Chevy Rock and Roll 400 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Notes

Budweiser Race Preview: Richmond

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - driver, No. 8 Budweiser team:
“I can't wait to get there. Richmond is one of those places where we've always done really well and I love racing there. To run like we did (at Fontana) was gut-wrenching, and it always makes it a long trip home when you run like that on the west coast, but being locked-in the top-10 takes the edge off a little bit. I'm pretty relieved we're in the Chase (Dale Jr. has clinched a spot in NASCAR's 10-race, 10-driver chase for the Nextel Cup Championship), so we can go in and get one last weekend of letting it all hang out. We'll be aggressive and go for the win before the pressure kicks in…”

Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Richmond:
Previous Nextel Cup Starts: 10
Best Start: 2nd (May, 2002)
Best Finish: 1st (May, 2000 / May 2004)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 13th / FIN: 17th / Led 76 laps, then flat tire
Spring Race, This Year: ST: 4th / FIN: 1st / Led 115 laps

-- Dale Jr. and the No. Bud team are trying to achieve something for the third consecutive year: scoring the most cumulative points on short tracks (less than one-mile in length) than any other Nextel Cup team. They bested every other Cup team in 2002 and 2003, and so far this season they have two victories, a third-place and an 11th-place finish in the first four short-track races.

Point leaders (four short-track races) 2004:
1. Dale Jr. / 660 points (685 minus 25 points by NASCAR penalty after Bristol/April)
2. Jimmie Johnson / 630
3. Matt Kenseth / 595
4. Jeff Gordon / 579
5. Sterling Marlin / 571

-- The No. 8 car has led each of the last six Cup short-track events for a total of 793 laps (an average of slightly more than 132 laps led per race.) Dale Jr. has led 1,392 laps on short tracks in his Cup career. On short-tracks, Dale Jr. has 12 top-five finishes in the last 18 races and 14 top-10 finishes in his last 20 starts.

-- Dale Jr's first career Cup top-10 finish was at this event in 1999. Richmond is also one of three tracks where he has multiple Cup victories (Talladega/four, Daytona/two victories) Dale Jr. recorded this third career short-track win at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago.

-- The Bud team will race chassis no. 10 - the same chassis that won at Richmond in May, and also raced at Las Vegas and Loudon, NH earlier this season.

Race Details:
Chevy Rock and Roll 400
Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Va.
.75-mile oval / 400 laps / 300 miles
Sat., Sept. 11, 2004
TV: TNT, 7:30 p.m. ET (pre-race begins at 7 p.m.)
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN), XM Radio.
Bud Pole Qualifying: Friday, 3 p.m. ET (televised live on TNT)