnhardt said. "Once we found out we were starting in the back, I really wrote off the result no matter what it was and just wanted to make sure we had good speed, because that track is where we really stumbled last year in the Chase. So we need to run better there for sure later in the season, and I think we've got a good baseline of something that'll work." Before Dover ever comes into view, Earnhardt has more pressing matters in Sunday's Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Pocono Raceway, where he has a recent hot streak cooking. Earnhardt was 0-for-28 for his career at the Tricky Triangle until last season, when he swept both annual events at the Pennsylvania track. If Earnhardt is able to connect for a third straight victory at Pocono, he'll join elite company in NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison and the late Tim Richmond as the track's only three-in-a-row winners. Pocono Raceway president Brandon Igdalsky, on hand in Victory Lane for both ends of Earnhardt's double last season, told Dirty Mo Radio that the effect of his success was palpable. "He takes the lead, and any track, anywhere -- the place goes bonkers and it was the same thing here last year, watching fans' reaction," Igdalsky said. "Then to see him do it a second time and now to be trying to go for what only two drivers have accomplished with winning three in a row, it's going to be quite a feat if he can do it." @DirtyMoRadio : Big Download. @DaleJr discusses up-and-down day. @bigdalsky talks about a @poconoraceway 3-peat. #tdjd by @spyoptic: http://www.dalejr.com/radio/tdjd/default.aspx … Dale Earnhardt Jr. to start from rear at Dover Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start from the rear in Sunday's FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Dover International Speedway after the team changed a rear gear in his No. 88 Chevrolet on Sunday morning. Earnhardt Jr. had qualified 16th in Friday's session. In a pair of Saturday practice session, the No. 88 came in ninth and 19th. Junior has one win in 30 starts at Dover, and it came in 2001. He's earned a top-10 finish in four of the past six races at the 1-mile concrete oval. The Rundown: Charlotte 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. The Kannapolis, North Carolina, native overcame an early-race pit miscue to resume running in the top 10 by Lap 100 and earn his seventh top-five of the year. He now ranks fourth in the points. 'American Sniper' impressed by Dale Jr. U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle, subject of the movie "American Sniper," was not a big fan of NASCAR at first, according to his widow Taya Kyle, who spoke Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway before the Coca-Cola 600. But things changed when he attended a military appreciation event at a race and got a behind-the scenes look at the pit crews in action. "He thought they were such bad-asses because one of the guys broke his finger during the change and didn't stop, just kept going and everything was so precise," Taya Kyle said. "And then he got to see the strategy behind the race, and he was in love with NASCAR from (then) on. He was a ridiculous fan after that." She went on to say a highlight of him being a fan was getting to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr., who became Kyle's favorite driver. "Meeting Dale Jr. was really cool for him because there were some high-ranking officials who were in the tent and he remembered Dale saying, 'You know, I think I'm going to talk with these guys, because these guys were on the ground,' " Taya Kyle said. "(Dale Jr.) spent some time laughing with them and talking with them and that really endeared him to Chris. That humility and putting off the generals and higher-ups just to talk to the guys serving was really cool." Taya was in Charlotte to receive the Stonewall Jackson Award from Charlotte Motor Speedway, to introduce her book, "American Wife: A Memoir of Love, War, Faith and Renewal," and to talk about the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation. She said the foundation is designed to help the marriages of first responders and veterans -- by hopefully keeping a strong foundation at home, those families will have a better chance at thriving instead of just surviving the time of service. About the book, she said she hoped it would connect with other spouses of military service members or first responders. "Anytime someone looks at me, hopefully they don't see me, they hopefully see every military wife, every first responder wife and my story is not unique," Taya Kyle said. "And that's one of the reasons for doing the book. A lot of us are strong and we'll suck it up and think we're the only ones struggling. When really, opening up that dialogue is the way to healing." Junior looking to fill a void on his home track There's good reason Dale Earnhardt Jr. holds Charlotte Motor Speedway in high regard, much of it owed to the proximity to his family's hometown of Kannapolis, which shares a border to its south with Concord, the track's longtime address. The 10-day stretch of springtime racing that culminates with Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 is often considered a home game for the NASCAR industry with its hub in the Charlotte metro area. But for no other driver does the track hit as close to home as Earnhardt, who wears his North Carolina pride on his sleeve and its flag above his driver's door. Earnhardt aims to fill a major void in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series resume with a win Sunday in stock-car racing's longest event. Though he's entered Charlotte's Victory Lane as an All-Star conqueror back in 2000 and a winner in the preliminary Sprint Showdown in 2012, his career record stands at 0-for-30 in points-paying races at the 1.5-mile oval. "It's been on my list for a very long time," Earnhardt said Tuesday in a promotional appearance at the speedway. "This is our home track. We live 20, 30 minutes down the road and I've been coming here ever since I was a little kid, and have just dreamed of being able to go into Victory Circle here after that 600 and celebrate. Really working hard and I think we've got a great shot." Earnhardt's earliest memories of coming to the Charlotte track date back to 1981. He was just 6 years old at the time of that year's 600. Earnhardt said his family typically parked on the ridge associated with the track's infield road course, alongside longtime family friends the Eurys, and that he often spent his hours at the track playing by rolling scaled-down plastic Ertl-brand cars -- lookalikes to those driven by names like Allison and Yarborough -- down the hill. As vivid as those childhood remembrances were, Earnhardt's other lasting memories were watching his father -- inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class member and three-time Coca-Cola 600 winner Dale Earnhardt -- race in the family's virtual backyard and how difficult victories were to come by. It's a distant memory, but one that still holds true today. "It's such a tough race track," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I learned that watching Dad race here, year after year through the late '80s and into the '90s and it was always kind of a fickle, hit-and-miss kind of thing as far as the balance and the setup of the car and the speed that he would have. Sometimes he would show up and be able to really get relatively competitive and other times they would struggle." Earnhardt Jr.'s own Charlotte troubles have been well documented, none more so than his brush with tough luck in the 2011 running of the 600. In that May classic, the Hendrick Motorsports driver ran out of fuel on the final lap, prolonging a nearly three-year losing skid as Kevin Harvick skipped by for the checkered flag. Bad breaks aside, finding the proper handle might be the more elusive goal for Earnhardt, who has finished no better than third in points-paying events at Charlotte. "Just a real hard track to master as far as a setup and a balance of the race car goes, and it's always kind of been that way for me," Earnhardt Jr. said." We've had some good cars here and we've had some cars that've been a bit of a struggle with. Six hundred miles, so once you're strapped in that thing and it's not working, it's a long night." Panthers LB Davis takes 5-lap spin with Earnhardt Jr Not a lot scares Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis so he was comfortable going a few laps around Charlotte Motor Speedway at 165 mph with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Davis, this year's NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year, was selected to be the honorary pace car driver for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. He got a chance Tuesday to test out the pace car on the one-and-a-half mile track before jumping in a stock car with Earnhardt, who took him on five high-speed laps around the race track. ''That was an adrenaline rush,'' Davis said as he emerged from Earnhardt's No. 88 Nationwide car with a smile. The man who has made a living out of hitting running back and quarterbacks said the speed didn't frighten him. The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Davis spent his five laps filming from the passenger seat so he could show his kids. He later posted the event on social media for his fans to see. Earnhardt said he pushed the car to the max, but it didn't seem to make the 10-year NFL veteran flinch. ''He's hard to scare,'' Earnhardt said. ''I imagine he's seen just about every possible coming at him on the (football) field. ... I ran that thing as hard as it would go. He wasn't impressed. He was filming the whole thing with his phone like he was riding down the interstate.'' Despite growing up near the Charlotte area, Earnhardt has always been a fan of the Washington Redskins. While he has no plans to change his allegiance to the Redskins, he said meeting Davis and some other Carolina players like tight end Greg Olsen has changed his opinion of his hometown Panthers. He likes them a lot more now and appreciates what they have done in the community. Earnhardt's focus is on the Coca-Cola 600. He was a non-factor Saturday night in the All-Star race, but hopes to change all of that this weekend on a track where he desperately wants to win. ''We didn't run that well in the All-Star race and it was struggle when he got further back,'' Earnhardt said. ''We are going to come with a different setup, a different car and go a different route and see if we can improve.'' Davis will lead him and 42 other drivers to the green flag Sunday. A self-described NASCAR fan, Davis said he has been to a few races before - but this will be his first time in the pace car. Davis, who has recovered from three torn ACLs in the same knee and returned to play at a high level, knows the end of his career is coming in the not-so-distant future. He still has plenty of things he wants to accomplish, including winning a Super Bowl ring before he retires. Riding shotgun with Earnhardt, though, was more thing to scratch off his bucket list. Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 team ring Hendrick Victory Bell One by one, Hendrick Motorsports employees took their places Tuesday afternoon, forming a receiving line that reached into the deeper regions of the Nos. 48 and 88 shop. Rarely has being single-file meant so much to a NASCAR team. With each movement forward, a resounding signal came from the Hendrick Victory Bell, a relatively new but already rich tradition. Each blast from the bell's clapper helped trumpet the No. 88 team's most recent Talladega Superspeedway triumph -- resounding in its own right -- courtesy of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt himself stood at the end of the line, individually congratulating each team member for the win nine days earlier. It was a moment to see Junior not as the 40-year-old son of anointed stock-car royalty or as NASCAR's most popular driver, but as merely another member of the team. "I think he just likes to be really in tune with his guys," said Travis Peterson, in his first year as an engineer for the No. 88 operation. "He's obviously a huge figure and everybody sees that side of him, but I think he likes to just be his regular self and be buddies with everyone who's on his team, just to know you on a more personal level. "He wants everyone to enjoy it and have a good time. He doesn't want it to be such a strict job. He wants everybody to enjoy racing, since for us, it's not a real job -- it's what we enjoy doing. We just make our hobby into a career." Earnhardt shook every hand Tuesday to extend what was already a raucous celebration of his sixth career victory at Talladega. There was enough bell-ringing to make churches envious, but there was also the personal touch of heartfelt appreciation at the end of the line. Since Earnhardt has an ownership stake in the Hendrick-affiliated JR Motorsports team, he's already comfortable keeping tabs on racing operations from the shop floor. But beyond the ownership connection, there's humility that transcends his at-track stardom. "I don't think it's the ownership. It's just his personality," said Rob Lopes, the No. 88 Chevrolet's tire specialist. "He's one of us, he knows what it takes and what goes into this deal. He knows it's not just him, he knows it's not just us -- it's a whole team thing and he know that without us, there is no him and without him, there is no us. It's just 'us.' " Lopes has been with the team since 2011, the year that HMS president Marshall Carlson first broached the idea for a Victory Bell tradition, taking a page from college football's playbook with the creation of unique trophies for rivalry games. In the five years since, Hendrick cars have scored 41 wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. When the ritual was first created, Earnhardt was in the midst of a career-long slump that spanned more than three seasons. On the other side of the shop, stablemate Jimmie Johnson had just polished off the last of his five consecutive Sprint Cup championships for the No. 48 team. Over the last two seasons, the division of success has balanced out somewhat, but the competitive fire hasn't. Each team wants its place at the bell's side. The fact that Tuesday's celebration happened to take place within earshot of the office of Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, wasn't lost on the No. 88 crew. "In here, we're one. But at the end of the day, we're also competitors," said Adam Jordan, the No. 88 team's interior mechanic. "We work together, but man, I really want to beat Chad Knaus every single day of the week. He just gets pissed when we beat him and vice versa." Said Lopes: "It's probably the healthiest competition out there, but it's also the best-oiled two-car team you're going to see. This building here has been referred to as one team that fields two cars, and that's the way we treat each other." After the shop portion of the ceremony was complete, the Victory Bell was off for the rest of its journey, hitting virtually every office on Hendrick Motorsports' sprawling 100-plus-acre campus. Fittingly, Earnhardt did the driving, turning the upright controls that helped the wagon's go-kart wheels find their way around. Peterson was able to celebrate atop the pit box -- by his own admission, excitably so -- at the track two weekends ago. But seeing the Victory Bell make its usual rounds, clanging all the while, brought home the team concept -- from the engine and machine shop all the way through accounting and human resources -- as the celebration touched all corners of the company. "When you're traveling, you get to experience it going to Victory Lane, being part of the intense moments of the race, but watching on TV is just not the same," Peterson said. "Being able to bring this around and get everybody involved is great for everyone who is here on the weekdays while we're gone and keeps grinding on the cars." Earnhardt handed a gift to each crew member as he exchanged greetings Tuesday afternoon. Inside each packet was a team-specific sticker commemorating the victory for each team member. To hear the team members tell it, the celebration rarely deviates from its structured schedule, save for perhaps the recognition for winning the Daytona 500, NASCAR's crown jewel race. While a certain amount of routine goes into each Victory Bell celebration, Lopes said savoring the spoils while adding another chapter to the team's winning heritage never gets old. "Any race, you don't ever take a win for granted because you never know when your next one is going to be and you never know when your last one is going to be," Lopes said. "So you treat them all special. The bigger milestone races, sure, they might hold a little bit more light up to it, but … a win's a win. The points are the same. The stickers that they put on next to a driver's name, they aren't a different color for a different race, they're all the same. "A win's a win -- we'll take it." Earnhardt Jr. excited for Charlotte after Kansas roller coaster Although the Kansas race made Dale Earnhardt Jr. panic at one point late Saturday night, the No. 88 Hendrick Chevrolet’s fast finish to third in the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 has him excited about coming to Charlotte. Junior said in this weeks "Dale Jr. Dowload" on Dirty Mo radio that the No. 88 team was confident coming off the truck at Kansas and started the soggy Cup race well, then things fell apart. "Everybody was real loose. It was a bit of a shock, I think, for everyone how loose the track was. So everybody was skating around, having trouble. We were, too, but not as bad as most guys. "Then the next run it got worse. The next it got worse. We’re working on the car, and it’s getting worse. So I was freaking out. I’m panicking because we’re trying to fix the car, doing some pretty big stuff, and it’s getting worse." A rain delay of 2 hours and 16 minutes wound up being a saving grace for Junior and the No. 88 crew. Junior said he climbed up on the pit box during the rain delay and let his emotion fly with crew chief Greg Ives. "I’m about to go nuts, what are we gonna do, Greg?" Junior recalls saying at the start of the rain delay. "Greg said it was good I pushed him, but I think I aggravated him more than anything. "He made some great changes. Him and Kevin and the guys put their heads together and did some good things." Junior said the car was more like he expected after the race restarted, with good handling and great speed. "So we took off haulin’ ass there, everything’s going good, passing cars," Junior said on Tuesday's radio show, which took a few times to record because Gus Earnhardt was barking a lot as his master fired up the grill. "Fun restarts on the outside, especially following Kyle Larson around the top. Me and him must have passed 10 cars on that one restart. The kid’s got some talent." Larson wound up finishing 15th in the SpongeBob SquarePants 400, moving the Chip Ganassi Racing driver up two spots in the points standings to 22nd place. Earnhardt Jr. remains in fifth place, trailing leader Kevin Harvick by 77 points and Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson by 29 points. Junior said he thought he might have been able to steal the win from Johnson had he started on the outside rather than behind Johnson on the inside on Saturday’s final restart. But now his attention turns to the races at Charlotte, where he believes his strong finish last weekend bodes well. "It’s got me excited for Charlotte. We’re going to another track for the first time with Greg Ives. We got a lot of stuff that we feel like worked there in the past. Bring on his new ideas and see what happens." Junior says he feels no pressure in running the Sprint All-Star Race, because it’s all or nothing with the $1 million on the line for the winner. He’s much more intense about the Coca-Cola 600. "What I’m really wanting to focus on is the 600. I want to win that 600. I’d rather win the 600 than the All-Star Race. I just would. It's just a much more important race for me." Junior finished 19th in the Coca-Cola 600 last year. He never has won the 600, his best finish of fourth coming in 2000. He won the All-Star event as a rookie in 2000. Junior shakes off travails as teammate wins Following Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s victory at Talladega Superspeedway, much of the conversation toiled around a hot topic -- Did Jimmie Johnson ease off and let his teammate win in order to all-but-secure the No. 88 will be in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup this fall? The answer was no, but it made for an interesting story line in Saturday's SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway, when Earnhardt lined up next to his teammate on the front row for the final restart with six to go, and appeared to have the edge at first on the No. 48 Chevrolet of Johnson. Even though the 88 would slip behind Johnson's eventual race-winning car -- maybe you could say he was just trying to let his race shop teammate pick up his record 23rd win on a 1.5-mile track -- Junior came away from a rain-soaked Kansas happy, as a third-place finish was looking like a long shot before a two-hour rain delay interrupted the race. "We had good adjustments. We were in big trouble when the race started," said Earnhardt, who, out of the top 10 at the time, tweeted: @DaleJr : Our @nationwide88 is loooose! The guys are tuning on it and we will keep looking for the right fix. Lotta racing left. "We thought we had a good car and we about screwed it up," he continued on pit road after the race. "We finally figured it out and all the guys back home gave us the tools to get it done." The heavy skies above Kansas Speedway and a green, rubber-free track wouldn't naturally make for a situation in which a loose race car had a shot, so the No. 88 team deserves a lot of credit for giving Earnhardt a Chevrolet that could battle it out with the other stout Chevys of Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. A good car is nothing without a good driver, though, and Junior showed late that restarts are quickly becoming his bread and butter as he picked up a few tips from a somewhat unlikely source. "We had a few (great restarts), yeah, I mean I watched that No. 42 (of Kyle Larson) I was like 'I know he's going to do something; I'm going to just do what he does.' Larson will hang it out there," Earnhardt said. "We went up there and me, him, the No. 22 (of Joey Logano) and a couple of guys passed like 10 cars in a couple of laps." A few great restarts -- and Junior didn't even have the lane he wanted on the final one. "I was real jealous of that lane (Johnson) had," he said. "I think I could have done a better job than he did with it on that first lap. I couldn't believe we still hung with him coming back with five to go or whatever. I thought he would have took off with that outside groove. I sure was jealous where he was restarting." Earnhardt almost didn't even get a chance to battle for the win, loose or snug race car. About three-quarters of the way through the race, a four-wide battle between Junior, Busch, Denny Hamlin and Sam Hornish Jr. nearly got ugly, as it occurred where there's really only room on the track for two cars. Hamlin took the brunt of it, getting pinched out and ruining his race car. "I know I'm going to get asked about the Denny Hamlin deal," Earnhardt said. "We were four-wide there and I thought I was where I was supposed to be. But there was not enough room for two cars on the outside of me. My fault; everyone else's fault I think. "I hate it for Denny because it ruined his car and ruined his night. The No. 41 (Busch) kind of got me tight off the bottom and then went four-wide. I was sitting there with the No. 41 there and them guys were coming off the wall and ran into us. It was just a mess." On the whole, a long, but solid night for the No. 88 team, which sits fifth in points with a win in hand and can try a few different strategies at home the next few weeks, with the series shifting to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the sport's Sprint All-Star Race (May 16, 7 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) and Coca-Cola 600 (May 24, 6 p.m. ET, FOX) "(My team has) really have been working hard all year," Earnhardt said. "We are working real well together and winning some races. Looking forward to the next one." The Rundown: Kansas 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior capitalized on the beneficiary rule during the third caution period and spent the remainder of the race running in the top 15. Dale Jr. reveals his NASCAR Mount Rushmore One of the best ways to determine a sport's all-time legends is to simply pose the question: "If someone built a Mount Rushmore for 'Sport X,' who would be on it?" So that's exactly the question we posed … to Dale Earnhardt Jr. So, Dale, whose faces would you carve in the side of a South Dakota mountain? "My mind goes back to the 70's and stuff … Richard (Petty) would have to be there," Earnhardt said Friday at Kansas Speedway. "It would be so