PHOENIX - Climbing from fourth to third in NASCAR's Sprint Cup chase for the championship point standings Saturday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy team finished seventh at the Phoenix International Raceway, Subway Fresh Fit 500 after starting 13th. Earnhardt led three times for a total of 87 laps to mark his sixth top-10 finish of the season.
Recapping the race:
Early in the race, Earnhardt radioed to crew chief Tony Eury Jr. that the car was loose. The team chose to pit early after a caution came out on Lap 11. The No. 88 Chevrolet went back out onto the track in 28th position, but the fresh tires made the difference, and Earnhardt improved to ninth by the next caution on Lap 40.
On Lap 41, the team pitted again because the car was loose. Eury called for a track bar adjustment and four tires. Thanks to a solid stop by his crew, Earnhardt picked up two positions and restarted the race in the seventh position. Earnhardt drove up to second place by Lap 113 and was just about to pit under green when a caution flag flew. The team pitted and went back out second behind the No. 48 of teammate Jimmie Johnson. A battle for the lead ensued between Johnson and Earnhardt. The No. 88 drew loud cheers from the crowd when Earnhardt took the lead on Lap 124. He led until lap 127, but then traded with Johnson and Mark Martin. The three sometimes passed each other three-wide on the one-mile track.
Earnhardt was running in second place when pole sitter Ryan Newman suffered an engine failure and started leaking oil on the track. NASCAR red-flagged the event on Lap 135 for a short period of time to clean up. When the race resumed, Earnhardt pitted on Lap 137. Four cars stayed on the track, so Earnhardt lined up in seventh place. On Lap 148 Earnhardt again took the lead and radioed to Eury and the team that the car was a little tight but was incredibly good.
The handling started to change on Lap 173 when Earnhardt said the left front tire was chattering. He told Eury that he wanted his "old car back" and to undo the previous changes.
The No. 88 pitted on Lap 200, and Earnhard's crew restored his car. Earnhardt led until Lap 272 when Martin passed him for the lead. Earnhardt fell back to fourth when green-flag pit stops began, and he pitted for two tires and fuel on Lap 305. Earnhardt finished seventh behind Johnson to notch his sixth top-10 finish of the season. Johnson's win marked the first in a points event and second of the year for Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt notched the team's first win in February when he won the Budweiser Shootout, a nonpoints event at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.