Earnhardt’s second top-10 of the season
Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned his second top-10 of the season in his final 600-mile race at Charlotte.
Earnhardt and the No. 88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet SS team finished the race in 10th, also leading his Hendrick Motorsports teammates to the checkered flag.
Earnhardt rolled off the grid in 19th and worked his way through the pack as each stage progressed.
“The car got better the last couple of runs,” Earnhardt said. “We made a lot of changes, some of them working pretty good.”
The driver credited much of the top-10 result to the help he and crew chief Greg Ives received from teammates Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus throughout the week.
“We’ve got to thank Jimmie and the No. 48 guys, Jimmie especially,” Earnhardt said. “He was communicating with me all week; calling me, talking on the phone. He would come across the garage and get in my window even during practice, get out of his car and come talk to me. What a great teammate.”
Johnson misses victory playing fuel strategy
Victory eluded Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic team with little more than a lap to go in Sunday’s rain-interrupted race.
After logging successful stage finishes – fourth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2 – Johnson doubled down in pursuit of the checkered flag.
Johnson took over the lead on Lap 367, electing to stay on the track while competitors made green-flag pit stops. Playing the fuel strategy game, the No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet SS ran out of fuel while leading with just over a lap to go, resulting in a 17th place finish.
“I didn’t know we were thinking fuel,” Johnson said. “I could have done a lot better job with the front side of the run to put us in a better position. Then when I got the news about saving fuel, I did all that I could from that point and just came up a little bit short.”
Early endings for two teammates
Chase Elliott’s day at Charlotte ended only 20 laps into Stage 1. He started the race in third only to fall back to fifth shortly after the race began.
The No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS made contact with debris left on the track from a competitor’s car, causing Elliott’s car to catch fire and leak oil. In the midst, another competitor’s car ran over oil, making contact with Elliott.
The incident resulted in the first caution flag of the race and an early end to Elliott’s day. He was scored 38th.
“Our NAPA Chevy was going to be all right as the night went along,” Elliott said. “I hate it, it’s such a bummer. We’ll just go after it again next week.”
Teammate Kasey Kahne’s day ended in Stage 3 of the four-stage race. After starting in the rear of the field due to a rear-gear change, Kahne had worked his way up to 18th. By Stage 2, he had driven his way inside the top 15. About halfway through the third stage both a mechanical issue and oil on the track sent Kahne into the wall, ending his day in 35th.
“My crew chief said there is oil on the track, but I knew I broke something on the car,” Kahne said. “I actually broke a left-side truck arm. I don’t know why that happened, but it broke, so then the rear end was moving around and I couldn’t drive it.”