Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard NASCAR racecar, was contending for a top-15 finish but an unscheduled pit stop in the closing stages of the race resulted in a 19th-place finish.
The Kannapolis, N.C., native remains ninth in the standings, 60 points behind leader Carl Edwards.
Earnhardt opened the weekend by posting the 15th-fastest lap time during qualifying on Thursday. When the green flag dropped, Earnhardt maintained his position inside the top 20. He worked with crew chief Steve Letarte on the handling during the opening laps, but struggled to make gains as the field was battling a one-groove track throughout the night.
Earnhardt was running 22nd when a round of green-flag pit stops began on Lap 234. Letarte made the call to bring his driver down pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. In the middle of the green-flag pit stops the caution came out for a competitor stopped on the track. The caution flag trapped Earnhardt two laps down from the leader.
The field went back to green-flag racing on Lap 242 with Earnhardt running 23rd. On Lap 247, Earnhardt radioed to his crew that it felt like he had a loose wheel and would have to come back down pit road, costing the team another lap and running 30th.
Earnhardt spent the remainder of the 334-lap event fighting his way through the field and regaining laps to the leader. He crossed the finish line 19th.