Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Victory redeems embattled Earnhardt Jr. team

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.

His victory Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway allowed Dale Earnhardt Jr. to inch closer to the top 10 in points and a berth in NASCAR's "Chase for the Nextel Cup," but the win meant more than that to Earnhardt.

After earning his first victory of the season and moving from 16th to 13th in points, Earnhardt dedicated the win to his team.

"I don't know if anybody else sees it, but every time we win there is always some circumstance," Earnhardt said. "We've never really gone somewhere and picked up a win and quietly walked out.

"Today's circumstance for me is obviously winning with this team that has been beat up so bad all year long by the critics -- I never expected that. I told them there was going to be pressure when they put the red uniform on, but I didn't think it would be as cruel as it has for them. That's the satisfaction of this win; to see what they feel today means more than taking the trophy out and setting it on the mantel."

Earnhardt said he enjoys the group of guys he is working with now, headed by crew chief Steve Hmiel.

"This is the honest truth: As bad as some of the finishes are that we've had -- as hard as they are to stomach sometimes and to understand -- I've had a good time," he said. "I've had fun with this team. I never anticipated them being as good a bunch of guys as they are.

"As hard as it's been to run like we've run, I've enjoyed it and look forward to going to the track. You can't turn your back on it because days like today will happen when you work as hard as (they) work."

LOOKING AHEAD: Kurt Busch slipped a spot in the Nextel Cup standings despite his eighth-place finish Sunday in Chicago, but he no doubt is looking forward to this weekend's race at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Busch, the reigning Nextel Cup champion and a Las Vegas native, won both races at New Hampshire in 2004 and has four top-10 finishes in eight career starts at the 1.058-mile oval. He led 110 of 300 laps in the July race and 155 of 300 in September.

Jeff Burton is the winningest driver at New Hampshire with four victories while Jeff Gordon owns three Cup wins at the track.

FINES: Five Nextel Cup crew chiefs were fined Monday as a result of infractions leading up to the July 2 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Joel Shear (Johnny Sauter's crew chief) and Dan Kolanda (Morgan Shepherd) were fined $10,000 each for unapproved rear coil-spring mounts and Shear was fined an additional $5,000 for violating NASCAR probation; Harold Holly (Bobby Hamilton Jr.) was fined $10,000 for an unapproved lubrication oil reservoir tank cover; Glen Darrow (Kevin Lepage) was fined $2,500 for unapproved fuel-cell foam; and Tony Eury Jr. (Michael Waltrip) was fined $500 for missing the drivers' meeting.

BRIEFLY: Dale Jarrett, who finished 18th Sunday, slipped out of the top 10 in Nextel Cup points. Jarrett was replaced in the top 120 by Jeremy Mayfield, who finished sixth. Jarrett is 11th in points, 33 points behind 10th-place Kurt Busch. ... Series points leader Jimmie Johnson has ranked in the top 10 in points for 51 consecutive races -- the longest active streak. ... Jeff Gordon, who suffered his sixth DNF (did not finish) of the season Sunday, has finished 30th or worse in 8 of 18 races in 2005. ... Tony Stewart, who finished fifth Sunday, has posted four consecutive top-five finishes, including a pair of victories. ... Rusty Wallace has climbed from 14th to fourth in points in the past eight races; he has seven consecutive finishes of 12th or better, including three top-fives.

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