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closeEarnhardt Jr. fades, then stops for fuel late in Saturday's race
JIM UTTER
The Charlotte Observer
Sunday, Apr. 13, 2008
AVONDALE, Ariz. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat on the back of his team's transporter resting his head in his hands.
"I was really happy to see Jimmie (Johnson) win and I would have gone to see Jimmie in Victory Lane, but man I'm tired," Earnhardt Jr. said.
Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway completed a weekend of a wide range of emotions for Earnhardt Jr. and his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team.
Lackluster practice sessions on Thursday and Friday left Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., scratching their heads over how to improve their car.
After getting some input from his fellow Hendrick teammates – particularly members of Johnson's team – Earnhardt Jr. found himself up front for a significant portion of the race and in position to end his career-long 70-race winless streak.
"Me and Tony Jr. came up with some ideas and borrowed some ideas from Chad (Knaus, Johnson's crew chief), which helped my car amazingly," Earnhardt Jr. said.
"We were running good at night. Right there at the end I think I just drove the tires off of it, I guess. I was losing ground."
Earnhardt Jr. and his team, like Johnson's, considered skipping a final pit stop for gas, but when they saw how much of a lead Johnson had, they made the decision to pit.
"Jimmie's crew told us they were going to try (to make it on fuel) and, for us, it was too much of a gamble just to try to get second place. We did the smart thing and came in.
"He already had us beat on the race track," Earnhardt Jr. said.
"The way this business is a lot of times, when you think you are having one of your worst days, you end up having a great day or a day that turns out much better than you thought."
With the pit stop, Earnhardt Jr. ended up seventh and moved up a position to third in points, 86 behind leader Jeff Burton after eight of 36 races.
"We're working hard. We've got a lot of testing to do," he said.
"We have a lot of racing ahead of us, a lot of chances still to win."