tough. I would probably walk out of here and think of four more, but the guys that stand out to me are Richard and my father (Dale Earnhardt), David Pearson." Okay, we're with you so far – that’s 381 Sprint Cup Series victories and 17 championships spread out between the three NASCAR Hall of Famers. But whose face gets etched in stone as the fourth? "The fourth is a toss-up between guys like (Cale) Yarborough and Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip, obviously. "Jeff Gordon, Jimmie (Johnson) (have) got to be in that conversation." Pretty high praise for his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, considering they're still padding their respective resumes as active drivers in the series. Then again, Gordon and Johnson aren't your typical surefire Hall of Famers. The duo serve as two of the strongest faces of NASCAR and each individually dominated the sport for extended periods of time. Look no further than Johnson's record five straight Cup titles. He won a sixth in 2013. "(Johnson) could even probably be the third guy. I would imagine definitely Jimmie would be on there," Earnhardt said. "But the fourth could just be about a handful of guys. You would get a different opinion from probably everybody in the room maybe." Award winner goes to Victory Lane with Dale Jr. The NASCAR Foundation's Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award presented by Nationwide is accepting nominations for 2015 through Friday, May 8. The winner will receive $100,000 and a brand new Ford vehicle while three other finalists will receive a minimum $25,000 donation from The NASCAR Foundation. Daniel Noltemeyer, a 33-year-old from Louisville who was named winner of the annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award last year, was a visitor to Talladega Superspeedway last weekend. Noltemeyer, who has Down syndrome, established Best Buddies Kentucky, a foundation that creates opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He has become a spokesperson for the foundation and works for more inclusion for those with disabilities. "It's talking about one-to-one friendships," Noltemeyer said. "…they match people with different disabilities … with college buddies in middle-school and high-school chapters all over Kentucky." The Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award presented by Nationwide, now in its fifth year, includes a $100,000 from The NASCAR Foundation to Best Buddies Kentucky. Fans and organizations may nominate dedicated NASCAR fans who have made a profound impact on the lives of children in their community at NASCAR.com/award through May 8. "It was so incredible (to win the award)," Noltemeyer said. "…all my friends can build on the great friendships that I have made through The NASCAR Foundation." During his weekend in Alabama, Noltemeyer not only got to cheer on his three favorite drivers, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick. He spent time with Earnhardt before the race at a Nationwide event and again after the race in Victory Lane. "I am so proud to meet Earnhardt because he is just young at heart," Noltemeyer said. Dan Patrick proposes Dale Jr. marriage proposal Dan Patrick proposes Dale Jr. marriage proposal: Video. Dale Jr.'s genuine emotion not seen enough in sports Turns out NASCAR's perpetual most popular driver, two-time Daytona 500 champ and most recent Sprint Cup Series winner may be more like the rest of us than we ever considered. Watching and listening to Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrate his win last Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, there were unmistakable elements of humility, relief and joy. Earnhardt was off-the-charts happy to win for the first time in 11 years at the track that flies his Junior Nation flag higher than anywhere else NASCAR visits. But even before he hoisted the trophy, he spoke of the effect the victory had on his heart and his pride. And he sounded a lot like any other "kid" so desperately wanting to please everyone else -- and in the moment, very much pleased with himself, too. He is someone who persevered through occasional doubt and high expectations. And in Earnhardt's case as the son of a NASCAR legend, he carried the immense weight of a vast fandom on his shoulders, which has now become more blessing than burden. "I felt like we had a lot of supporters here because of dad's success, he won so many races here," Earnhardt said. "I think about all the races he won here and at Daytona. I love when we go to Victory Lane because I feel like I add to his legacy there. All I ever want to do is make him proud. I feel like when we win at those tracks where he was successful, that's exactly what we're doing. "I don't really get to think about him that much. His birthday (April 29) came and went. Today, it made me think about his birthday, how much I miss him, how much he meant to me and so many more people that I can't even fathom the number of folks that he had a relationship with in this sport, a connection with, all his fans out there really enjoyed seeing him compete here." Earnhardt has always acknowledged that a large portion of his massive fan base were natural crossovers to him once his legendary father, seven-time champ Dale Earnhardt died from a fatal crash in the 2001 Daytona 500. So even from his earliest days developing as a Sprint Cup Series driver, he has carried the extra duty of being the son of an icon. That's a lot to ask of anyone and at times, Earnhardt candidly conceded, he felt extreme pressure to the point of doubting himself when the results weren't as good, when the success was harder to come by. "I think the part I feel I don't think I deserve is the racing side of it," a contemplative Earnhardt said Sunday. "There's just not many second chances. I feel like if my name wasn't Earnhardt that I wouldn't have had the second chance. I feel like I owe my second chance to my dad, his legacy, because the way I ran from '09 through those years till 2011 or so, I feel I didn't deserve to be kept around or hung onto. "But I'm glad that it worked out. I certainly felt like in the right situation I could have success. But you just don't know whether you're going to get that opportunity. "I watched a lot of sons follow a lot of fathers, regardless of the profession, and just have a real challenge of it. That is the part I feel like I'm fortunate about." Over the years, these fans have become his, not just his father's. In a far different era than his father existed, Earnhardt has proven himself a capable corporate spokesman and dedicated philanthropist away from the race track; a hugely popular celebrity and fan attraction for the sport in general. But he's never gotten the respect he deserves on the track. Earnhardt's victory at Talladega -- his sixth -- ties him with Jeff Gordon for most among active drivers. And who holds the record for wins (10) here? His dad. The win also produces a ticket into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship for the fifth consecutive season. It also gives Earnhardt a well-timed confidence boost and as we've learned, confidence is something he has to earn and renew just like most of us despite his fame, pedigree and opportunity. A Dale Earnhardt Jr. win is good for the sport -- television highlights, bigger headlines and huge amounts of Twitter buzz. But an Earnhardt win -- particularly at place like Talladega -- is also good because everyone comes away feeling better. Need to have your faith restored in athletes and sports? Watch Earnhardt celebrate a win. Listen to what he says. Look at the genuine emotion on his face. It's true and heartfelt joy in accomplishment. And we don't see that often enough. Winning is never just "part of the job." It's the best part of the job. Aggressive racing allowed Junior to redeem himself at 'Dega The 26th-place finish during last year’s spring race at Talladega Superspeedway still haunted Dale Earnhardt Jr. He had celebrated in Victory Lane since then – twice at Pocono Raceway and once at Martinsville. But to the Earnhardt family, Talladega had always been special. “I was betting on the pack wrecking before we crossed the finish line and it didn't happen and I finished 26th with a perfectly fine race car, and I just was so ashamed,” Earnhardt said on the "Dan Patrick Show" Tuesday of last year’s spring event in Alabama. “I was embarrassed and ashamed, and, you know, I learned a really, really hard lesson in that race.” “…I can't run conservatively for part of the race and then switch it on at the end and expect to make all the right decisions. I have to start the race with one goal and one objective and just be that way every lap.” Aggressive racing was the answer for Dale Jr. on Sunday, as he spent most of the afternoon toward the front of the pack. The effort paid dividends, as he took the checkered flag to a roar from Junior Nation in the grandstands. This time, his No. 88 car wasn’t in perfect condition -- he went to Victory Lane with a race car spewing smoke, the result of overheating from debris on the front of his grill. With eight laps to go, Earnhardt contracted debris on his front grill, causing his car’s water temperature – and heartbeats -- to skyrocket. “Yeah, we actually saw it before the driver saw it, before Dale Jr. saw it, and we saw the debris and at that point, what are you going to do?” said Earnhardt’s spotter TJ Majors during the Dale Jr. Download on Dirty Mo Radio Tuesday. “We’re going to have to run until it blows up at that point.” “… He said he hasn’t seen it push water yet, but I don’t know if you necessarily see it push water when you’re doing 200 miles an hour. But to me, I wasn’t going to…if he says, ‘Oh I don’t see any water in it yet’ – keep your foot in it then, just keep going.” “Keep going” is just what Earnhardt did. And just what his father Dale Earnhardt -- who earned the nickname the “Intimidator” for a reason -- would have done. While Earnhardt’s driving style isn’t completely reminiscent of his hard-hitting father’s, he is learning just when he needs to play it smart – and when to turn it up. “I feel like I'm more of a thinker,” Earnhardt said on the "Dan Patrick Show." “As far as a race car driver -- I feel like I'm a smart driver. Dad had that intimidating style and nickname, and he lived up to that persona. That was him every day and how he raced on the track. He never was the kind of guy that outthought everybody and, you know, was the clever guy or the sly guy. He was just aggressive and running hard and pushing and shoving.” But a fast race car from crew chief Greg Ives and the No. 88 shop, coupled with Earnhardt’s desire to redeem himself from last year at Talladega – boded for a more Intimidator-like Junior on Sunday. And redemption was certainly sweet for Junior on Sunday, as he took a victory lap Alan Kulwicki-style on the track, waving to a full and cheering crowd. He finally won at a track that he dominated in his early years but has been puzzled by the past decade. “I got my confidence back now,” Earnhardt said in the post-race press conference Sunday. “I know what I need to do, and that's run hard, not lay back, not worry about crashing out, bad points. I'd rather crash and not finish well trying than to be riding around in the back. Certainly hard lesson to learn, but I learned it.” And to learn it at Talladega, a breeding ground for Junior Nation and a place where the Earnhardt name is revered perhaps more than any other track – was even sweeter. “It feels like if there's one track where we have the most supporters, it seems like Talladega has always felt that way,” Earnhardt said on the "Dan Patrick Show." “There's just so many Earnhardt fans there. It felt that way when Dad raced there … They came there year after year and seen us either come close or be disappointing. So it was great to, you know, send them home happy, man. “That's what they come here to see, is us do well and win the race." Johnson denies he allowed Earnhardt to win Talladega Fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. have spent the last four years believing that Jimmie Johnson owed his teammate a favor for pushing Johnson to the win at Talladega Superspeedway in 2011. Some felt the payback finally came Sunday when Johnson was accused of ''letting'' Earnhardt win Talladega. The notion grew out of the final 20-plus laps of the race, run mostly as a single-file parade with Earnhardt leading and Johnson following in second. Johnson never pulled out of line to attempt to pass his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, and Earnhardt collected his sixth career win at the Alabama superspeedway. ''It's the most ridiculous thing ever,'' Johnson said, noting most of the conversation about his alleged deliberate attempt to allow Earnhardt to win was on social media, where fans told him '' 'You owed us, thanks for letting Junior win.''' ''I'm like, 'For one, I didn't owe you. Two, you're taking away what your driver did. He won the race. You're acting like I just let him win the race,''' Johnson said. Johnson remained adamant that he was determined to win the race for himself, and had planned to make his move exiting the final turn. But he needed either help from the cars behind him, or a second lane on the bottom of the track to push him, and neither scenario developed. ''I gave it my all, but it just wasn't in the cards,'' Johnson said. Earnhardt has maintained all along that he knew any move from Johnson wouldn't come before the final lap, and that he saw in his rearview mirror that Johnson didn't get any help from anyone else in line to execute a pass. ''I knew he would wait 'til the end because that was his best chance to win and not ruin the race for both of us,'' Earnhardt said. ''When he started to put things together, the guys behind him wanted to pass him instead of push him.'' He also downplayed the idea that Johnson has ever owed Earnhardt anything, and praised the six-time champion for being the consummate teammate, professional and friend. ''I don't think we owe each other anything other than to treat each other like men and professionals,'' Earnhardt said. ''I don't know how many times I've actually pushed him to a win - my fans maybe feel like it's three or four times, but I think it was really only once. They are very critical of Jimmie. He takes it in stride, he does really well with that criticism. ''I think I'm fortunate to be his teammate because I've certainly become a better driver being around him, learning from him. He's certainly helped me improve.'' The Rundown: Talladega 1. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt led a race-high 67 laps to earn his sixth career Talladega victory and tie teammate Jeff Gordon for second on the Superspeedway's all-time wins list. It was an emotional win for Earnhardt, who needs four more wins at the Alabama track to catch his Daddy, the legendary Dale Earnhardt. Dale Earnhardt Jr. cruises to 1st Talladega win since 2004 Dale Earnhardt Jr. cruised to his first win of the season at an old familiar place that has always been good to his family. Earnhardt won Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway in front of an adoring crowd that gave him a rousing ovation as he pumped his fist outside the car window during a slow victory lap. NASCAR's most popular driver picked up the checkered flag and waived as he savored his trip around the track and into victory lane. It is Earnhardt's sixth victory at Talladega - but first since 2004 - and he choked back tears after he climbed from his No. 88 Chevrolet. ''It's just real emotional. I haven't won here in a long time. It was my daddy's birthday a couple of days ago, and I'm just real emotional, man,'' he said. The late Dale Earnhardt, a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee, won 10 times at the Alabama track. He would have celebrated his 64th birthday Wednesday. Earnhardt Jr. won four consecutive races at Talladega from 2001, after his father's death in the season-opening Daytona 500, through 2003. He then finished second in back-to-back Talladega races before grabbing his fifth victory in 2004. But his dominance ended that season, then came several years of slumping results on the track. He finally turned it around last year with a victory in the season-opening Daytona 500, but poor strategy in this race last year cost him any shot at the victory. His fan base was livid over Earnhardt's decision to lay back in the field last May, and he vowed to not do it again. Earnhardt delivered Sunday, leading a race-high 67 laps and easily winning when no one from a single-file line of cars behind him could challenge him. The win almost certainly put him in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, and was Earnhardt's first with new crew chief Greg Ives. ''Everything is just so good for me right now, my personal life, my racing, the team I'm with, I don't know why,'' Earnhardt said. ''I don't feel like I deserve it. I just feel overcome, you know, with a lot of emotion.'' Jimmie Johnson finished second as Hendrick Motorsports dominated the race. Paul Menard was third and Ryan Blaney was a surprising fourth in the only Ford that could challenge the horsepower from the Hendrick Chevrolets. Martin Truex Jr. was fifth and followed by Sam Hornish Jr. in another Ford, then Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick as Chevy drivers took six of the first eight spots. Denny Hamlin was ninth in the highest-finishing Toyota and Josh Wise rounded out the top 10. 'Blessed' Dale Earnhardt Jr. seals win at Talladega Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets were stout all day at Talladega, but the No. 88 was strongest of them all as Dale Earnhardt Jr. found Victory Lane at the Alabama track for the sixth time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career. With the field wrecking behind him on the final lap, Junior held off teammate Jimmie Johnson and a hard-pushing Paul Menard in the No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. "Everything's just so good for me right now. In my personal life, my win. I don't feel like I deserve it," an emotional Earnhardt Jr. said from Victory Lane. "It's been a long time since I've won here. It's a great day for a lot of people who have been part of this and helped us get here. I'm blessed. Everything's going so great." Earnahrdt Jr. had four top-five finishes this season and sealed the win at his favorite kind of track: a superspeedway. Johnson gave Junior a strong push on the final green-flag run and finished second. Menard finished third. Ryan Blaney, a 21-year-old making just his sixth Sprint Cup start, finished fourth in the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 after starting third. Martin Truex Jr. was fifth. Polesitter Jeff Gordon finished 31st after a late pit-road speeding penalty. Hendrick Motorsports cars led all but 21 of the 188 laps in the GEICO 500. The wreck on the final lap caught up multiple cars and was the second big wreck of the day. The Big One unfolded on Lap 47 and collected 15 cars after Trevor Bayne’s No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford slid into the outside wall then spun. Also involved in the wreck were Kasey Kahne, who started the race on the front row with Gordon, Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Harvick, Kyle Larson, David Ragan, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Danica Patrick, Aric Almirola, Justin Allgaier, Brendan Gaughan, Matt DiBenedetto and Landon Cassill. Junior looking to be aggressive at Talladega Dale Earnhardt Jr. is well aware of the expectations he carries into Talladega Superspeedway twice a year. These are his grandstands, his Nation, his personal playground. The roar of adoration every lap Junior leads echoes through the foothills surrounding this track, and with 832 laps out front here, it's been a loud and constant refrain. But, it's been 11 l-o-n-g years (October, 2004) since Talladega's crown prince last won a Cup trophy here. "I feel like it's a real disappointment for a lot of people when we don't finish well and if we are not up in the battle trying at the end,'' Earnhardt said. "If we are not in that group crossing the finish line that is up front, I feel that disappointment from all the supporters of our team, more so here and at Daytona than other race tracks for sure.'' Earnhardt will start his No. 88 Nationwide Chevy fourth in Sunday's GEICO 500 (1 p.m., FOX), trying to win for the sixth time in a Cup race here. A year ago Earnhardt came into this race already qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup thanks to a victory in the season-opening Daytona 500. Interestingly though, he says his strategy for Sunday isn't much different than last May when his postseason already had been decided. "We will just try to be a little more aggressive I guess to try to win Sunday,'' Earnhardt said. "We don't have anything to lose." "I don't expect there to be 16 winners. I believe we are good enough to get in (the Chase) in one of those last positions by points. I'm not really nervous. "I feel like I can go out there and be as aggressive as I want to be and take some chances and see what happens. So I don't feel like that points or the Chase or anything will be in the back of my mind bugging me or buzzing around. I can go out there and do what I need to do and enjoy myself.'' Contrary to what you'd think based on his success on superspeedways, Earnhardt says "I love short track racing … love Bristol and Martinsville the most." But there's no denying his ability at the other end of the spectrum. With eight restrictor plate wins – 11 top 3s at Daytona alone and a string of four consecutive Talladega wins from 2001-2003 (five in a span of seven races), Earnhardt is considered one of the best in this genre and he shared a little about his mindset during races. "You've got to be in the top-three all day long to expect to be in the top three in the end when it counts,'' Earnhardt said. "If you get shuffled out, it's so hard to pass these people with this kind of car, we sit there in two lines, the bottom and the middle. And you aren't going to jump out there by yourself and go around them. "So you've sort of got to sit there in line and hopefully some dummy pulls out and he gets shuffled back,'' Earnhardt said laughing. "Hopefully that happens a lot and you end up toward the front." Stewart: 'Junior and I are friends. We're fine' Tony Stewart has heard the talk-radio callers and seen the posts on social media, his mighty fandom worried about the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champ's slow start to the season. He's frustrated too. But he's also hopeful. The video has been replayed repeatedly showing Stewart throw his helmet and HANS device into the back of his team's race hauler after a late-race accident at Richmond International Raceway with Dale Earnhardt Jr. last Sunday ended one of the better runs he's had this season. "That wasn't frustration at Dale Jr., that was frustration that we haven't had many days where we were running as well as we were that day. ... and then to have it end up like that,'' Stewart said Saturday from Talladega Superspeedway. "Junior and I are friends. We're fine." Dressed in golf clothes, eating a sandwich before heading out to an afternoon round of golf -- his new hobby -- Stewart sat down for a rare one-on-one interview this season. Certainly aggravated by unacceptable results in the 2015 season, he was also steadfastly committed to getting things on track. He has only one top 10 in nine starts at Martinsville Speedway and five finishes 30th or worse. He's ranked 30th in the championship standings -- the minimum points position a race winner must have to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Stewart has heard the critics, but remains his own worst. He says the new rules package with the cars -- high downforce and low horsepower -- does not suit his style. In fact, it is the opposite of everything he's ever driven. So even a driver with 48 Cup wins and three championship trophies is learning all over again. "It's like I'm in the middle of a calculus equation, and I didn't take pre-calculus,'' Stewart said. "I'm working on it." The part that upsets him most is any blame directed toward his crew chief, Chad Johnston. Stewart says the two have the best driver-crew chief relationship he's ever had and has nothing but good things to say about Johnson's talents. "Chad isn't getting the results he deserves,'' Stewart said. The pair did have some encouraging results with the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet SS in qualifying for Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Stewart will roll off sixth -- tying his best qualifying effort of the season (also at Martinsville). And he laughed at the suggestion that after all his well-documented candid and critical remarks about restrictor-plate racing, maybe this would be the place he scores a win and secures a Chase berth. "We actually run pretty well here,'' he said. "But for us, it's not just getting that win to make the Chase but improving the whole program. I don't want to just make the Chase; I want to be competitive in it.'' As far as his Stewart-Haas Racing team, Stewart is very happy for his other drivers. Reigning Sprint Cup champ Kevin Harvick has a pair of wins and leads the championship standings. Kurt Busch won last week at Richmond to earn his Chase berth and for more than a month, Danica Patrick has been inside the top-16 in points -- the cut-off mark to qualify for the Chase. He sounds like a proud father talking about the trio. And as for the news this week about Patrick needing a new primary sponsor for next year and her status in a contract year, Stewart was upbeat. "Are you kidding me? She's the most marketable driver in the sport,'' Stewart said. "And as for her driving, I've never been more proud of her.'' Still, Stewart wants nothing more than to beat her to Victory Lane this year -- winning for his fans as much as for himself. He said it's frustrating to hear his longtime supporters doubt him. Reminded that the summer months have traditionally tended to be his time to collect race trophies, Stewart sat back and smiled. "I pray that's the case,'' he said. "I'm hoping so.'' Dale Jr. reveals All-Star paint scheme Dale Jr. reveals All-Star paint scheme: Pic. The Rundown: Richmond 14. