An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | March 24, 2011

Hard fought 11th place finish puts Dale Jr. in nine place position for points race

By Courtesy Story

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 National Guard team notched a hard-fought 11th-place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

For the third straight race weekend, Earnhardt continued his climb in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings, improving one position to take ninth place. He trails leader Kurt Busch by 26 points after four races in the 2011 season.

Earnhardt lined up 22nd Sunday for the green flag in the 500-lap race at the eastern Tennessee short track, and during the opening laps, Earnhardt struggled with a loose-handling Chevy and wasn’t able to make any forward progress.

Despite crew chief Steve Letarte’s attempts to improve the handling, Earnhardt raced inside the top 30.

The day’s fifth caution flag waved at the halfway point, with Earnhardt running 20th. Letarte brought his driver down pit road for four tires and an adjustment to the right-rear shock.

The changes appeared to do the trick, and Earnhardt began his forward march during the Lap 252 restart.

Fans in blue and green came to their feet as Earnhardt picked off a series of competitors, cracking the top 10 on Lap 335.

The seventh caution flag waved on Lap 429, and Earnhardt was scored in the 12th position, but as he made his way down pit road, NASCAR assessed the team a penalty for entering pit road too fast, forcing him to restart at the tail end of the field.

He went back to green-flag racing in 17th on Lap 435.

During the closing laps, Earnhardt picked up six positions to cross the finish line 11th

 

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...