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