Earnhardt heads west with momentum, AMP Energy Juice scheme

FONTANA, Calif. (Feb. 19, 2010) – Dale Earnhardt Jr. will sport a special AMP Energy Juice paint scheme as he tries to ride the momentum from last week’s runner-up performance into this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Auto Club Speedway. Earnhardt will showcase an orange-and-white paint scheme on his No. 88 AMP Energy Juice/National Guard Chevrolet this weekend that will feature AMP Energy’s new product, AMP Energy Juice. "The car looks awesome, and the orange is going to look good on the track,” Earnhardt said. “I think everyone pretty much knows I'm not a morning person so AMP Energy Juice is a good wakeup call on mornings when I have to be up early." In 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Auto Club Speedway, Earnhardt has tallied three top-five finishes and four top-10s. He recorded a career-best, runner-up finish after leading five laps at the California racetrack in September 2006. Most recently -- last October -- the No. 88 team suffered a cut tire and finished 25th at the two mile racetrack. "I haven't typically been good at California, but it's easier to go there after we ran good at Daytona (Fla.)” International Speedway, Earnhardt said. “I'm looking forward to seeing how we are as a team. The entire team had an awesome showing these past two weeks. I want to go to Fontana and be competitive. I think how we run the next few weeks will be a little more validation of where we are. Lance (McGrew, crew chief) and the guys are working hard so hopefully we will have a good run in Fontana." McGrew will focus on improving the team's 19.9 average starting position during Friday's qualifying session, which will be televised at 6 p.m. ET on SPEED. “We have struggled there in qualifying, and we are going to make a pretty concerted effort this season to improve our qualifying effort,” McGrew said. “It is so much easier to start up front and stay up front than work your way to the front. We had a real good race car there last fall. We were good in practice but didn't qualify well. We wound up with a really good car at the end of the race, but ended up cutting a tire and getting in a wreck. So we didn't get the finish that we should have gotten.” Race coverage will begin this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.