CONCORD, N.C. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is coming off his most successful weekend of the season.
He finished fifth at Texas Motor Speedway this past Sunday, marking his first top-five and best finish of the 2017 campaign.
“I figured we would get one sooner or later, but it’s nice,” Earnhardt said. “I know our fans are really pulling for us. Could have finished a little better, we’ll take the top-five.”
It isn’t his first successful run in Texas. Sunday marked Earnhardt’s fourth top-five finish at Texas with Hendrick Motorsports, and he has captured at least one top-10 finish in each of the last eight years at the track.
Even the repaving and reconfiguration of the venue didn’t break that streak.
“Yeah, I mean we ran in the top six here like seven times in a row it seems like, crazy,” Earnhardt explained. “I like the track. I like the repave. We saw the second groove come in a little bit.”
And he attributed his success this weekend to the speed of his No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS.
“I felt like we were pretty good,” Earnhardt said. “We ran with the cars and the guys that have been really fast.”
After an off-weekend, Earnhardt and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates return to the track at Bristol on Sunday, April 23.