LONG POND, Pa. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet spent most of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Pocono Raceway inside the top 15.
A series of caution periods brought pit and fuel strategy into play late in the race and Earnhardt crossed the finish line in the 19th position.
Earnhardt opened the weekend on a positive note, posting the fourth-fastest lap during the opening practice session, and followed that outing by scoring the third-fastest lap during Friday's qualifying session.
A downpour in the Pocono area delayed the drop of the green flag Sunday, but when the 200-lap event finally started - under windy and cooler temperatures - Earnhardt reported a loose-handling condition within 25 laps.
Despite the handling issue, Earnhardt held steady inside the top 10.
A round of green-flag pit stops began on Lap 46, and Earnhardt brought his blue-and-white Chevy down pit road the following circuit for service. Crew chief Lance McGrew called for four fresh tires, fuel and air pressure and chassis adjustments.
Once the field cycled through on Lap 50, the No. 88 Chevy was shown 14th on the scoring pylon.
By Lap 124, Earnhardt made his way back inside the top 10 and radioed the crew that he liked the handling on the No. 88 Chevy a lot.
The third caution flag waved on Lap 153 and Earnhardt, who was in the 11th position, made his way down pit road where the crew bolted on four fresh tires, made a chassis adjustment and added fuel.
Quick work by the crew sent Earnhardt back to green-flag racing on Lap 158 in the 10th position.
Fuel strategy came in to play for most teams and when the caution flag waved on Lap 159, the race teams executed their strategies - some teams came to pit road, some stayed out and some pitted several times - scrambling the field.
McGrew decided to stay on track.
Earnhardt was running 14th when the caution flag waved once again on Lap 166, and McGrew called his driver to pit road for a fuel-only pit stop and those drivers who had pitted during the previous caution period remained on the track.
Earnhardt was shown in the 26th position for the Lap 171 restart.
Earnhardt picked up seven positions during the closing laps to cross the finish line 19th, and he advances one position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings to take 16th.
He trails 12th-place Clint Bowyer by 87 points after 15 races in the 2010 season.