Dale Earnhardt Jr. matched his best finish of the 2011 season after he took runner-up honors in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
The driver of the No. 88 National Guard racecar raced hard to contend for the win, but ultimately had to go into fuel-conservation mode on the final laps. Earnhardt posted his fifth top-10 finish in 11 races at Kansas, and this was his seventh top-10 finish this season.
Earnhardt lined up 28th for Sunday's race, and eight laps into it, he reported to his National Guard team that his No. 88 NASCAR racecar's handling was loose exiting Turn 4.
Nine laps later, crew chief Steve Letarte encouraged Earnhardt and informed him that he was running some good lap times.
During the first long, green-flag run, Letarte called Earnhardt in to the pits on Lap 44 for fuel and four tires in addition to air pressure and wedge adjustments to alleviate the No. 88 Chevrolet's handling issue.
On Lap 47, Earnhardt was running 28th and had gained significant time on the leader.
During the first caution period, which began on Lap 69, Letarte opted for the team's second pit stop, and Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevy received fuel and four tires before returning to the field in 24th-place when the race restarted on Lap 72.
Earnhardt steadily worked his way through the field and was generally pleased with how his No. 88 Chevrolet drove and when debris brought out the second caution on Lap 112, Earnhardt pitted and received fuel, four tires and a wedge adjustment.
At the Lap 115 restart, Earnhardt was 16th.
Earnhardt was working his way through the field and running 14th when he spun his No. 88 Chevrolet in Turn 4 on Lap 154. Earnhardt saved his car, but had to make a pit stop for new tires and fuel as well as an air pressure and track bar adjustment.
When the final lugnuts were secured on the left-side tires during this stop, Earnhardt was forced to back up because the No. 47 car in the stall ahead of him had blocked the National Guard Chevrolet from having a clean exit.
This unavoidable setback cost Earnhardt a couple positions in the field though, but in light of things, Earnhardt's incident on the track turned out to be a blessing for him, and he was able to pick up a new pit sequence that would prove to be beneficial at the end of the race.
At the restart on Lap 157, Earnhardt was 23rd.
Despite having a fast race car, Earnhardt continued to battle a loose-handling Chevrolet that made it challenging for him to pass the other cars around him. However, by Lap 183, Earnhardt got his driving rhythm back and found himself running 19th.
During this long green flag run, Letarte called Earnhardt in to the pits for the final time on Lap 214, and after four tires and fuel, Earnhardt rejoined the field. At Lap 217, Earnhardt was 24th.
As the race wound down, Earnhardt and Letarte knew the No. 88 Chevrolet could go the distance if the 267-lap event continued under green-flag conditions.
The National Guard team's pit strategy finally was set in to motion on Lap 248 when Earnhardt broke into the top-10 and the other cars in front of him had to make their final pit stop of the day.
Within 10 laps, Earnhardt had worked his way up to the second-place position.
In the final laps of the event, Earnhardt had to start conserving fuel and was unable to pass the car in the number one position. When the checkered flag waved on Lap 267, Earnhardt crossed the finish line second.
Earnhardt moved up a spot and now ranks third in the championship standings. He trails leader Carl Edwards by 41 points.