DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Pewter Nation
HTML https://pewter.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: NASCAR
*****************************************************
#Post#: 78--------------------------------------------------
Dale Jr. wins at Talladega
DIR By: PWTRPWR
Date: May 3, 2015, 5:36 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — At a track that has always been good to
his family, in front of an adoring crowd that so clearly favors
him over everyone else in the field, Dale Earnhardt Jr. cruised
to an emotional first win of the season.
NASCAR's most popular driver won Sunday at Talladega
Superspeedway, where he received a thunderous ovation as he
pumped his fist outside the car window during a slow victory
lap.
He stopped at the flag stand to grab the checkered flag and flew
it out his car window as he savored his trip around the track
and into victory lane.
It is Earnhardt's sixth victory at Talladega — but first since
2004 — and he choked back tears after he climbed from his No. 88
Chevrolet.
"It's just real emotional. I haven't won here in a long time. It
was my daddy's birthday a couple of days ago, and I'm just real
emotional, man," he said.
The late Dale Earnhardt, a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee,
won 10 times at the Alabama track. He would have celebrated his
64th birthday Wednesday.
View galleryDale Earnhardt Jr. (88) celebrates with a victory
lap …
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) celebrates with a victory lap after
winning the Talladega 500 NASCAR Sprint …
Earnhardt Jr. won four consecutive races at Talladega from 2001,
after his father's death in the season-opening Daytona 500,
through 2003. He then finished second in back-to-back Talladega
races before grabbing his fifth victory in 2004.
But his dominance ended that season, then came several years of
slumping results on the track. He finally turned it around last
year with a victory in the season-opening Daytona 500, but poor
strategy in this race last year cost him any shot at the
victory.
His fan base was livid over Earnhardt's decision to lay back in
the field last May, and he vowed to not do it again. On
Saturday, he admitted he feels a sense of responsibility to his
fans to perform well at Talladega.
Earnhardt delivered Sunday, leading a race-high 67 laps and
easily winning when no one from a single-file line of cars
behind him could challenge him.
The win almost certainly put him in the Chase for the Sprint Cup
championship, and was Earnhardt's first with new crew chief Greg
Ives.
View galleryDale Earnhardt Jr. hoists the trophy in Victory
Lane …
Dale Earnhardt Jr. hoists the trophy in Victory Lane after
winning the Talladega 500 NASCAR Sprint C …
"Everything is just so good for me right now, my personal life,
my racing, the team I'm with, I don't know why," Earnhardt said.
"I don't feel like I deserve it. I just feel overcome, you know,
with a lot of emotion."
Jimmie Johnson finished second as Hendrick Motorsports dominated
the race. But Johnson couldn't pull out of line to attempt a
pass on Earnhardt, who was watching his mirror carefully to see
who from the line would make a move.
He thought for sure it would be Johnson.
"I didn't know what he had up his sleeve, maybe they got busy
behind him and he couldn't form a charge," said Earnhardt, who
was worried in the closing laps his car was going to overheat.
"I didn't know if the engine was going to last. I had faith in
it that it would because we build fast cars and they are tough.
All those guys in the motor shop and the body shop, they earned
their money."
View galleryDale Earnhardt Jr., left, talks to Jimmie
Johnson, …
Dale Earnhardt Jr., left, talks to Jimmie Johnson, right, in
Victory Lane after winning the Talladeg …
Paul Menard was third and Ryan Blaney was a surprising fourth in
the only Ford that could challenge the horsepower from the
Hendrick Chevrolets.
Martin Truex Jr. was fifth and followed by Sam Hornish Jr. in
another Ford, then Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick as Chevy
drivers took six of the first eight spots.
Denny Hamlin was ninth in the highest-finishing Toyota and Josh
Wise rounded out the top 10.
Pole-sitter Jeff Gordon was a disappointing 31st despite a
strong race car. He was penalized for speeding on pit road
during the final pit stops, and the infraction dropped him to
30th on the restart with 26 laps remaining.
He was unable to work his way through the field as Earnhardt led
a 10-car breakaway, and the second line of traffic struggled to
catch the leaders. He was collected in a last-lap crash that
began when Carl Edwards spun.
View galleryJeff Gordon (24) and Kasey Kahne (5) lead a pack
of …
Jeff Gordon (24) and Kasey Kahne (5) lead a pack of cars past
the main grandstands during the first …
"Everybody was single file and just waiting for that final lap,"
Gordon said. "You knew it was going to get crazy. They finally
spread out at one to go. I was just trying to find the lane that
would not just be clear but have the momentum."
As the laps wound down, nobody seemed to want to make a move to
challenge Earnhardt until finally Tony Stewart, the leader of
the second line of cars, dropped to the bottom of the track in
an effort to make something happen.
Only no one would work with Stewart, and he was shuffled back to
a 19th-place finish after leading laps and challenging for the
win.
Hamlin said his hands were tied and he couldn't do anything to
challenge the Hendrick drivers at the front unless Blaney, in
front of him as they started the final lap, worked with him.
"My goal was to push Blaney, but he was going to have to make a
move," Hamlin said. "The odds were very stacked against us. The
Hendrick cars and engines were just extremely tough and really I
did my best just to kind of hang with those guys, but they're
definitely in a league of their own right now."
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 1