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt started 26th and ran as high as eighth before a late-race dust-up with Tony Stewart in Turn 1 on Lap 360. Stewart hits Dale Jr., spins out at Richmond Tony Stewart turned in his best finish of the season last week with a sixth-place result at Bristol Motor Speedway, but in Sunday's Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway, he spun into the inside wall after contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr., bringing out the seventh caution of the race at Lap 361. Stewart and Earnhardt Jr. were battling for 13th when the No. 88 driver was caught between Justin Allgaier on the high side and the No. 14 car below him. Stewart got into Earnhardt Jr.'s left rear and went around in Turn 1. At the moment of impact, Stewart said, "Dale Jr. dammit!" while Earnhardt Jr. was initially angry with Allgaier, saying "upset with 51." Stewart wasn't able to drive away from the accident and finished 41st, his fifth finish of 30th or worse in nine races this season and his worst result since a 42nd-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. Earnhardt Jr., who finished 14th for his third finish outside the top 10 in the last four races after four top-six finishes in the season's first five races, didn't have an answer for Stewart's actions. "You'll have to ask him," Earnhardt Jr. said. "He hit me in the left rear quarter panel. I was trying to clear the No. 51 on the outside of me, so I was as high as I could go. So, you'll just have to ask him." But after being examined and released from the infield care center, Stewart declined comment, went to the garage and threw his helmet and HANS (head-and-neck restraint system) into his hauler. The owner wasn't able to enjoy his Stewart-Haas Racing driver and teammate Kurt Busch's win as two of the four SHR teams have all but guaranteed a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Stewart hasn't made NASCAR's playoff since 2012. Both Earnhardt Jr. and Stewart lost two spots in the series standings with the Hendrick Motorsports driving falling to eighth while Stewart is in 30th, the last spot in the standings that a race winner can be to make the Chase. Dale Jr. explains wheel trouble at Bristol Dale Earnhardt Jr. felt like his No. 88 team had a fast car at Bristol but a loose wheel derailed their chances for a strong showing in the Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up to Cancer. "We had a fast car all night, moving that track bar up and down, getting that thing to handle the way we wanted to," Earnhardt Jr. said on "The Dale Jr. Download" on Dirty Mo Radio. "We passed a lot of cars. Had to run some people hard and rough and had a lot of fun doing it. We got pushed and shoved around a little bit too; that was pretty fun. We ended up going in the right direction. We clawed back there and got into the top 20. But the early issue with the loose wheel was too much to overcome as it put him four laps down at one point. "It's hard to get them laps back especially when the leaders don't pit. You can't get that wave around. If you are two laps down, you are sort of stuck. Can't get the lucky dog." On "The Dale Jr. Download," Earnhardt Jr. discussed what he felt may have led to the loose wheel and took responsibility for making the issue worse. "Me and the 5 got together on the back straightaway. I think I pinched him into the fence on the straightaway and we hit pretty hard. I don't know if that knocked the dang wheel or what. The wheel shook pretty bad and I waited until the last minute to come down pit road so it torn the lugs up real bad when it was loose out there on the track. I waited too long." After pitting to try and fix the issue, Junior had to come back in a few laps later as the issue persisted. "When they tried to put the next wheel on, it wouldn't tighten up because the lugs were tore up and the threads were busted. So that wheel shook loose real fast. It's not uncommon if you tear the lugs up. So what we had to do was come back down pit road and put a shim on the studs. We had to get approval from NASCAR first to put that shim on there. We put a shim on the studs which makes the wheel mount in a different place on the stud that's not beat up or torn up. So we could actually tighten the lugs to the wheel." Several drivers battled loose wheels throughout the race such as third-place finisher Jeff Gordon as well as Martin Truex Jr. Dale Jr. wasn't sure what that could be attributed to but thought the 0.533-mile track might have something to do with it. "I don't know if its just the track's getting rough but you do kind of bounce around that place. Tires kind of bounce around the track like basketballs." With the wheel issue behind him, Dale Jr. grinded out a 16th-place finish thanks to a car that had the most speed in traffic (121.016 mph), according to loop data. He also had 61 green flag passes in the race, which was the eighth-most in the event. Matt Kenseth eventually won the race at Bristol, snapping a 51-race winless streak, but Junior felt his car was better. "I ran around that 20 earlier. I didn't think it was that great. They must have gotten the car quite a bit better. I feel like we were faster than them." Now it's on to Richmond where Earnhardt has three wins in 31 starts and has an average finish of 13.5 at the 0.75-mile track. "Richmond is a pretty fun track. I'm looking forward to going there with Greg for the first time and seeing what kind of ideas he's got to help us there. Help us get better than we've been." And last year's four-time winner is confident that the 88's time in Victory Lane is coming soon. "We just got to keep showing up to the race track with cars like that and everything is going to work out." Drivers mourn loss of Steve Byrnes @DaleJr : My hope is Steve was able to see how much he was loved & appreciated by so many. Rest easy friend. Prayers to his family. #ByrnesStrong Steve Byrnes passes away at age 56 Steve Byrnes, a NASCAR television reporter and host for over 30 years, passed away on Tuesday from complications related to his battle with cancer. He was 56. The native of New Carrollton, Maryland began covering NASCAR in 1985 as host of TNN's "Inside Winston Cup Racing" and also served as a pit reporter for the cable network as well as CBS. In 2001, he joined the NASCAR on FOX team as a pit reporter and hosted the weekday show "Totally NASCAR" on FOX Sports Net. He continued covering races for FOX and hosted several shows across SPEED and FOX Sports 1, and in 2014, he was named the play-by-play announcer for FS1's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races. NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said, "NASCAR extends its condolences to the many friends, FOX Sports colleagues and family of Steve Byrnes. Whether you had the privilege of knowing him or if you watched him on television for the last three decades, Steve's work ethic and authenticity made him a beloved individual inside and outside the garage. "His level of professionalism was matched only by the warmth he showed everyone he met. He battled cancer with tenacity, and was a true inspiration to everyone in the NASCAR family. Simply stated, we'll miss Steve dearly. Our thoughts are especially with his wife Karen and son Bryson during this difficult time." In January, NASCAR named Byrnes to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel. "It's an emotional thing for me," Byrnes said. "My whole adult life has been immersed in NASCAR, and it means the world to me." Eric Shanks, president and COO, executive producer, FOX Sports said, "We lost a beloved member of the FOX Sports family today, and we extend our prayers and deepest sympathies to the Byrnes family. It was an honor over the past year to learn just how much Steve was loved and respected throughout the NASCAR community, which was evident this weekend in Bristol. Not even day-long heavy rains could dampen the outpouring of emotion on display." Byrnes was initially diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer in August 2013, and he was successfully treated for the disease in the fall of that year. In 2014, Byrnes returned to the FOX NASCAR team to cover his 30th Daytona Speedweeks and continued in his role as host of FOX Sports 1's "NASCAR Race Hub" until taking a leave of absence last October after a reoccurrence of head-and-neck cancer. "I struggle for words because it sounds so cliché but every day is a gift," Byrnes told "NASCAR Illustrated" last fall. "I'm trying so hard right now to rather than be scared or worried, to live in the moment. Every time I start to worry about the future, it makes me realize -- particularly this second go-around -- that the only promise … if you wake up in the morning, that's a good thing and you should be grateful for that. It sounds corny or cliché, but there is no promise for tomorrow. I'm trying to make the most of every single day." Before his passing, Byrnes spent as much time as possible with his wife, Karen, and their son, Bryson. "People talk about a bucket list," Byrnes said in the "NASCAR Illustrated" interview. "My bucket list is that my son and my wife know how much I love them, so that when my time does come there will be no mystery. They're not gonna have to wonder how Dad or Steve felt about them." The NASCAR family rallied around Byrnes and his family. Among the many gestures of support by many in the industry, Red Horse Racing's Timothy Peters drove a Toyota Tundra with the reporter's name above the passenger side window to Victory Lane at Talladega Superspeedway last October after winning a Truck race. Days after his birthday on April 13, Bristol Motor Speedway named its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in his honor, the Food City 500 Supports Steve Byrnes and Stand Up to Cancer. When discussing the naming of the race, a humbled Byrnes also shared his signature sense of humor. "It's more than overwhelming," Byrnes said. "My first reaction was there must be somebody else named Steve Byrnes who spells it with a 'y.' " When asked about the support he received and the passion he has for NASCAR, Byrnes explained how he would like to be remembered. "I just want people to know that I care that much back," Byrnes told "NASCAR Illustrated". "At the end of the day, when my career is over, that I really did care. I wasn't doing this just as a job." Intro song at Bristol Dale Earnhardt Jr.: "Mannish Boy" by Muddy Waters The Rundown: Bristol 16. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Tire issues set Junior back early and he couldn't make up the laps, but there is something to be said for grinding out a respectable finish on a day when plenty of others had issues. Earnhardt seeks speed at Kentucky test Brad Keselowski’s last visit to Kentucky Speedway ended with a quick trip to the infield care center, an unusual occurrence for a race winner. On Wednesday, the Team Penske driver was back at the 1.5-mile track, joining nine other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers for an open test session. "It was an eventful three days," Keselowski, 31, said of last year’s race weekend. "I ran all three races …a great three races for us. It was kind of funny, the Truck race I think was my worst finish, then the XFINITY race I ran second and then won the Cup race. I guess we saved the best for last." He finished fifth in the Camping World Truck Series event in one of only three starts for the series’ team owner/driver in ’14. It was following the Sprint Cup win that Keselowski sliced open his hand while trying to open a champagne bottle in Winner's Circle, thus the trip to the care center. "It was a heck of a weekend and I'll never look at a champagne bottle the same again," he said. "Lesson learned." Keselowski was testing with the No. 22 team of teammate Joey Logano instead of his own No. 2 squad at Kentucky. Logano was originally scheduled to participate but was unable to attend. Also taking part in the open test were Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing), Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing), Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), Brett Moffitt (Michael Waltrip Racing), Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing), Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick Motorsports), Danica Patrick (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Sam Hornish Jr. (Richard Petty Motorsports). Biffle, Newman, McMurray and Moffitt also took part in a two-day Goodyear tire test at the track Monday and Tuesday. Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion, is a two-time winner at Kentucky in the Cup Series and has a pair of XFINITY Series wins here as well. "I like the fact that it's really rough in the corners," he said. "A track that's very rough in the corners requires something different out of the driver, it requires something a little different out of the setup of the car as well. And that seems to really fit my style." Keselowski's success hasn’t gone unnoticed by Earnhardt Jr., who said crew chief Greg Ives arrived at the track with a laundry list of changes to try on the No. 88 Chevrolet. "I think we can get better here," he said. "We definitely all got spanked by Keselowski (last year) so we look forward to the opportunity to get some laps here and trying to find out how we can get faster. We thought we had a top 10 car here last year but definitely need to be a little bit quicker." To help try and accomplish that, Earnhardt said he needs to take an active part in the process. "I think I can help, if I mentally plug in to what they're doing and get real serious about the test, I need to do whatever I can to give Greg the opportunity to make the test productive," he said. "I don't really learn anything myself; we've got so many laps here, we've come here and tested for years and years before they ever had a (Cup) race here. "I need to be driving the car instead of someone else, Greg needs that good feedback and I need to be as productive as I can so I have to plug in mentally and try to give him the information he’s looking for after every run. He's making a lot of small … changes on the car and he wants that feedback on what that's doing. It's a little more than just going out there and making laps and letting them figure it out with the data on the computers. He wants that personal feedback." Wednesday's test was the fourth for teams in 2015 under the NASCAR National Series Unified Test Schedule. The sanctioning body banned private testing after the 2014 season in an effort to help teams control costs. Open tests have been held at Atlanta, Charlotte and Richmond. The next scheduled test is set for April 29 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In the day's only mishap, Moffitt sustained damage to his No. 55 Toyota during the morning session after contact with the wall, requiring the team to bring out a backup entry for the remainder of the day. Dale Earnhardt Jr. thinks he should be in top 3 in points Dale Earnhardt Jr. is pleased with a third-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway but is embarrassed about sitting seventh in the points standings heading into Bristol Motor Speedway. Junior complimented his team and the Hendrick Motorsports cars on the "Dale Jr. Download" on Dirty Mo Radio, saying the No. 88 should be in the top three in the driver points standings. "Our team's a little stronger than we were last year, and I want to be able to show it," Earnhardt said on this week’s radio show. Earnhardt says he likes Bristol, which is up next on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series calendar and offers the No. 88 team an opportunity to show its improvement. He posted finishes of 24th in the spring race there last season and 39th in August. But his average finish at Bristol is 12.9 in 30 starts. Earnhardt says having consistently good cars allows him to be aggressive -- something his crew chiefs have asked of him in the past. "When your car's fast, you can be as aggressive as you want to. Get out of my way, I'm comin' through," Earnhardt said. "You can't be aggressive in a car that's going backwards." Several teams had issues with loose lug nuts at Texas, including Earnhardt, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne and Richard Childress Racing's Ryan Newman. The 2015 season is the first in which officials are not monitoring whether pit crews get all five lug nuts on the wheels. "We had issues on pit road with some lug nuts," Earnhardt said. "But the boys were honest about it and we got it fixed. That's the way you gotta be. I'm proud of them boys for the way they handled it." Earnhardt said he enjoyed the Duck Commander 500 and worked his track bar all night on the roller-coaster surface at Texas Motor Speedway. "It traveled a mile, one inch at a time," Earnhardt said, adding he enjoys running 500 miles at Texas. With consistently fast cars and confidence coming out of strong practices, he hopes to build on the top-five finish at Texas and climb the points standings. "Bristol's coming up, lookin' forward to it," Earnhardt said, closing out this week's 'Download.' Dale Jr., Greg Ives 'are just getting started' Five hundred miles of racing isn't an easy feat. Tack on the intensity of a night race and a roller-coaster-like track like Texas Motor Speedway, and any driver would be wiped. Just ask Dale Earnhardt Jr. "It's a long race, and you get mentally prepared for it because it's pretty tough," Earnhardt said after finishing third in Saturday's race at the Lone Star track. "It feels almost like the (Coca-Cola) 600 in some ways. It's a slick old track, and the pace slows down. You work your guts out in there driving that car around there because the track is so slick, so it's a very physical race." It was a mountainous 500 miles for Junior, as the No. 88 driver spent much of the night climbing through the field. A loose wheel in the beginning of the race forced Earnhardt to make another trip down pit road, putting him 30th for the restart at Lap 37 and forcing him to battle toward the front. "It just seemed like everything was going against us," Earnhardt said. "And we were having trouble sort of beginning our race and getting into a rhythm, and we had to pass a lot of cars tonight." And with NASCAR allowing the teams to police their own lug nuts, Earnhardt commended his crewmembers for their immediate honesty after pit stops, which helped them rebound quickly. "If your tire guy done makes a mistake … and says ‘look, man, I made a mistake,' you catch it right then, right under the caution, you get it fixed, you get a chance to get back going," Earnhardt said. "Otherwise if you don't speak up, you get a bad vibration, the driver is going to come in, and he ain't going to knock his head against the fence out there when you think the tire is coming off and you lose a lap. Then you're in big trouble." While caution flags gave teams a chance to come down pit road for adjustments and fixes, long green-flag runs were few and far between for drivers on Saturday night. For the No. 88 car, that proved to be yet another challenge in the Lone Star State. "It was raining debris out there for a while, and we were needing some green-flag runs to get some of the track position back that we were having trouble keeping," Earnhardt said. Lengthier green flag stretches seemed to help the No. 88 ride find its groove especially during the last laps of the 500-mile Texas thriller. The final laps also saw Earnhardt impressively rally from 10th to fifth on the restart after a four-tire call with less than 25 laps to go, which spoke volumes for Junior. "We seemed to have a good pattern of what was working for us and I think by the end of the race we had our car as good as we had it all night," Earnhardt said. "So that's a good job on the crew chief when the car is the best on the last run." The No. 88 team has unloaded consistently strong cars this season, posting five of seven finishes inside the top six. The exceptions -- a 36th-place finish at Phoenix at Martinsville last weekend and a 43rd-place result at Phoenix -- were products of unfortunate crashes that sent the 88 to the garage. The initial speed of the cars gives Earnhardt confidence looking ahead to next weekend's race at Bristol Motor Speedway and beyond. "We've had that speed all year and it's good to get a good finish in the bank because these last couple weeks have been pretty rough," Earnhardt said on pit road after the race. "We know what we're capable of -- me and Greg are just getting started here. We're right here on their heels, man." But perhaps most important for the team's outlook is Earnhardt's mentality -- time and time again, he's said that he's having fun. And his enjoyment bore plentiful fruit for the No. 88 team's multiple-win season last year. "Yeah, Jimmie is a six-time champion -- He's got a hell of a résumé," Earnhardt said. "But I'm glad I'm where I'm at. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else because it doesn't look like them other cars are much fun to drive." The Rundown: Texas 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior battled with Kevin Harvick for second in the closing laps before matching his best 2015 result and improving to seventh in the points. Junior, Kes gush on Jones' Texas run Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski climbed out of their race cars that were parked side-by-side on pit road following Friday's XFINITY Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The pair exchanged post-race friendly words and laughs that reflected their longtime friendship, rather than a competitors' relationship. With both drivers' success and fame in the Sprint Cup Series, it was a star-studded moment. But as both veteran drivers noted, the real star of the race was the 18-year-old who had been running both drivers down all night like he had been doing it for years: Erik Jones. "I saw early, about a year or so ago, that he's got a great amount of talent, just really good raw ability and seems to be a nice kid," Earnhardt Jr. said on pit road after the race. "So, I was happy to see him succeed tonight and get a win … But I felt like he was going to be a contender. And to get a great opportunity and a great car like that, he's making the most of it. I didn't expect anything less." Earnhardt and Jones engaged in a hard-racing duel around Lap 145 for the top position. After several laps of back-and-forth action, Jones gave leader Earnhardt a bump from behind that spoke louder than any words. "He was wanting to go by," said Earnhardt with a chuckle. "He was probably getting tired of trying to pass me, but I was trying to make it as hard as I could. He had a really, really good car and he finally got by us and got it going. But I knew if I could keep him back there, I could make it real difficult on him and I think he was getting impatient. But that's what you've got to do. I wouldn't expect anything less." Less than 30 laps later, Jones was battling another veteran driver for the lead -- Keselowski. "We ran wide open there, and that's always cool when you're running wide open side-by-side," Keselowski recalled after the race. "It was just a matter of who was going to lift first; neither of us lifted and he just cleared me and drove by me. Erik did a really fantastic job today." The win marked Jones' first win in the XFINITY Series, something that Earnhardt can certainly relate to -- he also nabbed his first win in the series in 1998 at the Lone Star track. "I know it's probably a big night for him – I know what that feels like," Earnhardt said. "It's a great place to win a race at Texas." Dale Jr. among drivers to test Kentucky Speedway Eight NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers and teams are scheduled to participate in the April 15 open test at Kentucky Speedway ahead of the track's Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts (July 11, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network). The open test will be preceded by a closed Goodyear tire test on April 13 and 14 with one team each from the following organizations: Chip Ganassi Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, Richard Childress Racing and Roush Fenway Racing. On April 15, Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Danica Patrick, Ryan Newman and Sam Hornish Jr. are scheduled to participate in the open test with April 16 serving as a rain date before the Sprint Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend. No tests are scheduled for nine of the 23 tracks hosting Sprint Cup events in 2015. The Rundown: Martinsville 36. