Jarrett wins Michigan - Top 10 for Dale
Jr._8/18
 No. 8 Budweiser Team leads 37 Laps, grabs best-ever Michigan
finish.
Dale Jarrett took home the winner's portion of the purse for Sunday's Michigan
400 after an entertaining race that saw 12 different drivers lead the race. Tony Stewart
finished second. Among the 12 leaders were Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser
team, who started from the Bud Pole position and led 37 circuits. Dale Jr. finished 10th,
his best career finish in seven Winston Cup races at the high-speed oval in Michigan's
Irish Hills outside of Detroit. The Bud Pole position is the first of the season for the
No. 8 team, marking their fifth career Bud Pole and secures them a starting spot in the
2003 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, the season-opening all-star event. The Key Moments: Dale Jr., starting on the Bud Pole
for the first time this year and the second time in three seasons at this race, led five
times during the afternoon, including a stretch late in the race on laps 171-176 (of 200).
The key moment for the Bud bunch took place on the team's final pit stop with 38 laps to
go. To gain track position, the team made an aggressive move to take two tires instead of
four to remain at or near the head of the pack. The strategy worked, until the final
yellow flag of the day with less than 15 laps to go bunched the field, and allowed the
teams that had previously chosen to change four tires, such as the eventual winner
Jarrett, to close on Earnhardt Jr. The final 11 laps saw the advantage fall to the cars
with four fresh Goodyear's to take control.
Dale Jr's Quotes:
"I'm happy with the weekend. A Bud Pole was great - it was a boost that we
needed for our confidence, and then to come out and run among the leaders all day long
felt really good. I mean, when we felt like we had a shot to win, 10th place doesn't sound
so great, but since it's the first time we've been able to leave this place with a top 10,
it feels pretty good. This weekend is another step forward for us as a team."
"It was the same for me as it was for the other guys
out there: tight. The track here always tightens up and makes it tough on everybody to try
to continue to make the right adjustments to the car to keep up with it. If you get behind
on your changes, chances are you won't catch up the rest of the day. We were pretty good
all afternoon - especially early on. I'm happy - and I'm really excited about going to
Bristol next week. We have some momentum that we haven't had for awhile"
Best Radio Conversations:
From the start of the race, even though he led for portions of the day and
was always in or near the lead pack, Dale Jr. had a handful of things to deal with in
making the car better.
Dale Jr: "Depending on where I run on
the track, the car is really quick to push or real easily gets loose. The track also has a
lot of trash and wrappers and bags just flying all over the place. You guys need to keep
an eye on the grille. If I get any of that stuff on there, let me know and I'll do what I
can to get it off"
The team chose to get aggressive and take only two
fresh tires on their final pit stop.
Tony Eury Jr. (car chief) "Alright,
let's go now. We're gonna take two. Only two."
Dale Jr: "Yeah, I agree. We're goin'
for it. Goin' for the win. I like it"
Before the final green flag on lap 189, Dale Jr. sensed
that he was a sitting duck in traffic with only two fresh tires and a car that was very
sensitive to aerodynamic changes when he was behind other cars.
Dale Jr. "The car just plows when I
get up behind anyone. You can't do anything. It's like it just takes all the air out from
under me and it just plows along"
Today's Stats
Started: 1st (First Bud Pole of 2002, Fifth of Winston Cup career)
Finished: 10th
Points Position: 16th (+1 gain)
Laps Led: Led five times for 37 laps
-Budweiser
 8/16 - Jr. wins the pole for Pepsi 400
Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Michigan
Preview_8/13
Dale Jr. Quotes for Michigan
"Michigan is a track where you can really carry speed all the way around the track.
We're easily topping 200 mph along the back straight, and the wide turns give you a chance
to pass of your car is working well. Since the Busch Series days (where Dale Jr. and much
of his current team won at MIS in 1999), we were always one of the fastest cars out there.
That's the kind of track I like: fast, wide and wide-open!
"We have to have a good run here. We have struggled so much lately I can't even begin
to describe the frustration. We seem to get the car working well and then something
happens and we end up going home with an (awful) finish and a crumpled car. I mean, we are
NOT a 17th place team, but we have to just look forward right now instead of looking
back…"
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Michigan
Previous Winston Cup Starts: 6
Best Start: 1st (August, 2000*)
Best Finish: 12th (August, 2001)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 12
FIN: 12
(Rain-shortened, 162 laps)
This event last year marked a first for Dale Jr. last season, as he used the Hutchens
Device for the first time to protect his head and neck in case of a serious accident. In
the previous Michigan race this year, the No. 8 Budweiser team qualified third and led the
race for nine laps, but fell back to 22nd at the finish.
* Winston Cup Track Record: Dale Jr. still holds the single-lap record
for Winston Cup cars at an average speed of 191.149 mph (37.667 sec.). That magic lap won
Dale Jr. the Bud Pole Award at this race in in August 2000.
What:
Pepsi 400
2-mile oval / 200 laps / 400 miles / Race #23 of 36
Where:
Michigan International Speedway / Brooklyn, MI
When:
Sunday, August 18 / 2:00 p.m.
Watch:
TNT / Pre-race: 1:30 pm / (All Times: Eastern)
You can also tune in on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) on a radio or computer near
you…
Bud Pole Qualifying:
Bud Pole qualifying can be seen live at 3:00 pm Friday on the Speed Channel and heard on
MRN affiliates across the nation.
-Budweiser |
