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2004 Season
2004 DHL 400
| Race Information |
| Event: DHL 400 |
| Date: June 20, 2004 |
Track: Michigan Int'l Speedway |
| Started: 11th |
Finished: 21st |
| Status: Running |
Laps Completed:
200 of 200 |
| Points
Pos. Before/After Race:
1st/2nd |
Points
Earned: 100 (w/ 0 bonus) |
| Money
Earned: $107,593 |
Summary and Related News |
Ryan Newman wins at Michigan_6/14/04
Topsy-Turvy Day for No. 8 Budweiser Team
Ryan Newman won Sunday’s DHL 400 at Michigan International Speedway for his first
NEXTEL Cup victory of the season. Rookie Kasey Kahne finished second for the fourth time
this year while Dale Jarrett finished third. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser
team struggled for much of the day, but came on strong late until contact with Kevin
Harvick flattened a right rear tire on the Bud car with seven laps remaining. The shredded
tire wrapped around the rear axle, damaging a brake line. Despite the late-race drama,
Dale Jr. managed a 21st-place finish. It is only the third finish worse than 11th in the
first 15 races of 2004, but dropped Dale Jr. from the lead in points. He now trails Jimmie
Johnson by seven points. Matt Kenseth is third in points, 180 points behind Dale Jr.
Key Moments: Starting 11th, the day started with a yellow flag on lap
one, and began what would be a frustrating and long day for Dale Jr. With a car that
refused to turn efficiently through the middle of the long turns at the Michigan two-mile
oval, the Bud team tried a variety of changes and adjustments during eight pit stops.
Running as low as 27th position on lap 115, the team began a frantic comeback into the
top-20, then climbed further in the standings with a two-tire stop on lap 160. Restarting
in 17th position, Dale Jr. sliced into 12th in two laps, then into the top-10 when they
made a second consecutive two-tire pit stop on lap 175. The move looked like a brilliant
one as Dale Jr. climbed to fifth place on lap 179, but the car again began to fade until
the contact and flat tire on lap 193 took them out of contention for a fifth consecutive
top-10 finish.
Dale Jr. Quotes: “Where did we finish? 21st? Well, we were probably
worse than that most of the day… we were terrible. The car wouldn’t turn and we
tried everything to make it better. We put (spring) rubbers in, we took ‘em out, we
moved ‘em from the back to the front, we took two tires… we tried it all and
never really hit on anything. I had a few laps near the end that were pretty good –
we worked our way toward the front for awhile, but the car wouldn’t turn, it
wouldn’t go.”
Best Radio Chatter:
Struggling with an ill-handling car, there was little chatter from Dale Jr. during
much of the race. As the race progressed, Dale Jr. suddenly began passing a series of cars
to climb into the top-five with 20 laps remaining.
Stevie Reeves (spotter): “You’re getting offa (turn) two good
now…”
Dale Jr: (with urgency): “Don’t jinx it!”
Within the final 10 laps, Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart crashed in front of Dale Jr,
who was hit from behind by Kevin Harvick, flattening the right rear tire.
Dale Jr: “I just about crashed this (car)! I hit the wall there
– just barely…. Something’s wrong – I have a flat tire.”
Reeves: “I can have the 29 car (Harvick) take a look and see if
it’s flat…”
Dale Jr: “It’s flat! It’s coming apart!… Do you want
me to come in this time?”
Tony Eury Jr. (car chief): “If you come in now, you’ll have to
go to the end of the longest line, but if you can go slow and stay out without tearing the
fender off, try that.”
Dale Jr: (after passing the pit lane for another lap): “I don’t
know when it went flat. I went into the corner and got into all that oil and I
couldn’t keep it out of the wall…”
After the race had ended under a yellow flag:
Dale Jr.: “I have no brakes!”
Tony Jr: “You’ll have to crank the (brake) bias all the way to
the front to have any brakes.”
Dale Jr.: “Ohhhhhh… I’m already waaaay ahead of ya buddy.
I have no (brake) pedal! It was a (bad) day…”
Tony Jr: “Yeah, we can’t be lucky every week. We’ve been
trying to have a bad day for three weeks now.”
Today’s Stats
Started: 11th
Finished: 21st
Points: 2nd (dropped one position, -7 points to leader )
Best Pit Stop: Pit stop number one of eight / four tires and fuel / 13.15 seconds
-Budweiser
Budweiser Race Preview: Michigan_6/14/04
Dale Earnhardt Jr. – driver, No. 8 Budweiser team:
“We’re grinding ‘em out. I don’t think we’ve been as competitive
as we wanted to be lately, but somehow we’ve fought for good finishes. I wanted to
come into the season and average better than a 12th place finish – that’s
historically what it takes be near the points lead late in the year. So far we’re
averaging less than eight (average finish through 14 races: 7.64), so I’m pretty
happy with that. I think everyone is kind of unsure about the new points format and what
it will take to win the championship in the final 10 races, but I’m guessing that
kind of average finish would put us near the front in the hunt or the chase or whatever
anyone wants to call it.”
“It’s been busy. We’ve been pushing hard and testing every week. Short
tracks and a lot of laps at Kentucky, plus an occasional road course test at Virginia
Intl. Raceway throw in. It’s what it’s going to take, plus I’ve been doing
appearances and TV commercials and promotions in between all of that. It’s hectic but
I’ve been able to focus and concentrate on the race car once I arrive at the track
each weekend.”
Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Michigan:
Previous Nextel Cup Starts: 9
Best Start: 1st (Bud Pole Award: Aug. 2000 and Aug. 2002)
Best Finish: 7th (June, 2003)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 3rd / FIN: 7th / LED: 1 lap
Dale Jr. has scored top-10 finishes in the last four races, the longest active streak on
the Cup circuit. He will attempt to match a career-best streak of five consecutive top-10s
this weekend. (Previous five-race top-10 streak: Texas through Richmond, 2003) He has
finished on the lead lap in 12 of 14 races.
This is the sole track where the Budweiser team has scored more than one Bud Pole Award,
grabbing one-third of six career NEXTEL Cup pole positions in the Irish Hills of Michigan.
Despite qualifying in the top-10 in 10 of the first 14 races this season, the Bud car has
not sat on the pole since Kansas in Sept. 2003 (a string of 57 races). The Budweiser No. 8
team has led in six of the nine career starts at the two-mile Michigan oval.
Race Details:
DHL 400
Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MI
2.0-mile oval / 200 laps / 400 miles
Sunday, June 20, 2004
TV: Fox, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN), XM Radio.
Bud Pole Qualifying: Speed Channel / Friday, 3:30 p.m. ET.
-Budweiser |
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