7 reasons to watch the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway: No. 7 - Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yes, you have heard this before.
The Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway may offer Dale Earnhardt Jr. an excellent chance to return to victory lane for the first time since Michigan in June 2008.
Why? Because it’s a restrictor-plate race, and Earnhardt Jr. has shown a penchant for doing well on NASCAR’s biggest tracks, Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway.
Earnhardt Jr. has two victories at Daytona, including the 2004 Daytona 500, and five at Talladega, at which he won four times in succession from 2001 to 2003.
Admittedly, Earnhardt Jr. earned those victories while driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc., at the time a formidable presence in restrictor-plate racing. DEI has a record of five victories at Daytona and six at Talladega dating back to 2001.
But Hendrick Motorsports, the team for which Earnhardt Jr. now drives, was no slouch.
Over the last eight years, it has produced nine Daytona wins and six at Talladega.
Logic suggests that an Earnhardt Jr.-Hendrick combination should do well in the Coke Zero 400.
As everyone knows, Earnhardt Jr. has had a lackluster season. He has not won and has only one top-five finish and just three among the top 10.
But now, perhaps, he’s got a little momentum going.
At New Hampshire, he raced among the top five for most of the race. He got as high as third and was battling Kurt Busch for second place before he drifted to 13th at the conclusion of the rain-shortened race.
Despite the outcome, Earnhardt Jr. was delighted. He credited crew chief Lance McGrew for providing a good car that enabled him to have, at last, a good run.
He added that he thought his team was inching back to where it needs to run.
“So that’s a good thing,” McGrew said. “Maybe it will put a little swagger back in him.”
That certainly bears watching at Daytona.