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior went through three shifters in the first half of the race, before returning to lose his radiator during a multi-car incident on Lap 228. He drops to ninth in the points. Dale Jr. shares his fondness for Martinsville Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't always credit himself for his driving ability, but when he does, he prefers to do it at Martinsville Speedway. Earnhardt enters Sunday's STP 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) with an increasing amount of short-track savvy on his side, logging seven top-10 finishes in his last nine starts at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' shortest track. It's a fur piece from his unflattering Martinsville debut, a four-laps-down 26th place back in 2000. "The first time I came here, I hit everything, even the pace car," Earnhardt said. "It looked like, at that time, after my first race here, that it was going to be quite a challenge to sort it out and understand what I needed to do." Perhaps that, combined with his appreciation for the speedway's rich heritage, kindled his glee at winning his first Martinsville Speedway grandfather clock trophy last fall -- that, and knowing that being able to wheel a car plays an even bigger factor here than at most venues. "There is something about the race track -- obviously it has so much history, the style or racing that you do, and it takes some driver to win here. I don't often take a lot of credit for everything we do good out there, but I will say that at Martinsville, it does take a little bit of driver to do well here. I feel like when you win at certain tracks like Martinsville you can feel good about it that you were part of that puzzle and part of making that happen." Things clicked here for Earnhardt early on, shortly after a period of extensive testing at the .526-mile track with the former Dale Earnhardt Inc. team. The extra track time led to a stellar streak of five consecutive top-five finishes (2002-04) and a feel for the paper-clip layout that has aided his Martinsville resume. But it's also the childhood memories of visits to Martinsville -- the family trips, his father's six wins here -- that have stuck with him. "It was one of the race tracks that I always could come to even when we were in school it being such a short trip from home," said Earnhardt, who spent 29 fruitless efforts before his first Martinsville victory. "We always did get to go to this race. So it is one of the few tracks that I always got to go to even as a young kid. You could get right up on the action man, right against the fence down there in the corner and see the guys coming through there in practice. And you could see the balance of the cars and what they were dealing with. It is just a fun place to be at even as a kid. "I don't know man, just been coming here a long time and I always wanted to win. That clock makes it even more special and more desirable, I guess, because of the uniqueness of that trophy." Earnhardt has proven to be a purist when it comes to racing tradition, wearing his fondness for nostalgia on its sleeve. So when Martinsville Speedway changed course on the provider of its trademark hot dogs this weekend, a shift in a decades-long concessions custom, Earnhardt said as long as the hot dogs had the same flavor as the original, he would give them his blessing. "I kind of liked them to begin with and if they are anywhere close that will be fine with me," Earnhardt said. "I will probably be having two for (Friday) lunch and I'm going to call it a day." Dale Jr.: 'Got plenty of places' for second clock Dale Earnhardt Jr. returns to Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500 (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) as the most recent winner at NASCAR's smallest track. He's also riding a wave of momentum back from the West Coast off of a sixth-place bounce-back finish at Auto Club Speedway following a last-place performance at Phoenix International Raceway. With four top-six finishes in the first five races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Earnhardt credits his consistency to fast No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS cars every week. "The cars are good," Earnhardt said on the "Dale Jr. Download" on Dirty Mo Radio. "It says a lot about the cars themselves when you can get that kind of confidence to be able to drive it in there and be able to do what you want it to." What he wants to do at Martinsville this weekend is win a second grandfather clock, and he's not worried about finding room for the new timepiece. "We head to Martinsville," Earnhardt said. "We want to try to go down there and win another clock. I think we've got plenty of places we can put one around here so looking forward to this week." On Wednesday, Earnhardt celebrated girlfriend Amy Reimann's birthday and let her watch every episode of a Masterpiece Theater series on PBS series. @DaleJr : Wanna thank @Amy_Reimann girlfriends who suggested she binge watch every single season of #DowntonAbbey over the last few days. While the XFINITY Series has its first off-weekend of the season, there's plenty on the plate of Earnhardt's JR Motorsports team. Reigning series champion, Chase Elliott, will attempt his first Sprint Cup Series race in the No. 25 for Hendrick Motorsports. "Chase is running his first race," Earnhardt said. "A lot of stuff to be excited about so looking forward to the race this weekend." JRM also will run its first Camping World Truck Series race with 17-year-old Cole Custer. The NASCAR Next talent from Ladera Ranch, California, became the youngest driver to win a national series race when he went to Victory Lane last September at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "We have a young kid with Cole," Earnhardt said in an excerpt of an interview that can be seen before the Kroger 250 (Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). "We have great expectations and a vision for the next several years of what we want to do. Obviously we want to win all the races we enter, but we don't want to put all that pressure on him to go out there and light the world on fire. "But by all means, if he gets it done, he gets it done. He's got a great opportunity here to pace himself and learn on his own terms and become the driver he wants to be." Behind the wheel of his Sprint Cup ride, Earnhardt looks forward to putting everything together and getting a win. He'll be driving Chassis No. 88-789, the car that won last October's race at Martinsville. For now, he's fourth in the standings behind the only three drivers who have finished in the top 10 in each of the first five races: two-time winner Kevin Harvick, Daytona 500 champion Joey Logano and resurgent Martin Truex Jr. "Hopefully we'll get a good fast car one of these weekends and be the class of the field, and we can get out there and try to win us a race," Earnhardt said. "But until then, these consistent finishes and fast race cars are giving us a lot of confidence. Give us a lot of hope." Dale Jr. open to driving in Truck Series Kelly Earnhardt Miller, co-owner of JR Motorsports, said earlier this year that there were no plans at that time to field the organization’s Camping World Truck Series team for any races beyond the 10 currently in place with driver Cole Custer. On Wednesday she said that was still the case, but also said Sprint Cup Series Dale Earnhardt Jr. had broached the subject of driving the truck. "He's definitely mentioned that that's something he might be interested in," Earnhardt Miller told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Wednesday morning. "I think he would want to see how the program is going to do, and make sure we have the resources and the capability to do that. Let Cole the team get off the ground first and see how that goes." The organization will make its CWTS debut this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, fielding the No. 00 Chevrolet for Custer in Saturday’s Kroger 250 (FOX Sports 1, 2:30 p.m. ET). The entry will carry sponsorship from Haas Automation and will be under the direction of crew chief Joe Shear Jr. Earnhardt Miller, Earnhardt Jr. and Sprint Cup Series team owner Rick Hendrick share ownership of JRM. One of the organization’s three full-time XFINITY Series teams features multiple Sprint Cup drivers, Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne, behind the wheel for select events. Two other full-time teams feature drivers Chase Elliott and Regan Smith, who finished 1-2 in points, respectively, last season. "He (Earnhardt Jr.) and some others have expressed interest in running the truck," Earnhardt Miller said. “We’ve actually gotten calls from other people saying ‘do you want to fill out the balance of your schedule and run it full time?' "We really don't want to do that. We want to focus on Cole. If the opportunity exists to put a couple of the Cup drivers in there to make our program stronger, (that's) really why would we want to do that… "I won’t say it’s not going to happen but there aren’t any concrete plans for it to happen right now." Even though the XFINITY Series is taking a one-week break after five consecutive races to open the 2015 season, it is shaping up to be a big weekend for JRM. Custer, 17, made his NCWTS debut last season with Haas Racing Development and became the youngest winner in a NASCAR national series event when he won the UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In only nine starts, he scored six top-10s and two poles. Elliott, the defending XFINITY Series champion, will attempt to make his Sprint Cup Series debut in Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville. The 19-year-old is scheduled to step into the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet in 2016, replacing four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. HMS will field a No. 25 entry for Elliott this weekend, with veteran crew chief Kenny Francis heading up the team. With Elliott already tabbed for the move to Sprint Cup next season, Custer could be auditioning for a full-time XFINITY Series ride with the organization. "Hopefully, that (truck effort) will roll into an XFINITY Series ride for Cole, depending on how he performs," Earnhardt Miller said. It will be the first start of the season for Custer, who is limited to competing on road courses and tracks 1.1 miles or less in length due to his age. Rising from Phoenix, Dale Jr. loves Fontana After suffering his worst finish since becoming a fireball at Texas Motor Speedway last spring, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is reversing roles with crew chief Greg Ives and playing cheerleader for his young team as they head to Auto Club Speedway for the Auto Club 400 (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX). "We just go around and gather all the guys up and tell them all that we're going to go to Fontana and get back on track," Earnhardt said on Dirty Mo Radio's "Dale Jr. Download". "It's a long season. You're going to have adversity. You're going to have problems." A blown tire at Phoenix International Raceway resulted in a 43rd-place finish and dropped Earnhardt from second to sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings. Earnhardt said he and the team could stomach the last-place result because it was a mechanical failure. "It's a little easier to take when you can kind of understand the problem that you can either fix or it's something out of your hands, out of your control that's not part of the race car and something that's your responsibility," Earnhardt said. "That's the best way I can look at it." Heading to Auto Club, Earnhardt has top-12 finishes in each of his last four starts, including a runner-up finish in 2013 as he followed Kyle Busch to the finish following Joey Logano's tangle with Denny Hamlin. It was one of four top-three results at the track in 22 starts there. Earnhardt feels groovy about the racing surface and enjoys running next to the wall at the facility. "I love Fontana, a lot of different grooves, fun race track," Earnhardt said. "We should be able to go out there and be real competitive. I'm looking forward to it. We run the high line a little bit there which is always fun. It should be a fun race." Ives will roll out a brand new chassis, 88-924, for the race. Earnhardt notes that tires will be key again as NASCAR goes west for one more week. "It's a fast track, and you can find speed out there," Earnhardt said. "The back straightaway is very rough, and if we can manage our tires." Next week, Earnhardt returns to Martinsville Speedway, where he claimed his first grandfather clock in the last race at the short track last fall. The Rundown: Phoenix 43. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. A blown right-rear tire sent Earnhardt's car careening into the Turn 2 wall, severely damaging the rear end and snapping his streak of three top-five finishes to start the season. Earnhardt was uninjured and was at least able to joke about the situation, which happened suddenly in the 182nd lap. "They never tell you they are going to blow out, never," he said with a laugh. "You don't ever have a warning." Dale Jr. cuts tire, smashes wall at Phoenix Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s string of three consecutive top-five finishes came to a halt here Sunday when the Hendrick Motorsports driver suffered a tire failure and crashed during the CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. "Not a lot of guys are having tire problems," Earnhardt Jr. said after exiting the infield care center. "(Sam) Hornish had one similar to us. You just can't abuse it. We were really, really loose and just abused the tire. You want to get angry but you've got to get the balance of the car better. "A lot of guys are running without any problem. We were super, super loose; it just wore the tire out." The incident occurred on Lap 181 of the 312-lap race. According to Goodyear officials, the right-rear tire problem was the result of a melted bead and was the same issue suffered by Hornish, who had a tire go down earlier in the race. Earnhardt opened the season with top-five finishes at Daytona, Atlanta and Las Vegas and entered Sunday's race second in the points standings. Damage to the No. 88 Chevrolet was too extensive to try and repair and get the driver back out before the conclusion of the race. Earnhardt said crew chief Greg Ives had told him the team had seen no previous tire issues on previous stops Sunday. "We were progressively getting worse and worse on entry," Earnhardt said. "I imagine we put that set through hell compared to the other ones. "I like the tire a lot and I applaud Goodyear for trying to soften it up because the other tire we had here wasn't a lot of fun. This one is pretty good to race with, the car's still real, real hard to pass with. Shifting is a little annoying … it's a little bit of a pain in the ass to shift. "But the tire's OK. We were too loose. We’ve got to get the balance better.” Earnhardt was credited with a 43rd-place finish. Despite coming up short, Dale Jr. lauds late gamble It all looks so easy, so effortless, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. and that No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet glide around the race track, snapping up the competition and soaring toward the front of the pack. Trust crew chief Greg Ives on this: It's not so simple. "It's been a lot of damn hard work," Ives said while walking through the garage following Sunday's Kobalt 400, pausing to autograph a No. 88 hat. "We work hard. Everybody on the team does. Dale, me, the guys at the shop, the engineers, all those guys. They make it seem easy, but it's not." If that's the case, they're likely fooling a lot of folks. Once again, the No. 88 came off the hauler fast, this time in sun-splashed Las Vegas. Once again, it kept that speed on race day. Junior finished fourth Sunday, and it's his third consecutive top-five to start the year. It's the second consecutive year in which Earnhardt's group has notched that achievement, but this year's mark was set under the backdrop of change. Ives is just one piece of a rebuilt No. 88 puzzle as Junior's first-year crew chief -- the over-the-wall crew has three new members, too, yet there hasn't been a dip in either car speed or stops on pit road. "I think we were first, second, second (to start the season last year), so we have to step it up a little bit," Junior said with a laugh. "No, Hendrick, overall, has great speed and the engine department is doing awesome. We're having fun." Clearly. The veteran has been at-ease this entire season, and for the second year in a row at Las Vegas was pleased with a late-race gamble. Last year, it was a fuel strategy call that had Junior leading on the last lap, only to go dry on the final circuit and finish second. This year it was a two-tire call on the final round of green-flag pit stops, one that put him first when pit stops had cycled through. The dominant No. 4 Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick eventually caught and passed Junior, and Earnhardt wound up finishing fourth -- he was second at the time of the late pit stop. Still, it was the spirit in which that decision was made and not the subsequent loss of two spots that had Earnhardt excited. "We didn't put lefts (tires) on it; made it a gamble," he said. "I like to gamble. I liked the call. I love being aggressive. We weren't going to drive up there and pass that No. 4. So, we had to take a chance. Second, fifth, fourth, whatever; it really don't matter if you don't win." Wins may be coming soon, though, especially as Earnhardt continues to learn about his ability to adjust the track bar mid-race. After not finding it useful early on this season, he came out even more strongly in favor of it Sunday, making the self-adjusting track bar just another new thing that seems to work for this group. "We've been running the track bar pretty much even the whole race, and at the end there I had it down three inches on right side trying to save my butt," he said. "Maybe it was worn-out lefts, I don't know. The left side (tires) is new and a little softer compound maybe we just took it a little bit too far." Maybe, but as his late-race gamble shows, this group would rather take it a little too far than play it conservatively. They have the speed and the skill; it's those types of decisions, though, that often mean the difference between challenging for a win and, well, not. "This year, our cars are racing up there," Earnhardt said. "So, we think we've got the cars better than we had last year. But I want to win. We're going to get there." The Rundown: Las Vegas 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior showed strength driving the high line, but his late-race lead was cut short by a hard-charging Harvick. "Second, fifth, fourth -- it don't matter (where you finish) if you don't win," said Earnhardt, who now ranks second in the points standings. Dale Jr. likes odds, has car for Las Vegas win In his first seven races with Hendrick Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has six top-10 finishes, including two runner-up performances. After back-to-back third-place finishes to start the 2015 season, Earnhardt hopes that momentum helps him get his first win at the Nevada track. "Looking forward to going to Vegas," Earnhardt said on the "Dale Jr. Download" on Dirty Mo Radio. "We fly in on Friday morning, practice and qualify and race on Sunday. It should be a good race track for us. I enjoy the track." Last year, Earnhardt earned his third runner-up result at Las Vegas in 15 starts, leading 51 laps before relinquishing the top spot to winner Brad Keselowski when the No. 88 car ran out of Sunoco Green E-15 on the final circuit. "I almost had a win there last year," Earnhardt said. "Ran out of gas on the backstretch. I remember we had about a fifth- to 10th-place car. Once we gambled on fuel mileage and got track position, the car was fast enough to lead and stay out there. "If we can improve on that just a little bit, we should be good." Crew chief Steve Letarte's strategy nearly led to a second trip to Victory Lane in 2014 after winning the Daytona 500 to start the season two weeks earlier. This year, Earnhardt says the NBC Sports analyst is rooting for his former team with new crew chief Greg Ives, who is quickly gaining favor with his driver. "I miss working with Steve," Earnhardt said. "Worked with him for so long and he texted me and Greg after the race, told us (we did) a good job. He's a closet fan now, being one of them broadcasters. "But we're going to be alright with Greg. He's going to do a good job for us. It's going to be fun to work with him for the next several years. See how he improves and see how this team continues to get better and better." Earnhardt said that he and Ives have built on the strong foundation laid at Daytona, and his current pit boss reminds Dale Jr. of the man Ives replaced. "He's actually a pretty good cheerleader, (which) follows right into what Letarte's always been great at," Earnhardt said. "I think he's done a good job of pumping me up on the race track and definitely he does a good job of keeping the crew fired up and giving everybody positive reinforcement. That's so important. "Regardless of whether I need it as a driver or not. It really helps the team to hear that. You like to hear that out of everybody working on the car and involved in the program, that they've got a positive outlook and they're excited about what's going on. He does a good job of that. That's going to really benefit us down the road. He's just really excited. It's been fun to work with him." The No. 88's win in last year's Great American Race locked the team into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and allowed the team to experiment for the next 25 regular-season races. Earnhardt hopes to get a win soon, but appreciates the strong start that finds him four points out of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points lead in fourth place. "We'd love to win races and lock ourselves into the Chase and go ahead and get aggressive on the rest of our strategy and stuff with that win under our belt just for Greg, new crew chief, new car chief, new engineers, a lot of new guys on the over-the-wall gang," Earnhardt said. "It's good to get a couple of good finishes under your belt." As Earnhardt noted on Twitter this week, the car he'll be driving knows the way to Victory Lane, breaking through for two wins at Pocono Raceway last summer. @DaleJr: What @nationwide88 car are we takin to @LVMotorSpeedway? #810 #PoconoSweep Oh, the places Daytona 500 winning cars go • 2004/2014 – Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Inc./Hendrick Motorsports: Team owner Rick Hendrick has eight victories in the Daytona 500, six of which came after ’96. Geoffrey Bodine ('86) and Darrell Waltrip ('89) won before the speedway began putting the cars on display. Jeff Gordon (’97, ’99, ’05), Jimmie Johnson (’06, ’13) and Earnhardt Jr. ('14) lost the use of their winning cars for a year. HMS just took possession of Earnhardt Jr.'s winning entry from last year and fans can now see the car in the Hendrick Motorsports museum. According to Hendrick officials, all Daytona 500 winning cars are put on display in the museum, a decision made by the team owner. Earnhardt Jr.'s '04 winning entry, however, came when the series' most popular driver was competing for Dale Earnhardt Inc., the team founded by his father. "I reckon it's over at DEI in the showroom, but I haven't been to DEI in six to a dozen years," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I can't even remember the last time I was in there. There's a lot of stuff over there I wouldn't mind getting my hands on." Earnhardt Jr. said his "old Late Model car" is still there, and said it's likely the Street Stock car that was raced by all three Earnhardt siblings – Dale, Kerry and sister Kelley – is as well. "Just a lot of stuff sitting over there that I'm sure is being well taken care of," he said. "I imagine the Daytona 500 car is in a warehouse somewhere. Certainly we still have the title to it." The Rundown: Atlanta 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior has opened the season by going 2-for-2 in posting third-place finishes despite sustaining front-end damage Sunday when he ran into a piece of debris in the late going. Though he consistently was near the front of the pack, Earnhardt led just one lap