Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard racecar, finished 16th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he now ranks 10th in the driver standings.
Earnhardt started the 160-lap race 22nd, and two laps into the event, he reported to crew chief Steve Letarte that he was battling a tight-handling car. Before his first pit stop under the green flag at Lap 22, Earnhardt radioed to Letarte that the National Guard machine needed to turn better.
Four laps later, Earnhardt came in to the pits running 19th and received four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment, and by Lap 30, he was running 18th.
The first caution flag waved on Lap 35 for debris on the track, and Earnhardt was still battling a tight-handling race car. During this caution period, Letarte called Earnhardt in to the pits for fuel only, and at the restart on Lap 38, Earnhardt was 17th.
Earnhardt drove his way through the field, and he was up to the 11th position by Lap 43 when he radioed to the team that the car’s temperature was rising as a result of having grass stuck on his grill. Letarte immediately told Earnhardt to pit on the next lap so the team could remove the grass from the grill and top off his gas tank.
Earnhardt rejoined the field running 29th and five laps later, the race saw its second caution for an accident in Turn 3. Letarte made the call for Earnhardt to stay out, while the other cars in front of him came in for pit stops. This pit strategy proved beneficial because Earnhardt was in the first position on the restart at Lap 54.
Earnhardt led the field for seven laps, but was passed by teammate Jeff Gordon on Lap 59. Earnhardt, however, ran in the top-three until the team came in for a green-flag pit stop at Lap 75 for four tires and fuel.
He rejoined the field and was running ninth by Lap 80.
The third race caution came out on Lap 95 for debris, and Earnhardt was in the third position. Letarte radioed to Earnhardt to come in for two right-side tires and fuel. As Earnhardt was exiting pit road, he was stuck behind a slow-moving No. 1 car, who was about to make his pit stop. This cost Earnhardt several positions and at the restart on Lap 98, Earnhardt was 10th.
Earnhardt, who consistently ran in the 10th spot during the last green-flag run, drove down pit road for four tires and fuel when the race saw another caution on Lap 115, and rejoined the field in the 18th position when the race resumed on Lap 117.
Earnhardt worked his way up to fifth by Lap 131, which is when he came in for his final pit stop of the day for two right-side tires and fuel. Earnhardt rejoined the field, and he was running 25th by Lap 135.
The No. 88 National Guard team was hoping the pit strategy behind their last pit stop would help them gain position and get back inside the top-10 in those remaining 25 laps of the event, but Earnhardt was only able to work his way up to 16th, which is where he finished when the checkered flag waved on Lap 160.