Dale Earnhardt Jr. gains two spots in standings with Michigan finish
BROOKLYN, Mich. – For Dale Earnhardt Jr., it was more of the same for much of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway. But in the end, he finished 14th for just his second top-15 in the last six races.
Earnhardt Jr. felt that his Hendrick Motorsports team and interim crew chief Lance McGrew had his car in good position midway through the LifeLock 400.
But in the end, he felt that the handling dropped off a little and that he lost ground.
“We worked on the car and we had it real good at one point - I was real happy,” he said. “Then near the end of the race, the last quarter of the race, we got off a little bit. We had about a 10th-place car, maybe, but we were trying to save fuel at the end and gave up a couple spots trying to do that and didn’t gain back as many as we thought we would.
“Not as many people ran out as we thought would. It was a pretty good weekend. We ran pretty good in the race, we have to get a little bit better and we are definitely seeing some signs of improvement.”
That includes gaining some ground in the standings. Earnhardt Jr. moved up two spots to 18th with the performance, though he remains 255 points outside of the top 12 and a potential spot in the title-determining Chase For The Sprint Cup.
