Earnhardt Dominates at Talladega

Originally written for CLNS Radio. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. returned to victory lane after winning Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

 

Photo courtesy Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Earnhardt’s last victory at Talladega came in 2004.  Always a threat to win at the track, he won a record four-straight races between 2001 and 2003.

 The victory was the sixth of Earnhardt’s career at Talladega, tying Jeff Gordon as the active leader at the track.  Earnhardt said he had been bothered with his long winless streak.

“It’s been a long time since I won here, we’ve run so good here,” Earnhardt said.  “To not win here in so many races, it just bothers you.”

Over the final ten laps, Earnhardt picked up debris on his grille that causes his car to overheat.  Earnhardt was unsure whether his car could hold up to the heat and a potential challenge from eventual runner-up, and teammate, Jimmie Johnson.

“I didn’t know what [Johnson] had up his sleeve,” Earnhardt said.  “We had a real strong car and I didn’t know if my motor was going to last, but I had faith in it that it would because we build fast cars and they’re tough.”

Earnhardt said this victory, which locks his team into the Chase, will change the way they run races over the summer.

“We weren’t winning races, and now we’re locked into that Chase,” Earnhardt said.  “Now that we’re locked into that, we can call these races so differently for now so maybe we’ll have more wins on the way.”

Unofficial results:

 

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2. Jimmie Johnson

3. Paul Menard

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Sam Hornish Jr.

7. Ryan Newman

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Josh Wise

11. Jamie McMurray

12. Kurt Busch

13. Cole Whitt

14. J.J. Yeley

15. Aric Almirola

16. Alex Bowman

17. AJ Allmendinger

18. Matt DiBenedetto

19. Tony Stewart

20. David Gilliland

21. Danica Patrick

22. Brad Keselowski

23. Justin Allgaier

24. Chris Buescher

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

27. Bobby Labonte

28. Casey Mears

29. Michael Annett

30. Clint Bowyer

31. Jeff Gordon

32. Carl Edwards

33. Joey Logano

34. Kasey Kahne

35. Austin Dillon

36. Michael Waltrip

37. Greg Biffle

38. David Ragan

39. Landon Cassill

40. Brendan Gaughan

41. Trevor Bayne

42. Kyle Larson

43. Brian Scott

Photo courtesy Jerry Markland/Getty Images