all afternoon. Dale Jr.: Smooth Daytona bodes well for season After a third-place finish in the Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is looking forward to the rest of the season because the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team was well-prepared for Speedweeks. Immediately following the race, he gave credit to the team on Twitter, and he expressed the same sentiments on Tuesday. "I've got a new crew chief with Greg Ives and a new car chief, Travis Mack," Earnhardt said on the "Dale Jr. Download" on Dirty Mo Radio. "Got some new engineers and over-the-wall guys. They were all ready to go, and everything went smooth. Every race went smooth. We never had a problem on pit road. Never had a miscommunication." Heading to Atlanta (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX), where he has his best average finish (12.3) among NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuits, Earnhardt says an already strong team can even get better. "I see a lot of areas where we can improve as we get to know each other and understand what each other is looking for and what each other needs out there," Earnhardt said. "We can get a little better on our communication. "But the team was really prepared. That says a lot about, not only Greg, but Chad (Knaus) and that whole (48/88) shop. Greg and Chad work real close together, and that says a lot about them being able to prepare those cars and those guys for that week and what they're going to go through. I was real happy about that. That lets me know that Greg's the right man for the job." Earnhardt enjoyed last Sunday's season opener and said NASCAR's rule package put racing back in the drivers' hands. "I had a real damn good time in the race (Sunday)," Earnhardt said. "Racing during the day with that package, that little tiny spoiler on the back, that's the way to do it. Man, the cars are moving around and handling. The drivers are having to really work hard to position themselves to make runs. We were all running three-wide forever without a whole lot of problems." The two-time winner of the Great American Race looked back at the move that cost him track position late in the race and how he was able to make it back to the front with a shot to become the first driver in 20 years to win back-to-back Daytona 500s. "I was in the bottom lane in third and Jimmie (Johnson) was on the outside as the control car," Earnhardt said of the Lap 182 restart. "When we took off, there was room for me to move up behind Jimmie so I moved up behind him, and I thought I was in line. But the guys behind me jumped to my outside and the guys on the inside that I gave up the position for moved on the inside of me so now I'm in the middle on a restart. We're not up to speed. "This is a terrible situation to be in, and everybody just mowed by me and left me in the middle. Next thing I know, I was about 20th to 25th. Looking at nothing but rows of three-wide in front of me with nowhere to go." Right before the yellow flag flew for the next caution at Lap 199, Earnhardt explained how he was able to move from 20th back to the top 10. "Finally with around 10 laps to go, the 51 got loose in the middle of (Turns) 3 and 4 and checked up the whole inside line and the middle line," Earnhardt said. "The seas parted, and I made a move. I got to the middle, got a good run on some guys and passed a bunch of people. Then the caution came out for the 51 wrecking on the frontstretch, and I was eighth." On the final restart of the race for a green-white-checkered finish, Earnhardt said the outside line moved and allowed him to move up to third, where he finished when the race ended with a backstretch wreck on the white-flag lap. Despite squandering a chance to capitalize on a winning race car last weekend, Earnhardt is looking forward to testing this week in advance of Atlanta's first March race since 2010. "We've got a couple days off, and we're going to be practicing Atlanta Thursday, preparing for the race this weekend," Earnhardt said. "I'm looking forward to getting the rest of this season going. Twenty-six races in the regular season. One down, 25 to go. Try to make that Chase. Get some checkered flags and celebrate some wins." The Rundown: Daytona 500 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Dale Jr. made a strong bid to repeat as the Daytona 500 champion, leading 32 laps, and made a nice recovery after making a move with 19 laps remaining that left him stuck in the middle, a move Junior took responsibility for over the radio at the end of the race. "I made a poor move on that restart with 19 to go. Should not have done that." | WATCH: Junior weighs in on costly decision For Junior, third-place finish is bittersweet You win some, you lose some. For Dale Earnhardt Jr., the "some" in question just happen to be Daytona 500s. The 2014 defending winner of The Great American Race finished third in the 57th annual running at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, leading 32 of the event's 200 laps with what he deemed earlier in the week as the fastest car in the field. Unfortunately for the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Earnhardt made the wrong decision on a restart with 19 laps remaining that in the end proved too costly to overcome. "Jimmie (Johnson) was on the quarter panel; he was in a great spot on the guy in front of me," Earnhardt said. "I thought if I could get in behind him, he was going to shoot past to the lead, I could tuck on the quarter panel a little bit as soon as I got on that right rear quarter panel. "You know, just one of them moves. You made some good ones, you make some bad ones. I made a bad one too late. … Just got too cute there." While Earnhardt was particularly hard on himself for the restart snafu, the No. 88 was still in a strong position on the final green-white-checkered sequence. The 12-time NMPA Most Popular Driver winner was in eighth when the final green flag dropped, but "the outside line got going really good" and he was able to advance, though there were "not enough laps to form anything" to send the 88 to Daytona's Victory Lane for the second consecutive February. If there had been enough laps, however -- or, who knows, if the yellow flag hadn't frozen the field on the final lap -- Earnhardt's car was clearly fast enough to almost move up through the field at will. It makes the third-place finish all that more bittersweet. "You don't get cars that good too often" Earnhardt said. "I had one of the best cars out there and that gave me a ton of confidence to keep digging. We were able to get back up to third place. It’s really disappointing because the Nationwide team gave me the best car and we should have won the race. I’m just really disappointed that I didn’t do everything I needed to do. "Good cars like that don’t come every week and you like to take advantage of those and when you're put in a car like that you've got to deliver and we fell a little short today." While Earnhardt won't be able to carry the momentum that comes along with being the Daytona 500 champion that clearly propelled his best season in a decade a year ago -- not to mention the peace of mind that comes with locking a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berth after the first of 26 races -- Sunday's race was still about as good as the 88 team could've hoped for, given the changes it has undergone. With a new crew chief in Greg Ives sitting atop the pit box, along with some new over-the-wall pit crew members, engineers and car chief -- the speed and near-flawlessness that Earnhardt exhibited during Speedweeks was extremely encouraging. The driver addressed the first race with these new faces on Twitter after he left the Daytona media center. @DaleJr: The whole team is n great form. Good communication. No issues today. Smooth. That's impressive 2 me out of the gate. Something 2 build on. @DaleJr: We have some new over the wall guys, a few new engineers, a new car chief, a new crew chief. Everyone of them were prepared for Daytona. They'll get another go in a week from now at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Folds of Honor QuikTrips 500 (March 1, 1 p.m., FOX) "We are ready to go to Atlanta," Earnhardt said. "It’s going to be a fun year.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins qualifying race for Daytona 500 Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the first of two Thursday night qualifying races to set up a 1-2-3 start for Hendrick Motorsports in the Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson swept the front row Sunday in the first round of qualifying. Then Earnhardt, the defending Daytona 500 winner, won the first 150-mile Budweiser Duel to take the third starting spot in Sunday's season-opening race. ''We've had a great car all week,'' Earnhardt said. ''I'm so glad to get through the duel in one piece because I know how good this car is. We're going to have a fun day on Sunday.'' Gordon, the four-time NASCAR champion, finished second in the duel and was followed by Joey Logano, Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer. Bowyer wrecked during the first round of qualifying and had to race his way in to the Daytona 500. ''If it wasn't for adversity, I wouldn't have any feeling in life,'' Bowyer said. ''It feels good to finally get a good run.'' For Gordon, it kept his car clean and sent him into his final Daytona 500 in position to lead the field to the green flag. Gordon, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, will retire at the end of the season. He said he's so far approached this week as business as usual with no nostalgia. ''Right now, it's mainly routine,'' Gordon said. ''On Sunday, when I get up that morning, think about that day, it will come into my mind. Other than that, everything has been pretty much routine.'' Racing into the Daytona 500 through their finish in the duel were: Landon Cassill (9th), Cole Whitt (10th), Michael McDowell (12th), JJ Yeley (13th) and Ty Dillon (16th). It will be the first Daytona 500 start for Ty Dillon, the grandson of team owner Richard Childress. ''It means so much, it's hard to explain,'' Dillon said. ''I've been coming here since I was a little kid watching my grandfather's cars race and win races. I've seen so much history go down here. I'm in the Daytona 500. You don't know how much this means to me. This is so awesome.'' For Cassill, making the Daytona 500 is a huge boon for underfunded Hillman Racing. Last-place in the 43-car field last season paid $292,311. ''You all know what the prize money looks like, 75 percent of our budget is prize money,'' Cassill said. ''When a majority of your team's budget is off the prize money, there's a lot of things that have already been purchased that just haven't been paid for yet. The check that's coming after Sunday's race is going to pay for that.'' With so many drivers racing their way into the 500, Danica Patrick was forced into a defensive role of having to race her way in via the second duel. Also on the bubble are Casey Mears, who blew an engine early in the first duel, and AJ Allmendinger, who made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship last season but was involved in an early accident. ''I'm guessing we're going home unless something major happens in the second race,'' Mears said. ''It rips your heart out.'' Reigning rookie of the year Kyle Larson needed a late push to finish 15th and earn a spot in Sunday's race. He had some slight damage to his car from contact with Trevor Bayne, but the incident brought out a caution that allowed his team to fix a vibration that had been slowing him down. Dale Jr: Anniversary of dad's death no day for mourning Dale Earnhardt Jr. recognized the anniversary of his father's death Wednesday and said it was not a day for mourning. Junior took to Twitter to acknowledge the 14th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's death, which came on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt Jr. posted, ''(On) this day I do not mourn his death. I thank God he lived. (hash)DaleEarnhardt.'' He was asked about later in the day at Daytona International Speedway and said the date doesn't really stir painful emotions anymore. ''When dad passed away, that's kind of the way that I felt about it, like you feel kind of selfish mourning that loss because you're just like, 'What am I going to do or how am I going to go forward?' or 'How does this make me feel?''' he said. ''That's real selfish. His loss affected a lot of people, not just myself. ''At the same time, you're fortunate to have known him and fortunate to have learned and have the experiences that you had with him. So you think about those and be glad that was an opportunity you got to experience.'' Earnhardt noticed people tweeting about the anniversary Wednesday morning and decided to share his thoughts on social media. ''I just felt like pitching in and let people know where my mind was at,'' he said. ''Instead of being sad about it, I think about all the awesome times we had and good things we did and stuff that I think he'd be proud of today.'' The 40-year-old Earnhardt won his second Daytona 500 last year and will try to become the first driver since Sterling Marlin in 1995 to win NASCAR's most prestigious race in consecutive years. ''Being the winner from last year doesn't really help you out there in the heat of the battle,'' Earnhardt said. ''We've got a great car. We need to do everything right. We need to get that car all the way through the week and on to the starting grid Sunday. ''We don't need to have any problems to where we have to pull any race cars out of the trailer. I've had to do that before.'' Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet failed inspection following pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Sunday. He will have to start at the back of the field in the first of two qualifying races Thursday that set the starting order. ''You definitely want to race hard and do everything you can and learn everything you can during the week, but you want to be able to put that car on the starting grid in one piece,'' he said. ''I think we've got one of the best cars down here. ... ''Yeah, I'm glad we won (in 2014). It feels good to come back to any race where you've won. You've got a little confidence as a driver, but once you get in the race and get started, it really doesn't matter.'' Dale Jr. says he has the fastest Daytona 500 car Dale Earnhardt Jr. may start at the back of the first Duel on Thursday (7 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), but don't expect him to stay there too long, according to the driver himself and his spotter, T.J. Majors. "I don't know that anybody here has got a car as quick as ours from what I saw (in Saturday's practices)," Earnhardt said on his "Dale Jr. Download" podcast on Dirty Mo Radio. "We've got six more practices this week so guys can find some speed from now until the race time, but out of the box, we were the best in my opinion." The No. 88 Nationwide was the fastest Chevrolet SS in Saturday's first practice, behind four Fords, as well as the sixth-fastest car in the second practice. In Sunday's Coors Light Pole Qualifying, he turned the 10th-fastest lap, but his time was disallowed after the car didn't meet the minimum height in post-qualifying inspection. Earnhardt will start 25th in his Duel, but Majors said on the Dirty Mo Radio podcast said they were in the same position for Saturday's Sprint Unlimited and made their way to the front pretty quickly. "Obviously I don't want to start 24th, but I already started there once (in the Sprint Unlimited) and was leading a few laps later so I don't want to be back there but I'm pretty confident in our ability to get up through there," Majors said. And Earnhardt said his Daytona 500 car is better than the Unlimited ride that took the lead on Lap 27 after coming to pit road second and leading the field back onto the track without taking any tires. "One of the other things I'm excited about is I know the 500 car is a whole lot better than this car was so hopefully we can get through the rest of the week," Earnhardt said. "If that 500 car is still in one piece when we put that thing on the starting grid, I've got a good feeling about it. "We've got some qualifying races. Got to get through some practices. If we can mount that car on the grid, man, I think it's going to be a fast one." Majors agreed with his driver, saying Earnhardt's single car reeled in cars in a draft during Daytona 500 practice. "That car's fast," Majors said. "It was actually catching a pack of about four or five cars in one practice. "I sent him out to make a single-car run. I'm like, 'He'll never catch them.' And I kept timing the interval because you want to stay about seven seconds behind cars to get a clean run. I looked twice, and I'm like 'he's not catching 'em.' So I started timing the interval, and he started creeping in." In order for Earnhardt to join Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Sterling Marlin as the only drivers to win consecutive Great American Races, Dale Jr. needs to make the it through the Duel. Although he isn't locked into the field for next Sunday's season-opening race, if one of the following drivers ahead of him in 2014 owner points -- Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski or Matt Kenseth -- finishes in the top 15 in a Duel, Earnhardt will advance to the 500. Rather than relying on his eighth-place spot in last year's owner points, Earnhardt plans to race his way in. Expect him to run next to the wall. "When we took off, I jumped on the outside lane and got behind a few guys that were making some good moves," Earnhardt said of his Sprint Unlimited ride. "We made a couple good moves of our own and next thing you know, I was up there trying to get the lead." Majors said that the No. 88 teamed up with the No. 42 last Saturday. With both Earnhardt and Kyle Larson in Thursday's first Duel, they might get some practice before Sunday's main event. Junior in the city: He could be anyone It's cold at 9:30 a.m. in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Thirty degrees won't come for four more hours, and the wind whips and swirls between the skyscrapers and billows down the sidewalk at the intersection of 67th and Columbus, where a line of people snakes down the sidewalk. These huddled masses are lined up around the block outside 7 Lincoln Square, awaiting the opening of the doors that will bring both warmth and a seat inside the "LIVE with Kelly and Michael" studio. NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr. has already called in to "The Dan Patrick Show" as his first media obligation on Feb. 11, and he has four more stops on the docket as part of the Road to Daytona 500 Media Tour. He's in a black Chevrolet SUV fighting morning traffic, but steadily making progress toward this tiny pocket of the largest city in the United States. And he's running late. Congested morning streets make it hardly Junior's fault, but he bustles into the dressing room at the "LIVE" studio a bit behind schedule, and there's a pair of show producers eager to get him prepped for his spot. Part of their job is to make Earnhardt feel both welcome and comfortable. With Valentine's Day three days away, it's an easy talking point -- and one Junior will hear relentlessly throughout both this trip, and at Media Day in Daytona Beach, Florida, the following day. "Got any big plans for Valentine's Day?" an assistant asks Dale Jr. after a few quick brushes in the makeup room. "We've got a race," Junior says. "Oh, how romantic!" • • • It's a commercial break, and host Michael Strahan signs an old New York Giants jersey that was tossed down from the balcony. He banters playfully with the audience, including one member who makes fun of his arm strength. "Hey, I wasn't a quarterback," he says. "I hit quarterbacks." An image of Earnhardt Jr. suddenly blares on the television screens behind the hosts, and Strahan teases, "You don't know who our next guest is, do you?" "Dale Jr.!" screams the audience, and there's a few shrieks thrown in there as well. The man himself strides on stage, and that's where one first sees the transformation. Quiet and reserved by nature, he is a media chameleon of sorts -- his personality adapts to its surroundings. When the camera comes on, there's Junior smiling, there's Junior giving these well thought-out answers to questions he's answered literally hundreds of times before. He's stopped just once in this building, by a pair of veterans who ask for a quick picture with NASCAR's 12-time Most Popular Driver as he walks to his waiting ride in the building's parking garage after the filming is completed. "Thank you for your service," he says before climbing into the back seat and being whisked away. • • • At the "Rachael Ray Show," an employee named Vida creates a pet name for Earnhardt as she describes how the taping will go. "Hey, pumpkin!" she says when he walks in. "OK, pumpkin?" after her final bit of instruction. "Yes ma'am," he replies. It's how he always replies. Vida appears flustered when Earnhardt is pulled away to do the stage. "I have to get a picture with him," she says on the way out. Vida's not the only one at this stop to feel the Junior Effect. Chad Carter, a producer on the show, is from Concord, North Carolina. It's a town just north of Charlotte (Charlotte Motor Speedway is actually in Concord), and about 20 miles southeast of Mooresville, where Junior grew up. He's talked Earnhardt up all week, so the staff is eager to meet the man. "In my area of North Carolina, it's Jesus, Elvis and Dale Earnhardt Jr.," Carter told the show's associates, and even Ray herself, leading up to this day. Carter left a note for Junior, along with a gift bag full of local beer, gin and bourbon. The wooden table has a stack of North Carolina-specific books, an attempt to make the glamorous green room feel more like Mooresville than Manhattan. A succinctly titled "Duke Sucks" sits on top. Earnhardt thumbs through Carter's 1994 Concord High School yearbook, and a book of photography by Hugh Morton, one of North Carolina's most well-known native sons, while waiting to be called to the stage. The TV blares behind him. Someone brings food -- flank steak and popovers. Junior has already changed clothes so he doesn't appear on different talk shows wearing the same outfit, and he reacts to a new piece of clothing like most everyone. He puts on his new striped suit jacket, fixes it, pulls on it, then checks it out in the mirror before finally asking, "Does this look OK?" Vida will soon get her picture, and Carter is waiting for Earnhardt when he gets back to the green room after his interview with Ray and special guest host Regis Philbin. There isn't much time for pleasantries, but Earnhardt greets Carter as he does everyone else he encounters on this trip -- a look in the eye, a firm handshake and a one-word introduction: "Dale." "Thank you for the gift bag," Earnhardt says. "That was very generous of you." • • • At lunch, Earnhardt perks up at the prospect of food. It's been a busy morning. He offers suggestions to the sushi novice (black dynamite, on account of the tempura shrimp -- the crunchiness hides the fact that there's actual raw fish jammed in there), then expertly wields his chopsticks with his left hand while polishing off a salad, miso soup and two lines of brightly colored sushi. Whether it's eating or walking or making a decision, Earnhardt Jr. is always moving fast, as if his personality mirrors how he hopes to perform on the track. Maybe it does. But there is no wasted movement with this man in the city, no dallying. When lunch is finished, he rises, puts on his jacket and is 25 feet away before anyone else has pushed a chair back from the table. He power-walks on the city sidewalks, reaching his vehicle before anyone else in his group and not waiting for the driver to emerge and open the door for him. Now, at 1 p.m., is the only break Earnhardt has in the day, a 45-minute stretch in which he doesn't have a commitment, and doesn't need to be chugging along in his rented ride to get to his next commitment. He can do anything he wants. And he wants to go to Bleecker Street. Nestled near New York University, Bleecker Street is a trendy nightclub district in Greenwich Village. It also has a Burberry store. That is the purpose of this detour. Junior looks like any man shopping for his significant other when he walks through the doors and is confronted with a dizzying array of pink purses, accessories and clothes. He selects two scarves for his girlfriend Amy Reimann, but the merchandise continually catches his eye as the employees ring him up. He inspects a wallet, whose well-designed interior is stunning when he pops it open. "That's cool as hell," he murmurs. Two scarves quickly becomes two scarves plus a wallet … plus a shawl … plus a new purse to replace the one stolen from Amy on vacation. Not even the loud buzz as he walks out the door -- two of the security devices hadn't been removed -- harshens his mood. • • • That famous selfie in Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway last year is the first image of Dale Earnhardt Jr. that people on Twitter glimpsed. It was the first tweet from @DaleJr, and it kicked off a year in which Junior delighted his fans and followers with Throwback Thursday photos, race predictions and late-night Q&A sessions. It directly led to this penultimate media tour stop at one of the Twitter offices, where a bunch of hip 20-somethings sequester Junior into a conference room and film his reasoning -- and reaction -- to joining the platform. "It's hard to do," Earnhardt says. "You can't try it for a week and go 'It's not for me.' I needed a moment. … "But it also gives us a way to say we're confident, and fans want to hear that confidence. And when we win, we get to celebrate with all our fans." The Twitter folks exude New York. They are trendy, they wear jeans to work and they are young. Yet the 40-year-old Earnhardt does not look like an outsider. He looks like he could be either Twitter's guest for the day, or one of its executives. That's something else we learn from this trip. Earnhardt somehow is both the laid-back guy from rural North Carolina and a media mogul that can blend into the biggest city in the United States, looking like he belongs on Wall Street. It's a dichotomy that shows up everywhere, from the people he meets to his Southern politeness, even to the way he dresses. Sure, he's wearing blue jeans (Wrangler, no doubt) but his black dress shoes are gleaming as if they've been freshly polished, and he bought a new striped sports coat for this occasion. He gives thoughtful, professional answers on questions that need them. But when he's off camera, and sees a beautiful three-layer cake the Twitter folks surprised him with, he grins. "Hell yeah!" he says. • • • He arrives at the day's last stop at 3:32 p.m. It's the fifth hit of his day, a day that began in North Carolina before the sun came up, has spanned states and necessitates that a somewhat introverted man talk almost nonstop. Junior has not yawned once. In fact, this day of racing talk has him amped for the start of the season. An offseason with virtually no testing had the driver itching to get back in the car alongside his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, one of whom is Jeff Gordon. This is Gordon's last full-time season, and it has Earnhardt thinking about his own future. Junior tackled the topic of retirement multiple times last year, and admits it's almost an obsessive thing to mull when one of the greats hangs it up. "I often think about retirement, and what it is that makes people retire," Earnhardt Jr. says. "I wonder about myself. 