FONTANA, Calif. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. started ninth and drove the No. 5 National Guard/40th Infantry Brigade Combat Team car to a seventh-place finish in the Nationwide Series' rain-delayed Stater Brothers 300 Feb. 26 at the Auto Club Speedway. He also finished 40th in the day's premier race, the Sprint Cup's Auto Club 500, completing 203 of the 250 laps in the No. 88 car.
IN THE BEGINNING:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started ninth in the Nationwide Series race, which was postponed to Monday because of rainy weather on Saturday. Four laps into the event, Earnhardt reported that the No. 5 National Guard Chevrolet's handling was a bit tight. By Lap 32, Earnhardt still was battling a tight-handling race car and had slipped to 12th position.
LIFE IN THE PITS:
Earnhardt was running 10th on Lap 50 when he stopped for four fresh tires, fuel and a track bar, wedge and air pressure adjustment. The stop, made during a caution, was another attempt to alleviate the National Guard Chevy's tight handling conditions. At the restart on Lap 53, Earnhardt still was 10th.
Twelve laps later, Earnhardt radioed back to his team that the last air pressure adjustment hadn't helped the No. 5 Chevrolet. On Lap 67 and under a caution, Earnhardt pitted just for fuel and rejoined the field in 13th place at the Lap 71 restart.
Earnhardt climbed to the front as the race progressed and was leading the pack on Lap 101. But he was forced to pit two laps later under green because the lug nuts on the National Guard Chevy's tires weren't tight. Earnhardt rejoined the field in 25th place. Earnhardt made his final stop four laps later under caution for fuel and four fresh tires.
HOW IT ENDED:
Earnhardt was running 10th with 15 laps to go, and he climbed his way through the field to gain three more positions. He finished the race seventh.
QUOTING EARNHARDT:
"It was all right. We had a good car at the end. We came from like 22nd to seventh there on that last run. I was real happy. The car was fast, running good enough times, running in the top-three. We tried some pit strategy that hurt us. We thought we'd get these guys on gas mileage; it happens a lot here. We were going to try and take advantage of that, but it didn't work out."
NEXT UP:
This Saturday, Mark Martin will pilot the No. 5 Delphi Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which will air live on ESPN2 at 4 p.m., ET.
The No. 5 National Guard Chevrolet will return on Saturday, March 8 for the Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway with driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. The race will air live on ESPN2 at 1:30 p.m., ET.