INDIANAPOLIS - Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet were closing in on the top 10 as the race was winding down during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event this past Sunday.
The race was at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana, and Earnhardt, who was collected in another competitor’s mishap, finished the race in 27th.
Earnhardt rolled off the starting grid 17th for the 400-mile event at the Brickyard and quickly reported that the engine temperatures were running hotter than desired.
The team had an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 14 to address the issue -- grass on the grill -- and Earnhardt returned to the track in the 30th position, and despite the setback, Earnhardt made his way through the field and was running 14th on Lap 47 with green-flag stops approaching.
Crew chief Lance McGrew called his driver to pit road the following lap for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment.
On Lap 58, Earnhardt radioed to his crew that the handling on the No. 88 Chevrolet felt better as he maintained his footing inside the top 20.
The afternoon’s fourth caution flag waved on Lap 116, and Earnhardt was running 16th.
McGrew called his driver to pit road on Lap 118 for four fresh tires and fuel, and the team also spent extra time on pit road to pull a spring rubber which put the green-and-white Chevy in 18th for the Lap 121 restart.
Earnhardt quickly noted that he liked the handling of his No. 88 machine and he began his ascent on the scoring pylon, making his way to 12th by Lap 137 when the caution flag waved for debris on the track.
Earnhardt made his way down pit road for another round of adjustments and lined up 13th for the Lap 142 restart.
The 35-year-old driver had his sights on a top 10 finish but those hopes were dashed when a wrecking competitor slammed on his brakes to try to hurry to pit road.
"Right at the end, I felt like we had a good car, a good top-10 car,” said Earnhardt. “(Juan Pablo) Montoya got in the fence there and just kind of pulled down and stopped in front of us while I was side-by-side with somebody.
Unfortunately, Earnhardt was passing by when the No. 42 car slid down the track and collected Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet.
“I didn’t even see him hit the wall, I didn’t even know there was a car in the wall until he came across the No. 47 (Marcos Ambrose) hood and there he was,” he said. “I ran right in the back of them, nowhere to go.”
Earnhardt brought his injured Chevrolet to pit road, and the crew went to work getting the car back on track for the closing laps.
Earnhardt and the No. 88 team finished 27th, dropping one spot to 14th in the championship standings and 93 points outside the top 12 with six races remaining until the field is set for the Chase to the Sprint Cup Championship.