'What is going to take me out of the car? Is it gonna be family? Is it gonna be health?' "I can tell you I wouldn't step out for the car right now for anything." Minutes later, his "Pardon the Interruption" taping is finished. And one final time, we see the two sides of Dale. He's leaving a beautiful midtown studio, the type of place so very few people have access to, walking away from the marble flooring and fancy recording equipment. It's a building that so few people -- really, so few professional athletes -- will ever be qualified to enter. His day is done, but there's still one final piece of business as the elevator takes him down and spits him back toward the crowded streets. Before he leaves, Dale Earnhardt Jr. heads to a small nook of a convenience store and buys a Powerball ticket. Dale Jr., Hamlin move to back of Duels field Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin had their qualifying times for next week's Daytona 500 (Feb. 22, FOX, 1 pm ET) disallowed Sunday when their respective entries failed post-qualifying technical inspection at Daytona International Speedway. According to NASCAR officials, Earnhardt Jr.'s Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet failed to meet the minimum height, measuring too low on the left front. As a result, he will start 25th in the first of two qualifying races scheduled for Thursday. Before the infraction, Earnhardt was scheduled to start fifth in the second race. With no on-track activity scheduled until Wednesday, Earnhardt was one of several drivers to return home following qualifying. But upon hearing of the measurement issue, he took to social media to note "That's a shame. The boys will figure out why. Makes the duels a lot more interesting." Ride height minimums for the Sprint Cup Series are only required when teams are competing at Daytona and Talladega where restrictor plates are required. Greg Ives, making his first official appearance as Earnhardt's crew chief, said that NASCAR officials "did their due diligence of allowing us to go through their processes of how they deal with it. "In the end we still ended up low. It's unfortunate. ... We were definitely not trying to do anything intentional here. "I don't feel it was an advantage that got us to our 10th-place position, but it is definitely something that can be frowned upon and not looked at as being compliant to the rules." Hamlin's transgression was an issue with the split on his Toyota's track bar, which exceeded the maximum 3.0 inches allowed by three-quarters of an inch. As a result, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who was scheduled to start second in the first of Thursday's two qualifying races, will start 24th in the second race instead. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were first and second Sunday to lock in the front row for the 500. Thursday's Budweiser Duel qualifying races (60 laps each) will determine positions 3-32 with the remainder of the field decided via qualifying times and owner points. Thursday's opening qualifying race is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start (FOX Sports 1). EARNHARDT'S PHOBIA NASCAR's biggest star has a little phobia. Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed that he wants nothing to do with jewelry. Necklaces, rings, bracelets, no way. "It's creepy to me," said the two-time and defending Daytona 500 champion. "I can be in the same room with it. It doesn't bother me on other people." Earnhardt and his longtime girlfriend, Amy Reimann, already have talked about what might happen down the road if they get married. Earnhardt has no plans to give in, saying he won't wear a ring but will get her one if she wants. "I'm not going to be held accountable and she can do whatever she wants," he said. "I figure if we ever get to that step in life that I owe her that much, so I'll have to put up with that. But I'm free of all my obligations in that regard." Letarte's first replacement choice? Greg Ives Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he had one specific request of Steve Letarte when the two were discussing his crew chief's replacement for the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 team. "I said 'One of the things you're responsible for is putting me in a better situation than I'm in right now,'" Earnhardt Jr. said during this year's annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom. "I said, 'I want to get better at this position that you're in. I don't want to do a lateral move; I don't want to drop down and wait on the guy to develop. … I need you to comb the sport and tell me, give me some names of some guys that can make us better." The name at the top of the list, Earnhardt said, was Greg Ives. A former engineer at HMS, Ives was putting the finishing touches on his second season at JR Motorsports, eventually helping guide Sunoco Rookie of the Year Chase Elliott to the NASCAR XFINITY (then Nationwide) Series title. The year before he had been teamed with JRM driver Regan Smith -- Smith won twice and finished third in points. For 2015, he will be back in the Sprint Cup Series, this time as crew chief for Earnhardt. Letarte is headed off to NBC Sports' broadcast booth where he will serve as one of the network's analysts for its NASCAR coverage. He leaves after leading Earnhardt to his best season, if not his best points finish, in a decade. That Ives is meticulous in his role as crew chief didn't surprise Earnhardt Jr. -- he'd seen it firsthand at JRM. "He's a real detail guy," Earnhardt said. "I asked him about the Daytona car, some of the things he's working on, and he ran down this list of about 50 things. They are the most particular, peculiar, tiny things that he is concerned with and when you ask him something, he is going to give you the full rundown." Nothing escapes the eye of Ives, it seems. Even a show car used for a recent photo shoot produced a list of nearly 25 items Ives wanted changed. "You know that's going to be a positive going into the relationship, that he's that particular," Earnhardt said. "You want a guy who is a perfectionist. There are crew chiefs out there that don’t cover every single base -- maybe he'll learn over time that he can't cover every single base, (that) he just doesn't have the time in the day, but this offseason … he's had time to comb the shop from corner to corner and work on every little detail he sees where we can improve. "He is thorough and that's going to make a huge difference in how we are prepared each weekend and getting our cars out on the race track and being fast." Ives, a team engineer for Jimmie Johnson when the HMS driver was busy stacking up championships, downplays his work ethic and detail-oriented approach. "That's the way I'm wired," Ives said. "If I look at something and it doesn't look right, I'm representing Hendrick Motorsports, the 88 team and (sponsor) Nationwide, that's my job -- to be 100 percent perfect at all times. "Not because that's required by anybody else other than myself. That's that mindset … if you have it and you surround yourself with people with it, they're going to be the same way." Having come though the Hendrick system, there should be no problem making sure everyone is on the same page. Many of the folks are those he has worked alongside in the past. Car chief Travis Mack makes the move from JRM over to the No. 88 team, and Kevin Meendering has served as Earnhardt’s lead engineer for the last four seasons. That he'll be paired with the sport's most popular driver won't affect how he does his job, Ives said. "(The spotlight) follows him, not me," he said. "My focus is not who is driving my car but how they perform when they do it. "If you can take only the good, the praise … and you can't take the bad then you better get out of this position. I've been criticized; I've been praised. The way I attack my daily work doesn't change. I wake up in the morning (and) do the same thing -- try to attack the day and make it the best day yet." While the lines of communication might be a bit fuzzy early on due to the lack of testing, Earnhardt said he's more than willing to do his part to speed up the process. And his experience with Letarte helped prepare him for just such a situation. "Trust me … I'm going to be a professional and be positive, do everything that I can to make it as easy as possible on Greg," he said. "I learned that with Steve, how to be a better driver and more of an asset. … I think the cars will have the speed. So I'm excited." Sprint Unlimited field set for 2015 Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard and Casey Mears weren't planning to compete in next weekend's Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway. But the three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers will be in the 25-car lineup after all when the 75-lap, non-points event kicks off the 2015 season under the lights. To be eligible for a starting berth in the Unlimited, a driver had to win at least one pole in 2014, be a former winner of the event, a former Daytona 500 pole winner or one of the 16 drivers that qualified for last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Should any driver and team elect not to compete, the position or positions would be awarded to those not currently in the field, based on the final 2014 championship driver points standings. Bowyer (Michael Waltrip Racing), Menard (Richard Childress Racing) and Mears (Germain Racing) were added to the lineup in place of Brian Scott (RCR), Brian Vickers (MWR) and AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing). Bowyer finished 19th in points, Menard 21st and Mears 26th. Officials with all three organizations have confirmed their driver's participation. Scott, a full-time driver in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, was one of 15 drivers to capture a pole last year but made only a handful of Sprint Cup starts for Circle Sport Racing through its affiliation with RCR. His No. 1 qualifying run came in the spring event at Talladega Superspeedway. RCR officials said there were no plans to field an entry for Scott in the event. MWR announced earlier this month that Vickers would miss the season's first two points races, at Daytona and Atlanta, due to health issues. The 31-year-old qualified for the Sprint Unlimited when he captured the pole for the fall race at Talladega. Allmendinger, who was eligible for an Unlimited starting spot based on his '14 Chase status, will not compete in the race, according to the team, due to the timing of the eligibility requirements which did not allow adequate time to secure sponsorship for the additional event. With the roster changes, the starting field for this year’s race will now consist of 13 drivers that qualified based on winning poles last season -- Austin Dillon (Daytona), Brad Keselowski (Phoenix), Joey Logano (Las Vegas), Denny Hamlin (Bristol), Matt Kenseth (Auto Club), Kyle Busch (Martinsville), Tony Stewart (Texas), Kevin Harvick (Darlington), Jimmie Johnson (Charlotte), Jamie McMurray (Sonoma), David Gilliland (Daytona), Kyle Larson (Pocono) and Jeff Gordon (Watkins Glen). Qualifying as previous Sprint Unlimited winners are Kurt Busch (2011) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. ('03, '08). Those who are in the field as former Daytona 500 pole winners are Danica Patrick ('13), Carl Edwards ('12), Martin Truex Jr. ('09) and Greg Biffle ('04). Aric Almirola, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman are in the field based on making the Chase last year, while Bowyer, Menard and Mears round out the lineup. The Sprint Unlimited is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 14 (FOX, 8 p.m. ET). Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) is the defending winner of the event. This year's race will consist of two segments, 25 and 50 laps, with a competition caution coming after Lap 25. A random draw done by fans paired with eligible crew chiefs is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 13 at 3:30 p.m. ET to determine starting and pit road positions. Earnhardt's 2015 pit crew lineup named It's a year of change for Dale Earnhardt Jr. In addition to the primary sponsor change -- Nationwide Insurance -- and new crew chief with Greg Ives, fans will see different pit crew members going over the wall for Dale Jr. in 2015. Nevertheless, the No. 88 crew is keeping the changes within the Hendrick Motorsports family. Former No. 88 fueler Dustin Lineback returns to his old ride in 2015, filling the vacant front tire carrier position. He'll be carrying tires for front tire changer David Mayo, who has pitted with both the No. 48 and 88 teams in the past. Longtime rear tire changer Joe Slingerland returns to his familiar post for 2015. He'll be aided by rear tire carrier William "Rowdy" Harrell, who served as a No. 48/88 backup in 2014. Current fueler Matt Tyrrell will remain with the No. 88 team this season, as well as jackman Nick Covey. These pit crew members will receive their first test of the season when they travel down to Daytona International Speedway for the annual Speedweeks, which culminates with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 22 (1 p.m. ET, FOX). Nationwide reveals primary sponsor races for Dale Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet featured Nationwide Insurance as the primary sponsor for one race in 2014, the regular-season finale at Richmond International Raceway in September. That same weekend, the Nationwide announced plans to sponsor Earnhardt's car for 21 races in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The company is on board as a primary sponsor through 2017. Through the Twitter handle @nationwide88, we have learned of a redesigned helmet for Earnhardt and gotten to go behind-the-scenes with the 12-time Sprint NMPA Most Popular Driver winner as he prepares for the 2015 season. On Friday, fans got another treat, as the company revealed through the @nationwide88 handle, the 21 races that Earnhardt will carry its primary sponsorship on his car, beginning with the season-opening Daytona 500 (Feb. 22, 1 p.m. ET, FOX). Here's the full list of races: --Feb. 22: Daytona International Speedway --March 8: Las Vegas Motor Speedway --March 15: Phoenix International Raceway --March 22: Auto Club Speedway --April 11: Texas Motor Speedway --April 25: Richmond International Raceway --May 3: Talladega Superspeedway --May 9: Kansas Speedway --May 24: Charlotte Motor Speedway --May 31: Dover International Speedway --June 7: Pocono Raceway --July 5: Daytona International Speedway --July 11: Kentucky Speedway --July 19: New Hampshire Motor Speedway --July 26: Indianapolis Motor Speedway --Aug. 9: Watkins Glen International --Aug. 22: Bristol Motor Speedway --Oct. 4: Dover International Speedway --Nov. 1: Martinsville Speedway --Nov. 15: Phoenix International Raceway --Nov. 22: Homestead-Miami Speedway Motorsports community reacts to Jeff Gordon's retirement ''Hard to imagine this is (at)JeffGordonWeb last full season. Tons of respect for him and what he's accomplished thus far. A total professional.'' - Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. ((at)DaleJr) via Twitter. Earnhardt Jr. extends record to twelve most popular driver awards Dale Earnhardt Jr. extended his run as NASCAR's most popular driver with his 12th consecutive win. Earnhardt was presented with the NASCAR Sprint NMPA Most Popular Driver Award at Friday night's season-ending awards ceremony. Earnhardt last year broke a tie with 16-time winner Bill Elliott for most consecutive years as winner. Only 17 drivers have won the most popular driver award since its inception in 1956. Elliott removed his name from consideration following his 16th victory in 2002. Earnhardt's streak began the next season. His tremendous fan base this year was able to celebrate a banner season in which he opened the year with a victory in the Daytona 500. Earnhardt won four races and finished eighth in the final point standings. Earnhardt Jr. wins NASCAR's Myers Brothers Award Dale Earnhardt Jr., grinning as he strode through a Las Vegas ballroom, seemed shocked Thursday to win NASCAR’s prestigious Myers Brothers Award. The award, presented annually since 1958, is given to a person who makes significant contributions to the sport. "It’s one thing to lead the last lap and get the checkered flag, it’s one thing to swim faster, run faster, hit a ball farther, get those sort accolades for doing something phenomenal," Earnhardt said after. "But when your peers say, ‘Good job’ or when the people you’re around all the time acknowledge something, even if it’s just so minuscule, it’s such a good feeling. "That’s really better than any kind of trophy for victories. It’s a great feeling. I don’t know that I’ve ever been more humbled and excited." The award was named after short-track drivers Billy and Bobby Myers, two of NASCAR’s pioneers from the 1950s. It is presented by the National Motorsports Press Association with the purpose of recognizing those that have provided outstanding contributions to the sport of stock car racing. Earnhardt beat three other finalists — ESPN and series sponsors Nationwide and Sprint — in voting by the NMPA membership. He’s the third consecutive driver to win the award, after Jeff Gordon in 2012 and Tony Stewart last season. Stewart called the award a "huge honour" and could tell how much it meant for Earnhardt to win. "This is your industry that’s voting on this award, it’s not a popularity contest award," Stewart said. "This is something where the industry sees what you’ve contributed to the sport and you could see it the whole time he was walking up there. That’s a genuine Dale Jr. smile we saw walking up there, and that shows you what it means to him." Earnhardt was recognized for both his participation on the track — he made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship this season and won four races — and also for his care and concern for the history and the future of NASCAR. He owns JR Motorsports with sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Sprint Cup team owner Rick Hendrick, and the organization won the Nationwide title this year with Chase Elliott. Elliott and teammate Regan Smith finished 1-2 in the standings. Earnhardt also is one of the few NASCAR team owners that have given back to grassroots racing by fielding full-time operations for regional short-track racing as well. He has fielded Street Stock or Late Model entries at local short tracks since starting JRM. Late Model drivers Josh Berry and William Byron finished first and second this year in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series at historic Hickory Motor Speedway. The sweep gave JRM 1-2 points finishes in both series in which it competed full-time in ’14. It was the second Late Model championship in three years for the organization. And, Earnhardt’s off-track contributions are also tremendous. He made his 235th appearance this season for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a total that ranks among the top five for all professional athletes. The Dale Jr. Foundation also raised a record $913,000 for distribution to 70 charities in 2014. The Foundation’s focus is to give underprivileged individuals, particularly youngsters, the resources to improve their confidence and education. "I don’t know that I’ve ever been more humbled and excited for Kelley and JR Motorsports. I know they’re enjoying this, too," he said. "We’ve done a lot of good things, but this wasn’t on my radar. It’s just an incredible honour." Dale Jr.'s new crew chief has title touch With six titles in 11 NASCAR national series seasons, Ives could bridge gap. Entering his 16th season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 40-year-old Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 23 wins, 11 NMPA Most Popular Driver Awards and has made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in each of the last four seasons. Missing a championship, Earnhardt may have found the solution in new crew chief Greg Ives. In 11 years at Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports, Ives has won six NASCAR national series titles. Beyond winning titles, NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Chase Elliott says it's Ives' personal touch with his team members that makes him successful and will serve him well with Earnahrdt and the No. 88 team. "I think anybody that is wondering about the change, I think they're going to be pleasantly surprised by the results and the effort and the teamwork and the way that Greg treats people, not only to me this year driving his cars, but he treats people the way they should be treated that work on the cars... "He obviously has the smarts and whatnot to do the job. But I think the biggest thing is leadership, and like I said, treating people the right way will go a long way, and I think he treats his guys the way they should be treated." Joining Hendrick at the dawn of the Chase era in 2004, Ives began as a mechanic in the 24/48 shop. By 2006, Ives became an engineer on the No. 48 team and won five consecutive titles with Jimmie Johnson. In 2014, Ives won the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship with Elliott, the first national series title for JR Motorsports. Like Elliott, outgoing No. 88 crew chief, Steve Letarte, believes Ives' ties to Hendrick Motorsports make him the best successor at the helm of a team that helped Earnhardt to his best season since 2007. "He has a personal relationship with everyone on the 88 team because he has been at Hendrick Motorsports for years before going to JRM. ..." Letarte said on Dale Jr.'s "Dirty Mo Radio" Podcast. "When Greg got brought to the table, and (I was asked) 'Hey Stevie, what do you think?' I didn't have much response. I'm like, 'It seems like a no-brainer. This is a slam dunk. It's really not a tough conversation to have here.'" Earnhardt's Nationwide race team provided Ives with the opportunity to become a crew chief and create his own identity as a team leader. Over the last two seasons, he delivered five wins and two poles while earning 23 top-five finishes and 44 top-10s in 65 races. He led Regan Smith to a third-place finish in points in 2013 and Elliott to the championship this season. "Coming off that (title), I think, will give Greg the confidence he needs to be him," Letarte said. "I didn't try to crew chief like anyone else, and Greg shouldn't try to crew chief like anyone else." In addition to his personal and team-building skills, Letarte, who is helping the new No. 88 boss in his first week on the job, explained why Ives has won titles in more than half of his years in the sport and will excel in his new role. "What makes Greg so good is what every crew chief needs to have and that is good is never enough," Letarte said. "Pushing for perfection in every area of the race car, every area of the race team, every lap, every practice, every qualifying session. "'No' doesn't come out of his mouth very often. 