Tropicana 400 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Notes

Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Race Preview

Dale Jr. Quotes for Chicago
“We’re back with another special paint scheme for Budweiser and Major League Baseball for the MLB All-Star game. This is our third year doing the special All-Star car and I know the fans love the special paint schemes, so it makes me excited as well. I think the car looks beautiful. We won at Daytona (in 2001) with a baseball paint-scheme, so maybe we can do it again this weekend. I always like getting to go hang with the baseball boys for a day. I’ll be out there Monday for the cool stuff. That’s always a lot of fun, and they even let me take batting practice...

“The Bud car was great here (at Chicagoland) last year (leading four times for 81 laps). We ended up taking four tires on our last stop and it put us so far back in the field that I could only move up a few spots before the laps ran out. When we were in front, we were able to pull away easily – a few tenths (of a second) each lap. We were gone, so long! But, the aero-push (aerodynamic push) in traffic was awful. We had a great car, but restarting back in the pack with lapped cars kills ya. We’ve been great all this year with track position – making the right decisions on pit lane, and staying at or near the front of the pack, so we’ll have to try and do that again Sunday.

“It’s hard to be too disappointed about Daytona. We ran strong and had a shot to win, but there were no yellows in the last half of the race, so it caught us out. We had the right strategy at the time, because the guys that came in for the splash of fuel were at the back of the pack. They had nothing to lose. We were leading, and didn’t want to give up that position for a splash at that point in the night. Overall, my guys gave me a car that was strong like it always is, so we’ll clean it up, hose it down and get it ready for Talladega.

Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Chicago
Previous Winston Cup Starts: 2
Best Start: 9th (2002)
Best Finish: 10th (2002)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 9th/ FIN: 10th / Led: 81 laps

What:
Tropicana 400
267 laps / 400 miles / Race #18 of 36-race Winston Cup Series

Where:
Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, IL
1.5-mile speedway

When:
Saturday, July 13 / 3:00 p.m.

Watch:
NBC-TV (pre-race: 2:30 pm)

Bud Pole Qualifying:
Bud Pole qualifying can be seen Friday at 4:00 p.m. on Speed Channel. You can also hear qualifying and race action on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) on a radio station or computer near you. The radio programming is also heard on the 24-hour NASCAR channel on XM Radio. (All Times: Eastern)

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