Truth & Rumors > Auto Racing
Junior's roller-coaster weekend
Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway completed a weekend of a wide range of emotions for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team. Lackluster practice sessions on Thursday and Friday left Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., scratching their heads over how to improve their car. After getting some input from his fellow Hendrick teammates -- particularly members of Johnson's team -- Earnhardt Jr. found himself up front for a significant portion of the race and in position to end his career-long 70-race winless streak. "Me and Tony Jr. came up with some ideas and borrowed some ideas from Chad (Knaus, Johnson's crew chief), which helped my car amazingly," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We were running good at night. Right there at the end I think I just drove the tires off of it, I guess. I was losing ground." Earnhardt Jr. and his team, like Johnson's, considered skipping a final pit stop for gas, but when they saw how much of a lead Johnson had, they made the decision to pit. "Jimmie's crew told us they were going to try (to make it on fuel) and, for us, it was too much of a gamble just to try to get second place. We did the smart thing and came in. He already had us beat on the race track," Earnhardt Jr. said.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., AP
More FanHouse Blogs
- Boxer Francisco Rodriguez Dies After Bout
- Kimbo Slice Announced for TUF 10 Finale
- A New Chapter in Classic Magic-Bird Tale
- MLB Rumors Heating Up
- Jimmie Johnson Wins 4th Straight Title
- Eric Wood Injury Too Brutal for TV Replay
- FCS Playoff Schedule
- BCS Rankings Week 13
- Rick Hendrick Misses Season Finale
- Amir Sadollah Bloodies Phil Baroni
Stub Hub
The 2009 schedule has been released. Search for tickets!
Truth & Rumors
MOST POPULAR
-
1
Chargers accuse McDaniels of trash talk
- Views
- 18934
- Comments
- 2659
-
2
Source: Damon won't take pay cut
- Views
- 47709
- Comments
- 963
-
3
Parcells to Browns?
- Views
- 110558
- Comments
- 400
-
4
Should Notre Dame join Big Ten?
- Views
- 18418
- Comments
- 221
-
5
Weis won't resign
- Views
- 38438
- Comments
- 198
Most Active Users
Comments + Blog Posts + Throwdowns
Message Boards
-
NCAAF > General NCAAF
What happens if Bama and UT…
- Views
- 364
- Replies
- 31
-
NCAAF > Ohio State Buckeyes
Season Analysis
- Views
- 194
- Replies
- 29
-
MMA > General MMA
thoughts on 106
- Views
- 179
- Replies
- 42
Blogs
-
Your Personal ESPN for the…
Week 11 Preview: Baltimore vs. Indianapolis
Baltimore Ravens vs. Indianapolis Colts@ M&T Bank Stadium @ 1:00 ET…
- Views
- 9147
- Comments
- 13
-
Maddhatter's Words
Fire Reid as Coach Keep him as GM
That's right I said it, the man with an amazing winning percentage over the…
- Views
- 4772
- Comments
- 9
-
Dan Patrick Blog
DP Show in the News
The Beckham family enjoys a basketball game. AP It's…
- Views
- 19
- Comments
- 0
Blog Roll
Julie Henderson
Damaris Lewis
Sled Hockey
Heisman Moments: Closest Finishes
SI Media Kits
|
About Us
|
Contact Us
|
Add RSS headlines.
Copyright 2008 Time Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.
Comments (10) Add A Comment
I think that about 41 other drivers raced and didn't win last night but yet we have to get the Jr. story. Enough already.
JKINDELRAY
Total Comments (2905)
SI is just trying to meet their quota of four Junior storied a week. Next time we'll hear about how his fire suit is too tight.
Rickapolis
Annapolis , MD
Total Comments (6350)
Geez folks....I didn't see 41 different folks leading that race last night. Given that Jr has led a whole bunch of laps in races lately and then loose performance in the latter portion of the race, it would be nice to know what the heck they did wrong to loose the race.
Shynloco
Total Comments (2186)
hey hey... no big deal... im one of the biggest Dale Jr. fans around and he's comin back to bein his old self when he dominated at talladega... o and look what race is coming up... O YEA talledaga so lets see what happens there big boys! he's still in 3rd in points and makin his wayy to the top! so watch out, here he comes!
dalejrfan88
Total Comments (33)
Jh will not only win at dega but that will launch his year and I bet he wins 3-4 more before the chase.
Fitter602
Hagerstown , MD
Total Comments (30)
I agree, this story is in here because Jr. led so many laps.. Who do you want them to write about Blaney, Bill Elliot, or others drivers who didn't even compete. Instead they wrote an article about the most popular driver 5 years in a row.. Hummm--I wonder why!!
Ohio
Nw, OH
Total Comments (1902)
Thank you very much Junior fans!!!! Lots of haters out there that cant stand to see a great driver getting the attention he deserves for all of the right reasons! Junior will win races this year, and he sure as heck has done a lot better than most of the field. Be good sports, and give the guy a hand for doing well.
hairmaven77
Phoenix , AZ
Total Comments (1)
More importantly, are there 40 other drivers who have not won this year and are there 6 drivers who HAVE? How many have gone less than 70 without a win? Basically, this is the longest article on the site, about a driver having a decent season but far from the best out there. Others led the race, most of those led more laps, some other idiot won, but SI feels they can attach Juniors pic and name to just about anything and his fan base will eat it up. Obviously, they are right. I have nothing against Junior (other than his lack of spine dealing with stepmom and his poor choice in teammates), and I hope he does win this season. But SI could give a rest already...
gstrdr
Monmouth, ME
Total Comments (306)
"great driver"? Since when is Dale Jr considered a great driver? I see no championships won or races won since Bill Clinton was in office. Jr. is nothing but a field filler.
Cap
Boston, MA
Total Comments (42)
Comment
Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.