Jarrett wins at Pocono, Earnhardt Jr. 12th
 No. 8 Budweiser Team Fight Back from One Lap Down to Grab
Strong Finish
Dale Jarrett scored his first victory of the season this afternoon at the Pocono 500 at
Pocono (Penn.) Speedway, passing his teammate Ricky Rudd with only five laps remaining.
Mark Martin finished second while red-hot rookie Jimmy Johnson finished third. Dale
Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team ended a recent string of poor results by racing
to a 12th place finish. The team had fallen one lap behind the leaders after running out
of fuel and receiving a pit lane penalty late in the race, but were able to regain the
lead lap when the fourth caution period of the day fell on lap 169 (of 200). Once they
were on the lead lap, aggressive pit strategy helped pull them from 21st toward their 12th
place finish. The result ends an agonizing string of four consecutive finishes of 30th or
worse since the Bud team won the race at Talladega.
The Key Moments: Dale Jr., starting 14th based upon NASCAR points after
the track suffered a water seepage problem Friday, took very little time to launch into
the top five, streaking into fifth on lap three. Getting as high as third place in the
first segment of the race, the team then began to encounter a car that had little overall
grip, sliding through the corners and dropping them as far back as 21st. Making a series
of small adjustments, the Bud car was soon the fastest on the track, climbing back into
the top 10 by lap 125. Trying to stretch the fuel mileage an additional lap bit the team
on lap 158, as the car coasted to a quiet, fuel-free stop in the Bud pit box. The team
were assessed a 10-second penalty for having too many men working on the car while trying
to re-fire the silent beast. Dropping one lap behind, they regained the lead lap ten laps
later, and then used a two-tire pit stop to gain more positions with 25 laps remaining.
Dale Jr's Quotes: "It's a relief to get a good finish. We've been
running good but just not getting the finishes we need, so we all knew we had to focus and
keep motivated to do well. We had fun today - and that's really important. We've been
through some rough periods before, so we know we can come out of a slump - but it's been
just awful lately to see how fast our cars have been but we we're crashing or getting
crashed or suffering from bad luck.
"The guys (on the team) work so hard that it motivates me, so I try to do what I can
to motivate them too. We want - and we need - to race up front every week and when we
don't it doesn't feel good for anyone. I love this track because you can race all over the
place. But, I'm sore from trying to turn the car the last 50 or 60 laps. I raced my butt
off out there at the end to hang onto that position."
Best Radio Conversations
As he was pulling out of the pit stall on lap 87…
Dale Jr: "I'm sorry about that guys. First gear's a little tough getting outta the
box without spinning the tires. It kinda bogs down. I'll just hot-dog it outta there next
time…"
On the next pit stop, a tire-smoking Dale Jr. blasted out of the box, but almost
collected a couple of cars in the process…
Dale Jr: "Whoever's spotting in the pits for me, let me know when I'm clear on pit
lane so I don't end up knockin' a buncha guys out."
Tony Eury Sr. (Crew chief): "It was too crowded! You're doing just fine on your
own!"
Dale Jr. was following four-time Winston Cup champ Jeff Gordon on lap 152, when Gordon
spun out while trying to get into pit lane.
Dale Jr: (surprised) "WHOA! The 24 just spun out. Gordon spun out!"
It was not a radio transmission, but when the Juniors - Earnhardt and Eury, who are
cousins and life-long friends - met after the race, they had one of their usual
entertaining discussions.
Tony Jr: "Sorry I ran ya outta gas there. We were tryin' something. I know you were
mad at me."
Dale Jr: "Nah, I wasn't mad at you, but after that (stuff) happens, you can get
yerself a bottle of Powerade (Coca-Cola's sports drink) and relax.. but I'm still out
there strapped into that hot race car." (laughs all around…)
Dateline… Dale Jr.
Watch for Dale Jr. on Tuesday night's broadcast of "Dateline NBC" (that's NBC-TV
for those of you not familiar with the network news program…) for details about a
major magazine feature that you will be "eligible" to see later this week.
Though we urge you (as always) to watch all of the NASCAR racing action televised from
Michigan this week, you should also keep an eye on MTV for the "True Life"
marathon weekend. At various times Saturday June 15 and Sunday the 16th, you can catch an
updated version of "True Life, I'm A Race Car Driver," the one-hour documentary
from Dale Jr's rookie season. The show will include new interview footage updating his
life since the show aired last spring.
Today's Stats
Started: 14th
Finished: 12th
Points Position: 14th
Money Won: $78,612
Laps Led: --
Best Pit Stop: Lap 114 / 4 tires and Fuel / 14.41 seconds-Budweiser
Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Pocono Preview_6/3
Dale Jr. Quotes for Pocono
"We've gotta do better this weekend - it's that simple. We struggled with flat tracks
our first year (2000) but the team worked so hard at improving that we were really strong
during both races here last season. We led a lot of laps and were really in contention
each time, so I'm optimistic that we're gonna be up there again this week. As a team, we
made the commitment to keep digging this season - to not let up - so the fact that we have
had a streak of terrible finishes will only make us work harder to get that red car into
victory lane this week."
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Pocono
Winston Cup Starts: 4
Best Start: 6th (June 2001)
Best Finish: 2nd (July 2001)
This Race, Last Year:
St: 6
Fin: 20
Led: 11 laps
The most recent Pocono race featured a memorable and furious dual for the victory between
Dale Jr. and Bobby Labonte. The No. 8 Bud team finished second in that race. The team was
also positioned for a strong finish in last year's June event, but lost a lap when a
yellow flag flew just after they had made a pit stop. In four events at the Pocono track,
the Bud team has finished in the top 20 each time.
What:
Pocono 500
200 laps, 500 miles
2.5-mile tri-oval
Race #14 of 36
Where:
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pennsylvania
When:
Sunday, June 9
1 p.m.
Watch:
Fox
Pre-race: 12:30 pm
(All Times: Eastern)
You can also listen to the race live on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) on a radio station
near you.
Bud Pole Qualifying:
Bud Pole qualifying begins Friday afternoon at 3:00 and can be seen live on the Fox Sports
Network.
-Budweiser |
