Can one race salvage the downward spiral of Dale Earnhardt Jr.?
Dale Earnhardt Jr., finally had a reason to smile following a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday. To say Earnhardt has been struggling is putting it mildly. And after qualifying 27th Friday for the Heluva Good 400 at the Michigan International Speedway the prospects didn’t look promising. But Sunday, Earnhardt found himself inside the top 10 by lap 55. Unlike his past races, for once Earnhardt actually remained competitive inside the top 10 for the entire 400 miles finishing the day in seventh; his best finish since a seventh at Bristol 10 races ago. Happy? Of course he was happy. “I enjoyed the car all day,” Earnhardt said. “We were happy in race trim. We just didn’t have any speed in qualifying. It was fun to drive. Matt Kenseth was better and there were a bunch of cars, obviously everybody in front of us was better, but we felt like we had a top 10 car and we were able to show it today.” After a season filled with missed setups, pit road errors and poor finishes, the only thing Ea
Dale Earnhardt Jr., finally had a reason to smile following a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday. To say Earnhardt has been struggling is putting it mildly. And after qualifying 27th Friday for the Heluva Good 400 at the Michigan International Speedway the prospects didn’t look promising. But Sunday, Earnhardt found himself inside the top 10 by lap 55. Unlike his past races, for once Earnhardt actually remained competitive inside the top 10 for the entire 400 miles finishing the day in seventh; his best finish since a seventh at Bristol 10 races ago. Happy? Of course he was happy. “I enjoyed the car all day,” Earnhardt said. “We were happy in race trim. We just didn’t have any speed in qualifying. It was fun to drive. Matt Kenseth was better and there were a bunch of cars, obviously everybody in front of us was better, but we felt like we had a top 10 car and we were able to show it today.” After a season filled with missed setups, pit road errors and poor finishes, the only thing Ea
