Dale Earnhardt Jr. watches solid run end with engine failure Sunday
Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 36th after an engine failure in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
INDIANAPOLIS – Dale Earnhardt Jr. was happy his Hendrick Motorsports team could make his car better during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Allstate 400 on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but he was obviously disappointed with the race's outcome.
Earnhardt Jr. was in the garage after 127 laps after a valve-train issue wiped out his engine and relegated him to 36th. He felt as if he was the one to blame for the problem.
“I’ve had no engine problems all year,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Hendrick engines, we don’t ever have problems with them. So I’m assuming it was driver related or driver error somewhere around the race track.
“It broke the valve train leaving the pit stall and probably broke a couple of tips off the valve springs that went into the bottom and eventually tore the bottom of the motor out. I hate it for the engine guys because they build some great motors. It’s frustrating for my team, but we seem to be getting better and seem to be running better.”
Earnhardt Jr., who battled a stomach virus Thursday and into Friday morning, said he felt fine during the race Sunday.
“I feel fine, now,” he said. “I was really, really feeling good this morning. I’m over it 100 percent.”
The car brought to Indianapolis was a new car and will also be used at Pocono Raceway next weekend, Earnhardt Jr. said. He would have been more frustrated if he didn’t run well, but he qualified third and was running in the top 10 when the engine blew.
“That last run, we were really, really loose and the last 10 laps of the run, I think we were one of the best cars on the track,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I drove back to Jeff [Gordon] and the 9 car [of Kasey Kahne] and I was feeling pretty confident about it then. We were starting a run too snug or starting it too loose.
“Me and [crew chief] Lance [McGrew] are getting better on communicating and understanding each other. We’re running better. We’ve either had poor luck and made some mistakes. We just have to keep our heads up. We’re going to Pocono with this same car and hopefully we get it running just as good there if not better.”