'Can't' doesn't come out of his mouth very often. When something is a 'no' or a 'can't,' it just turns in to an obstacle, and he wants to know how to get around the obstacle. 'Don't tell me we can't do that. Tell me how we're going to do it. How can we do it better, different.' " A Green Bay Packers fan, Ives appears to live by the saying "winning isn't everything; it's the only thing," made famous by the Packers' six-time NFL champion and two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Vince Lombardi. "My job, when I got announced with Regan Smith in 2012, was to go out and win races and try to win championships," Ives said. "When I got announced with Chase, that did not change. When I got announced for Dale, that didn't change, either." The 35-year-old Bark River, Michigan native learned Chad Knaus' winning ways early and often, taking part in 42 wins, 113 top-fives and 21 poles in seven seasons with the No. 48 team. Now, Ives will work alongside his old boss, and Knaus knows he'll be a good fit, working together while battling for wins and titles. "Greg understands how we work," Knaus said. "We work with a three-person task force between the two crew chiefs and (team manager) Michael Landis to make the decision and the directions that we go in our shop -- what we do with our race cars and how we approach life. "Our goal is to keep that No. 88 car running up front, hopefully win the championship or finish second in the championship between us and the No. 88." Junior: 'The right guy won the championship' Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't exactly have a front-row seat for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale's championship battle, finishing 14th in the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But a day later and having had some time to reflect on the new playoff format's conclusion, NASCAR's most popular driver said he thought it was an invigorating success. "I thought it couldn't have gone any better for NASCAR," Earnhardt Jr. said Monday at the Trump National Doral, site of the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series awards banquet later that night. "I always go back to thinking about how I ran and what I could've done, but looking at the event as a whole, I thought it was great for NASCAR. I thought the right guy won the championship and I thought it was good to have a mix of different seasons, if you will -- you had the guy with no wins and all the consistency, you had the guy with one win, a couple of guys with multiple wins, youth and experience. Everything across the board was represented and we got to see it play out." Kevin Harvick stormed to the front on fresher tires at the end of the Ford EcoBoost 400, denying runner-up Ryan Newman for the victory and the championship, as Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano also faded late in their bids for the title. But all four hopefuls spent time contending for the lead, and the rash of yellow flags at the end forced their crew chiefs into varying pit-road gambles down the stretch. "I thought those cautions at the end changed the strategy, but they were all legit," Earnhardt said. "There was a lot of stuff happening on the race track and it was an exciting race even without the championship battle involved, but I loved the way it played out. I think that NASCAR has got to be really pleased." Earnhardt's own path in this year's Chase ended in the Contender Round elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway, but he made the most of his ousting with his first Martinsville Speedway victory the following week. While he wasn't able to race for the title, he said that the system provided plenty of memorable moments, culminating in Sunday night's finale. Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports teammate and a four-time series champion, said he would like to see tweaks adopted for future postseasons, including a separate points system for Chase drivers that wouldn't penalize mistakes relative to the balance of the field, potentially awarding points for the rounds of 16, 12, 8 and 4 on a scale that equals the amount of title-eligible drivers remaining (16 points for first, 15 for second, 14 for third and so on). Earnhardt said that such a proposal might prompt even more intensity, a tough task after a season full of high-pressure moments. "I like his idea as far as us racing under a separate points system where you have 16 drivers and you get 16 to 1 point regardless of your finishing position, you're just graded against the drivers in the Chase," Earnhardt said. "I think that's fair and I think that would be easy and simple for the fans. I don't particularly know that it would've played out any differently, but I believe yes, it'd be simpler and not so challenging for the drivers. It would allow us a little freedom to race a bit more aggressively, knowing that well, I'm just going to cost myself a couple of points versus 20. Much different scope and you can definitely race with more freedom because I felt, at times, stymied a little bit, by my ability to go out there and be aggressive. I felt sort of hog-tied and racing with too much caution, just trying to do X instead of thinking about Y and Z. "I like that idea a ton, and I think you still maintain the integrity of the system we have and the excitement of it." Letarte shares secret to Dale Jr.'s success Steve Letarte will call one more race as a crew chief on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, ESPN), and he says he plans to enjoy every minute as he attempts to get a 16th career win. "We're going to enjoy every lap, every practice session," Letarte said Tuesday on the Dirty Mo Radio podcast. "Wherever we finish, we finish. And that's fun to say, but I'm telling you, it would make for a whole lot better story and a whole lot bigger celebration in Victory Lane." He's earned the right to have a fun weekend after turning around the career of NASCAR's 11-time NMPA Most Popular Driver, but he says the credit should go to Dale Earnhardt Jr. In four years (2007-2010) before joining forces with Letarte -- one at Dale Earnhardt Inc. and his first three with Hendrick Motorsports -- Earnhardt had one win, 22 top-five finishes, 41 top 10 finishes and averaged an 18.5-place finish in the standings. In his last four seasons, he's earned five victories, 36 top fives, 74 top 10s and an 8.5 average finish in the points standings. "I've said this before and no one believes me, but the truth be known, I really don't think I've done much in the last four years," Letarte said. "I think Dale has done it all, and I just get a lot of the credit. "I think Dale and I both at the end of 2010 were at a point in our career that we had to look in the mirror and decide how much effort we were willing to put in to turn it around for both of us. Luckily for me, his answer to that question was whatever it took, and my (answer) was whatever it took. And we surrounded ourselves with a bunch of guys that had the same answer and that's what we've done." Both Letarte and Mike Davis, director of communications for JR Motorsports, remembered the turning point that led to the No. 88's successful run. The secret was a renewed focus on racing. "This started with a meeting with Mike, and he looked at me like I was crazy when I said, 'Alright, Mike. Here's the deal. I need Dale at the truck at this time. We're going to do this, we're going to do no media here, no appearances here and block out his time,'" Letarte recalled of his 2010 meeting with Davis. "And I could see the look on Mike's face like, 'Oh yeah, this is really going to fly right here. This is going to be big.' And really it was great, and guys like Mike helped me and support those plans and we went back to racing. We made racing the priority and that, I think, has been the No. 1 breakthrough in the last four years." Davis shared his side of the conversation and the exchange he had with Earnhardt that led to Junior's return to the driver that won 17 races with a 9.6 average points finish in his first seven years in the sport from 2000-2006. "Me and you probably talked for about an hour, but what you probably don't know and nobody knows except Dale is that I emailed him probably minutes after you and I got done meeting," Davis said. "And I told Dale, I said, 'This is what Steve expects, and my advice here is if you do this, this is going to be your best shot at winning the championship.'" "I felt that that absolutely was what he needed and what he wanted. He wanted that authority to keep him accountable, and you brought that. And I think absolutely that has a lot to do with his change on the personal level as well, but it started in that garage." Letarte, who was 16 when he started at Hendrick Motorsports, said he understood the importance of accountability from his earliest days with the company, and he applied it to his teams when he became a crew chief for Jeff Gordon in 2005. "What we learned at the 48/88, back when it was the 24 and the 48 and back when it was only the 24 run by Ray Evernham is our motto is simple: Everyone's accountable," Letarte said. "It doesn't guarantee any sort of success. This sport is too tough. But if no one is accountable, that guarantees pretty close to failure because there's no way you're going to be able to beat teams that show up prepared, show up ready to race." After 10 years and 330 races, Letarte plans to follow the same plan for success when he heads to the NBC Sports booth in 2015. "I think we're going to be really serious about it," Letarte said. "Myself and Jeff Burton and Rick Allen are going to watch some races together just to see if we all watch a race the same way, we all see the same race, we all see the same exciting event. "And then as we get closer, I think we're really going to practice. I think we're going to set up a booth and go in there and pretend we're on the air." Since announcing that he would join the NBC booth last January during preseason testing at Daytona, Letarte said his future employer has been "very respectful" of his time during his final season as a crew chief. His wife has worked with the broadcaster to set a schedule for the race analyst to follow during the first half of next season before NBC's first race in July at Daytona. "NBC doesn't do anything, I've learned, halfway," Letarte said. "They're committed to the sport for at least 10 years, and they're committed to this broadcast team and we want to make sure that we give the same commitment back so we're going to practice and do everything we can," Letarte said. "Because my goal is the 16-year-old kid with his dad and then his grandmother sitting in the living room, I can talk to all of them. And if I can excite all three of them about NASCAR as excited as I am about NASCAR, then it'll be job well done." Although it will be his first full-time experience in television, Letarte's track record at Hendrick Motorsports, the only place he's ever worked, suggests it will be a job well done. And the man who started his career sweeping floors at the age of 16 might inspire another 16-year-old to grow up and complete a season sweep of Pocono. "Without a doubt, I could sweep a mean floor back at 16," Letarte said. "It propelled me to some great opportunities, and I'm sure I'm going to take a minute at the top of the pit box (at Homestead-Miami) and remember it because I don't know if I'll ever get back on top of a pit box and call a race." JRM's growth reaches apex with Elliott It was a deal that came together late, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. believed in its potential from the start. Now, less than 12 months after signing 18-year-old Chase Elliott as a driver for his No. 9 JR Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series team, Earnhardt Jr. is reaping the rewards. Elliott, competing full time in the series for the first time, wrapped up the series championship Saturday with a fifth-place finish in the DAV 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. With only one race remaining, next week's Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Elliott holds an insurmountable 52-point lead on teammate Regan Smith. Earnhardt is listed as the owner for the organization, along with sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Rick Hendrick. While it's the first title for JRM, now in its ninth season, it's not the first for Earnhardt, the sport's most popular driver. Officially, he won Nationwide Series titles with driver Martin Truex Jr. (2004-05) with Chance 2, in a collaborative effort with Dale Earnhardt Inc. "It's very overwhelming, but at the same time we're very proud and looking forward to more success," Earnhardt said as Saturday's celebration began to break up. "Hopefully this is a sign of more things to come for us." While he can't catch his teammate, Smith, who leads third-place Brian Scott by 13 points, can secure second next week, which would give JRM a 1-2 finish in the points battle. Earnhardt said he isn't surprised at the success of the organization, or his drivers, who have won four of this year's 32 races. "Right out of the gate I felt (Chase) and Regan would be very difficult for the competition," he said. That was indeed the case, as Elliott notched three wins and has been a model of consistency, finishing in the top five 16 times and in the top 10 26 times. Saturday's 10-place finish by Smith, the winner of the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, was his 25th top-10 this year. "It's obviously huge for the organization," Smith said. "It's been a long time coming for the company, I'd say before either one of us were here, and a lot of people have really worked hard for it and certainly Chase deserves it." Hendrick, who fields Earnhardt Jr.'s Sprint Cup car along with entries for Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne, said combining what was his former Hendrick Nationwide Series (then Busch Series) program with that of JRM, has "really worked out well." "It was a great move," he said, "and I'm just really proud of Kelley and Dale because they've worked hard. It's a good building block for our organization, so we've put some young guys in there and they get to be crew chiefs, like Greg Ives, so it's a good Triple-A team for us." Ives, crew chief for Elliott, will move up to Sprint Cup next season to replace Steve Letarte as Earnhardt's crew chief. Earnhardt also noted the talent pipeline created by the union of the organizations. Drivers, crew chiefs and crewmen have been able to advance their careers. And along the way, it's made the JRM organization stronger. "We really like where we are," he said. "We've learned how to successfully run this program financially and I think we need to stick around for a little while and try to enjoy being a fellow competitor in this series." Winning the title with Elliott, son of 1988 NASCAR premier series champion Bill Elliott, means much to Earnhardt. The elder Elliott sauntered over after Saturday's crowd had dispersed to congratulate the owner and share the moment. "That?s pretty damn cool," Earnhardt said afterward. "I think Bill adds a lot to it, he's such a genuine person. You see the kind of support system (Chase) has with his mother and family and it makes you just wish so much for him, knowing that he's got his head on straight and he's such a good boy. You love to see people like that do good things, because you know he appreciates what he's doing, where he's at." How much does he think of the youngster? "He'll be such an easy guy to pull for going down the road," Earnhardt said. "When I retire, he's going to be my guy. I'm going to be a Chase Elliott fan all the damn way. I want him to do well because I want to pull for Chase Elliott when I'm sitting there watching the races when I'm 65 years old." The son of seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, Earnhardt Jr. said he imagines "what my dad would think about me and Bill working together, just (stuff) like that. It really blows my mind that we're getting to work with Bill." A simple gesture nearly a year ago has resulted in the celebration of a championship. When sponsor NAPA pulled out of Sprint Cup on the heels of penalties levied against Michael Waltrip Racing in September of 2013, the auto parts company wasn't expected to return. Even Earnhardt said he didn't know if the group would be back. But because of their longstanding support of the sport, he said, he decided to give officials a call and suggest they reconsider. "I wasn't trying to pitch them anything on my end but I felt like if the sport lost them as a whole, it would create a big void," he said. "They had been a big part of the sport for a really long time and I thought they should reconsider their involvement, whether with us or someone else. I thought they should be in the sport and not to let what happened to them really make that decision for them. I thought they should be around and could enjoy a lot of success if they stuck it out." As it turns out, he was correct about both NAPA and Elliott, although he takes no credit for the latter. "I get a lot of credit for finding the talent but Rick picked this guy right out of the mix," he said of Elliott. "He's been behind him through the K&N deal and the truck deal. Rick has invested a ton in Chase and this was Rick's opportunity to bring Chase into the Nationwide Series and NAPA thought it was a good deal." In the end, it was more than a just a good deal; it was a championship-winning deal. Gloves worn by Dale Jr., Danica for sale on eBay The Dale Jr. Foundation has been selling used race memorabilia on eBay as a way to raise money for charity organizations, joining the online auction sales site in 2008. Yet NASCAR is a competition, and that competition continues off the race track. So when Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick each had a pair of pink racing gloves on the auction website, we had to ask: Which pair would raise more money? It looks like the honor will go to NASCAR's Most Popular Drive (eleven times over), Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior's gloves had a highest bid of $3,550 while Danica's pair of Alpine Stars gloves were running at $2,247 at the time of this post. That's not to say the signature skull gloves are more coveted, though -- Danica's gloves had 71 bids as of publishing, with Junior's bringing in only 45. Bidding closes at 2:30 p.m. ET. The sale of Earnhardt Jr.'s gloves, worn a few weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway, will benefit Alamo Breast Cancer, a non-profit organization in San Antonio, Texas, established by four breast cancer survivors who wanted to take action against the disease. The winner will also receive a JR Motorsports hologram. Patrick's sales will head to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, a charity hand-picked by the driver. Her gloves were worn in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Patrick finished 26th, and feature the driver's autograph. Will Patrick have a late-auction surge in bids and beat out the sport's most popular driver? Check back to see. Can't afford to spend thousands of dollars on gloves? You can see the rest of the items being auctioned off by the foundation here. Dale Jr., Ives get jump on '15 at Homestead test Fresh off a victory at Martinsville Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Steve Letarte are among 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams testing Tuesday and Wednesday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Letarte, departing at season's end to move into the broadcast booth with NBC Sports next season, brought along a bit of help in the form of Greg Ives as teams will work on 2015 rules packages as well as setups for the upcoming season-ending race on Nov. 16. Ives is the crew chief for the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet with NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader Chase Elliott. He will take over as crew chief for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Sprint Cup team next season. Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's "The Morning Drive," Letarte said that the two-day test would give Ives and his driver a chance to work together without the pressure of a race weekend. "We're going to run a little bit under the 2015 rules," Letarte said. "(Greg) and Dale are going to be working some together today; I'm talking on the radio instead of working on the race car because I want Greg and Dale to really spend some time together and kind of get a leg up. "Then this afternoon about 5 o'clock when the sun starts to go down we'll jump into '14 rules; Dale and I will work hard and we'll probably do the same thing again tomorrow -- when the track is close to (what) we're going to have for the 3:30-4 o'clock start of the upcoming race, we're going to be in our '14 configuration. "When it's not that close, here in the middle of the day, we'll let Greg and Dale work through some plans for next year." The Sprint Cup Series moves on to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for the AAA Texas 500 (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN), before stops at Phoenix and Homestead close out the season. "If you're going to go and spend the time and money and effort to go test, to get on the airplane, to go down there … do it right or don't do it at all," he said. "Winning is better than losing, that's what we figured out and there's three more to go and our goal is to win all three." The Martinsville victory was the fourth win of the season for Earnhardt Jr., who also won the Daytona 500 and swept both races at Pocono Raceway. It was his fifth since being paired with Letarte in 2011. Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne are also participating in the two-day test, as is Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske), Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Carl Edwards (Roush Fenway Racing), Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing), and Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing). The group includes seven of the eight drivers still battling for this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title – Richard Childress Racing's Ryan Newman is the only Chase driver not in attendance. According to a spokesman for RCR, the organization has already used all four of its tests allowed at NASCAR tracks. "It basically looks like a Chase heat race," Letarte said. "Egos will come out today. We say we're testing, but you don't want to go home the slowest." Earnhardt win helps build new Martinsville history for Hendrick History exists in every turn, in every crevice of Martinsville Speedway. From the elegant grandfather clocks given as race trophies and the antiquated look and feel of the 0.526-mile track, the oldest on the circuit, to the historic black-and-white photos that populate the media center, there is always a constant reminder of the past here in the southern Virginia foothills. Dale Earnhardt Jr., a lover of NASCAR history, made some of his own with Sunday's victory. The man who attended his first race at the track in the 1980s, who grew up playing with toy Matchbox race cars in the front hall of his childhood home, listening to a race on the radio as one of the clocks his father won chimed every hour, now has a timepiece of his own after Sunday's thrilling victory. "You know, I love the history of the sport and just can't get enough of it," said Earnhardt Jr., whose mood vacillated from euphoric to contemplative throughout a 30-minute interview after Sunday's win. "I just know this place has a special meaning and a special place in the series and the sport. Dad won several races here, brought home several clocks. I always wanted one." "This is so special. I try not to get too caught up in the emotion of it because it's a team deal, but this is very personal and very special to me to be able to win here." He did so by charging through the field after starting 23rd, leading 79 laps and holding off Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon over the frenetic final four laps in a race that had big wrecks and bigger swings. That it was Junior and Gordon finishing 1-2 made the day more fitting for Hendrick Motorsports. Yes, Martinsville is steeped in history. Not all of it is worth celebrating. It was 10 years ago when a Hendrick Motorsports plane crashed into the side of Bull Mountain en route to Martinsville, killing all 10 people aboard. Jimmie Johnson didn't go to Victory Lane that day after his win, and team owner Rick Hendrick's presence at this track is no longer guaranteed. Sometimes attending is too painful for Hendrick, who lost his son, brother and two nieces in the tragedy. The team owner was at this one, though, his mere presence a symbol of the same strength he showed in the days and years following that incident. Like so many in the stands, he nervously watched the dramatic final stages unfold as he wondered if either of his two drivers would win -- or if they'd wreck each other trying. "We miss those folks, family and friends, and they meant so much to the organization," he said as the race wound down. "Every year we think about it, but this year's (different) … 10 years." Then he was there in Victory Lane, the man who has built a four-car operation that is the envy of many, wrapping up the 11-time Most Popular Driver Award winner in a massive embrace. There they stood as confetti poured down around them, two men who have both endured unfathomable tragedy yet manage to still exude genuine gracefulness all these years later. "I could feel how important it was to (Hendrick) and his embrace, when he would hug me," Earnhardt said. "You just know, there's a hug and then there's a genuine hug. His was the real deal. "This is the 10th anniversary. It's more difficult. The 10th anniversary sort of has you reflecting and remembering. … Losing my dad was difficult. I can't imagine that loss that he went through, his family went through, the whole organization. I think I've paralleled my loss and his loss until I started working with him, then I started understanding it's quite a bit larger void that it created." Sunday's unforgettable victory was Earnhardt's fourth of 2014, his highest total in a decade. He's won at Daytona and Martinsville in the same year, and swept the Pocono races. His No. 88 Chevrolet constantly runs toward the front more than it ever has in his career. In his final year with crew chief Steve Letarte, the National Guard team has reached that rare stage where it is fast at every track on the schedule. Opening the season with a Daytona 500 win set a standard the group has consistently matched, and for a while it looked like this team was destined to win the 2014 title until a rough three-race stretch ousted them from the postseason. "I don't believe in fairytales," Earnhardt Jr. said of no longer being in control of his title aspirations. "It's only destiny in hindsight, you know? This wasn't our year. It's only magical after the fact, when you see it happen." Letarte agreed, saying the team had "no excuses" for why it's out of the championship running. That reality didn't keep smiles off either of their faces, though. Letarte may have been as excited as Earnhardt, simply because of how frequently he's heard the clock talk over years -- and how winning at Martinsville was something that Earnhardt needed to check off his career resume. Sure, it didn't come in a championship season, but Earnhardt will never again have a "0" next to the win column at this venue. His place in the Martinsville history book is secured, the man who loves NASCAR history helping to ensure his name will be etched among other legends 50 years from now. There's a different kind of history that comes with this win, too. Personal history. "Hopefully when I'm at his house having a cold one, we'll listen to the thing chime 10 years from now and smile," Letarte said. Now that sounds like a fairytale ending. Earnhardt Jr. gets emotional win at Martinsville Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned his fourth win of the season on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in an emotional victory a week after he was eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Jeff Gordon was second, giving Hendrick Motorsports a 1-2 finish on the 10-year anniversary weekend of the fatal plane crash that killed 10 people on their way to the speedway. Lost on that day were team owner Rick Hendrick’s son, brother, twin nieces, the team general manger, head engine builder, a key sponsor representative, two Hendrick pilots and a pilot for Tony Stewart. "This means so much to all of us," Earnhardt said. "I lost my daddy a long time ago and I know how hard that is. I can’t imagine losing the amount of people Rick lost. My heart goes out to him during this weekend. This honours them." Gordon was the highest finishing Chase driver. Without a Chase driver in Victory Lane, no driver clinched an automatic berth in the Nov. 16 championship finale at Homestead. "That means so much to Hendrick Motorsports," Gordon said. "That’s the best way you can possibly pay tribute to those that we lost 10 years ago. To have a 1-2 finish, that’s pretty awesome. I would have loved to have gotten that win to move on to Homestead, but this is certainly a great start for us." Chase driver Ryan Newman was third, and Tony Stewart finished fourth. Chase drivers Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth were fifth and sixth. Running fifth, Stewart gambled and stayed on the track after the race was red-flagged with 10 laps left. Earnhardt and Gordon pitted for fresh tires, and that one final stop was just enough for the successful finish. "If we had to do that 100 times over, we’d do the same thing," Stewart said. "We didn’t have anything to lose. It was worth the gamble. "This is as good as a win to me." Other Chase driver results included: Denny Hamlin eighth, Carl Edwards 20th, Brad Keselowski 31st and Kevin Harvick 33rd. Harvick crashed just past the halfway point when he had contact with Kenseth following a restart. It made for a mixed day for Stewart-Haas Racing: Team co-owner Stewart scored his first top-five finish since March, but Harvick’s championship chances took a huge hit. Harvick had to take his car to the garage, where crew members from all of SHR’s teams worked furiously to repair the damage and get him back on the track. Even competition director Greg Zipadelli was working on the Chevrolet, which received significant repairs before Harvick returned to the race, down 40 laps. "Yeah, he won’t win this championship," Harvick said of Kenseth. "If we don’t, he won’t." Added Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers: "He just flat-out wrecked us. It’s a bad decision on his part, for sure." Kenseth called the race "one of the lowlights of my career," and said he understood Harvick’s frustration. "I don’t blame him for feeling like that, to be honest with you. It was a mistake," Kenseth said. "He was an innocent bystander, at the wrong place at the wrong time. I totally understand how he feels, I totally understand why he would say that, I totally get it. "He knows it’s a mistake, too, but that doesn’t really help him. I don’t blame him. He got taken out of the race for being at the wrong place at the wrong time." Harvick likely needs to win at either Texas Motor Speedway next week or Phoenix International Raceway — where he’s a five-time winner — to advance to the finale. Same for Keselowski, who overcame an early speeding penalty to be in the hunt until a mechanical problem in his Ford caused a multi-car crash that involved Edwards with 64 laps left and forced a red flag. Keselowski just climbed out of a similar hole a week ago — he had to win at Talladega to advance into this round of the Chase. "It’s been tough but it builds character and makes us stronger," Keselowski said. "With this format, we’re by no means out." Another accident led to a second red flag with 10 laps left that lasted for nearly 10 minutes. Earnhardt and Gordon lined up 1-2 and instantly took off for pit road when the action resumed. Stewart stayed out, but was passed by Earnhardt for the lead with four laps remaining. Earnhardt got the win he needed a week late and is simply running for trophies down the stretch instead of a championship. "We tried to win here so many years," he said. "This place is so special to me. I wanted to win here so bad. We’ve brought some good cars." The race had its usual dose of revenge as Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne took turns retaliating against each other until NASCAR told them to knock it off. The warning came after Kahne had spun Vickers, who then told his crew: "Alright, we owe him another. We can do this all day long." Both drivers were then relayed the message from NASCAR, to which Kahne crew chief Kenny Francis said "The ball was in (Vickers’) court." Eight-time Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson, who was eliminated from the Chase last week, finished 32nd. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins at Martinsville Dale Earnhardt Jr. used a bump-and-go move against Tony Stewart with three laps remaining and drove off to win the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. Playing the role of Chase buster, Junior held off Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for his first grandfather clock at the 0.526-mile track. Gordon finished second as the HMS drivers were 1-2 just days after the 10-year anniversary of the Hendrick plane crash that took 10 lives. The Hendrick drivers were displaying a decal on their cars in rememberance of those who lost their lives. The win at Martinsville was Junior's first, though the driver came close with second-place finishes there in 2011 and 2008, and it was a fitting parting gift for outgoing crew chief Steve Letarte, who will leave for the NBC broadcast booth after the 2014 season. Gordon was the top Chase finisher and was followed across the start/finish line by Ryan Newman, Stewart and Joey Logano on a wild day of racing that featured several wrecks. Other Chase finishers were: Matt Kenseth, sixth; Denny Hamlin, eighth; Carl Edwards, 20th; Brad Keselowski, 31st and Kevin Harvick, 33rd. Dale Jr.: 'I've never been this nervous' Being in the media center and answering questions? Absolutely no problem for Dale Earnhardt Jr. The veteran has plenty of experience there. So what made him so nervous being in front of the press Sunday morning? Well, it had nothing to do with the Goody's announcement that required his presence for a press conference more than three hours before the green flag is scheduled to fall here at Martinsville Speedway. No, Junior's heart was pounding for a very different reason. It was because there were two Juniors in the media center. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was one. Junior Johnson, one of the most legendary figures in NASCAR history, was the other. "I've never been this nervous in a media center before," Earnhardt said. "And it's because Junior Johnson is in here. Wow." "What an honor," Earnhardt added, while beckoning to the man who, in addition to being a member of the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class, represents perhaps the greatest living connection to NASCAR's roots. The two then posed for a photo in front of a grandfather clock, which Junior -- err, Earnhardt -- will attempt to win later today for the first time. Goody's expands support of Dale Jr., JRM As the second year of their partnership nears an end, both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Goody's are looking for more from their relationship as the calendar approaches 2015. Judging by the news emerging Sunday morning from Martinsville Speedway, both sides did more than enough to up the ante. Goody's announced Sunday that the brand would expand its support of the Earnhardt-owned JR Motorsports team, serving as the primary sponsor for one NASCAR XFINITY Series race each season through 2017. Earnhardt will take the wheel of the operation's No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro for each race, including the company's primary sponsorship debut with JRM next season at Texas Motor Speedway. The deal is an extension of the partnership that Earnhardt struck with the headache-relief powder manufacturer before the 2013 season, when he joined forces with original Goody's spokesman and NASCAR royalty in "King" Richard Petty, the seven-time NASCAR premier series champion. "It's great when you can bring in a partner that starts off as a personal service agreement, they get an understanding of how our company works and get a good experience from that and want to grow that into sponsorship of a race car -- it helps us a ton," Earnhardt said. "Anytime we can get a sponsor grown from a personal service agreement to where they're on the quarterpanel of a car is a success for us. We're in the business of racing cars and trying to fund a race team, so them becoming a part of that process is really important for us." Besides the bigger sponsorship footprint, Goody's also sweetened the deal with what's either a unique technological advance or an extreme gimmick -- a talking car. In the latest commercial video, shot with help from personnel on his own production company Hammerhead Entertainment, Earnhardt's voice emerges from a No. 88 Chevy in Goody's livery parked along the main drag in Davidson, North Carolina, startling passersby and giving a good-natured ribbing to the curious. If the ability to have his car talk was available come Sunday, would it come in handy to tell his rivals to move over while working through Martinsville's trademark rush hour traffic? "I don't know if any of them guys would listen as well as those people did walking around on the street," Earnhardt said, "but honking and playing jokes on people is always a good time." Goody's presence in NASCAR has been well-established, as the company signed Petty as its spokesman in 1977. The addition of Earnhardt to the Goody's driver lineup was intended to appeal to the next generation of NASCAR fans. The subsidiary of Tarrytown, New York-based Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc., has also been a longtime supporter of Martinsville Speedway. Goody's partnership with the .526-mile oval reached its 27th anniversary this season; title sponsorship of the track's October race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series continues through 2015. Dale Jr. gives JR Nation pep talk Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave a pep talk on Tuesday’s "The Dale Jr. Download" on Dirty Mo Radio that’s must-click material for fans of the No. 88 driver. Heck, his Hendrick Motorsports teammates might want to give it a listen, too, as well as anyone who likes to hear some raw emotion from their sports heroes from time to time. Despite failing to advance to the Eliminator Round of the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, Junior is not throwing in the towel on the rest of the season and especially wants to give outgoing crew chief Steve Letarte a proper sendoff. It's hard to argue when NASCAR's Most Popular Driver comes strong with the following. (Try to picture a locker-room scene at halftime with Junior stalking the aisles while he says this): "As disappointing as this race was and to be eliminated like we were, we have to remember several, things. First off, we have to finish the season. "There's races that can be won and there's trophies that we can get, and we need to be able to look at ourselves at the end of the season and be proud of the effort all the way to the end. "It'd be easy to quit now and half-ass it the rest of the way. But I don't think any of us would be too proud of ourselves if that's the effort we put in." That, in and of itself, would be enough to make the hair stand on the back of the neck. But there’s more fire and brimstone brought by Junior in a thoughtful, logical manner: "We knew it would be hard. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. We didn't get it done. We get to try again the next season." To hear the rest of Junior’s five-minute rant, as well as full commentary in the latest episode, go to Dirty Mo Radio at: http://www.dalejr.com/radio/tdjd/default.aspx. Earnhardt Jr. reflects on Chase elimination Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s title hopes came to a disappointing end Sunday on the backstretch of Talladega Superspeedway. Caught up in a multi-car accident during the first of two green-white-checkered attempts, the Hendrick Motorsports driver wound up 31st in the GEICO 500. A long shot became no shot. The opportunity to advance to the Eliminator Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup went out the window when contact from Greg Biffle sent Earnhardt's car spinning into the wall. Earnhardt joined teammates Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne, along with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch, as those eliminated from Chase title contention. "I don't know if I came down on him or what," Earnhardt said of the contact with the Roush Fenway Racing driver. "I thought I was holding my line, but we were all kind of tight back there.” Earnhardt, Johnson and Brad Keselowski, bringing up the rear of the Chase points heading into the race, needed a win to advance to the next round. Keselowski accomplished the feat, on one of the most treacherous tracks on the schedule. Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet was out front twice for 31 laps, and when he wasn't leading he was often dicing up front among those who were. But getting shuffled back in the field during the final stage of the race left him in a precarious position. "We worked real hard all day long trying to run up front," Earnhardt said. "I knew we needed to be up front all day long. We got shuffled to the back. I made a move trying to get up front and it didn't work out. So, we lost a lot of track position and never got it back. "You need to be up front. You need to be in the top four the last few restarts. Those are the guys that have a shot at it. You know you're not going to pass 10 or 12 cars there in six or seven laps. We tried. It just didn't work out." In a race that saw 38 lead changes among 19 drivers, Earnhardt broke out on top on Lap 75 and stayed on the point for 29 laps. He lost the lead during a round of pit stops, then led briefly for two more laps shortly afterward. He was able to stay around the top 10 for much of the second half of the race, until only some 30 or so laps remained. Even then, given the unpredictable nature of racing on the 2.66-mile track, hope remained. "We worked hard to try to get back into the top five or so, and it just didn't work out," he said. "The car did get loose on one run. We made a good adjustment and it was driving good at the end." Crew chief Steve Letarte said it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. "We just never could get a foothold; never could mount a charge back to the front," he said. "That's just how it is. Sometimes you get cycled out at the wrong time and that was definitely not the right time to get cycled out." While the car certainly seemed capable of winning, Letarte said the nature of racing here tempers expectations. "I'm not going to say it doesn't matter," he said. "I don't want to discount the hard work our company puts in the engines and these (crew) guys put into the car, but … a great car gives you very little guarantee." A winner of three races prior to the start of the Chase, Earnhardt came to Talladega on the heels of disappointing finishes at Kansas and Charlotte that put his team in a must-win scenario. That he was unable to advance was disappointing, but not crushing. "There have probably been worse things," he said. "I'm not retiring or anything, so we'll try next year. "We've had a good season and have a lot to be looking forward to. We're definitely not going to get too torn up about (it); we didn't run well." Dale Jr.: Every man for himself at Talladega For Dale Earnhardt Jr., the only realistic way to keep the championship hopes of the No. 88 team alive is to win Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET on ESPN). If Earnhardt wins, however, there's a good chance he'll knock teammate Jimmie Johnson out of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. But Earnhardt isn't about to let that thought affect his approach. "We all sort of just race our own races and run our own seasons," Earnhardt said Saturday morning at Talladega. "I would never expect any of my teammates to do anything differently. They're supposed to go out there and run as good as they possibly can run and finish as well as they possibly can finish every week. "I've been in situations in years past, with Michael (Waltrip) in particular, at race tracks where we're working together, and it's five laps to go and I'm driving the Bud car and the Miller car (with Rusty Wallace) is behind me. If I pull out, he's not going to go with me. Do I help my teammate?" Over the years, Earnhardt has found a clear-cut answer to that question. "I've been in those situations before, and there's really no other (solution) than all you have to do in that situation is to think about the team on pit road, and all the guys that are working in that shop and the fabricators that work on your car, individually, that are at home watching. And they want you to win. "And those are the people that matter. So, you've got to go and try to do whatever you need to do. That particular night, I pulled out and Rusty (Wallace) didn't go and we sent to sixth. And I think Michael won. But we tried. I felt so much better having tried than to sit there and run right behind my teammate and not have tried." Even though Hendrick Motorsports prides itself on a spirit of cooperation between its teams, when it comes down to the final laps, it's every man for himself, particularly when the championship is on the line. "I think that's the mentality that you have to have, and we are one great company that we all try to work for and try to improve and help," Earnhardt said. "But when it comes down to individual races, you've got to do everything you can for the guys that are putting your car together. "And you want it, too. I definitely need to move forward. I need to get into the next round. We want to get into the next round, and we can't worry about anybody else to make that happen." Dale Jr.: Not in 'panic mode' in must-win race A five-time winner at Talladega Superspeedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Saturday that he won't use the way he won those five races taking the green flag in Sunday's GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN) in a must-win situation to make the Eliminator Round. "These races are like snowflakes at this place," Earnhardt Jr. said. "They all play out differently." Earnhardt Jr. heads into the finale of the Contender Round in last place among the 12 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers. Advancement will require a sixth win that would tie him with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for second on the all-time win list behind his father, Dale Earnhardt, at NASCAR's biggest and fastest track. Gordon is sixth in the standings and should advance with seven other drivers to the next round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup beginning next weekend at Martinsville Speedway. But Earnhardt Jr. and teammates Jimmie Johnson, who is in 11th, and Kasey Kahne, who sits in eighth place on the Chase bubble, are in danger of seeing their chances at winning a championship end with Sunday's checkered flag. Although a win by any of the Hendrick drivers likely will knock out at least two others from the organization, Earnhardt Jr. is only thinking about his No. 88 team. "All you have to do is think about the guys in that shop, the fabricators watching at home on TV," Earnhardt Jr. said. "... When it comes down to individual races, you've got to do it for the guys on the team, and I want it, too. I need to move forward. "I wish we had to finish 'x' or better, but we've got one route and that's through Victory Lane." Following finishes of 39th and 20th in the first two races of the Contender Round at Kansas Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, Earnhardt Jr. says he's just glad to still be contention and a win away from continuing his quest for a first title. "I feel fortunate to have a shot at it after the last two weeks," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I'm looking at it in a bit of a positive manner than 'Oh, we're in panic mode.' " Vibrations in his Gen-6 Chevrolet SS have plagued the team in recent weeks, but so far this weekend, he says his car is good to go. Also, the Goodyear Eagles the team will bolt on the car should help him feel comfortable. "(Vibrations are) like a ghost," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's hard to find. It's not a problem here for whatever reason. We won't change a lot of tires this weekend, so that will narrow it down. The tire they brought here is super-durable. We might not change tires at all." As he prepares for this 30th race at Talladega, Earnhardt Jr. also doesn't plan to change how he prepares to race at the track. "I've been racing here a long time," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I'm going to get my suit on and don't eat any bad fish." Earnhardt Jr. might shop for his Saturday supper at Winn-Dixie, a sponsor of the No. 5 JR Motorsports car that will run next May in the Winn-Dixie 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race. The team owner made the announcement as part of the grocery chain's news conference about its plan to name the 2015 event the next time NASCAR's national series return to Alabama. Click here to vist the Dale Earnhardt Jr New Archive Part 3