Hard Charger: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Jeff Gordon had one question for Dale Earnhardt Jr. after the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 on Sunday.

Earnhardt had just said his team had used a chassis setup that he didn't think "anybody has ever won a race [with] in the history of NASCAR."

Gordon, the race runner-up, looked at the third-place finisher and asked, "You want to elaborate on that setup?"

	Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"I don't think you'd believe me," Earnhardt replied.

The No. 8 Chevrolet had a down-and-up weekend. Earnhardt nearly spun the car in qualifying and started the 500-mile race from the 37th spot thanks to a provisional.

But after his second consecutive top-five finish, Earnhardt vaulted up the points standings from 18th to 10th. He is only 144 points behind series leader Matt Kenseth, who took the lead after a fourth-place finish.

Earnhardt and Gordon showed fairly early that they had two of the strongest cars. About 30 laps into the pleasant afternoon (a rarity for this race), Gordon was 12th and Earnhardt was right behind him.

"It didn't take me too long to get confident in the car," Earnhardt said. "My butt was feeling pretty confident after two laps, and it took another lap for it to register in my brain.

"When you drive down into that first corner, you get the message right away whether you have a fast car, a loose one or a tight one. You can feel it in the car -- wherever you're touching the seat."

SI.com  •  SI.com's complete NASCAR coverage

While the 24 car eventually claimed the lead, Junior didn't quite have enough to get there until a little blind luck came into play. When a caution came out on lap 186 for oil on the track, the 11 other cars on the lead lap pitted. Earnhardt, with just over 10 laps on his new tires, stayed out.

"What the hell was that all about?" he asked as he circled the track, noticing a large gap behind him. "Oh well. It might be the only way we were going to lead a lap anyway."

Fortunately for Earnhardt he didn't have to worry about tire management for long. Just 20 laps after the ensuing restart, the yellow flag came out for debris in Turn 2. Unfortunately, that meant going to pit road, where Earnhardt had the toughest luck all day. He went from first to fourth after the stop and never again was a threat to win.

Earnhardt refused to blame his pit crew, though, saying that the wholesale changes to the team that were made in the offseason had no effect on his finish. The new guys haven't had a chance to gel with the veterans, he explained.

"We had good stops; we had bad stops," he said. "But we didn't have any terrible ones like we've had in the past."

Third place was just fine with the 28-year-old Earnhardt, who is in his fourth full season.

"I don't think I really had anything for the 18 or the 24 when they were in front," he said. "I felt like we had a good shot at a top five if we just kept our nose clean, and that's what we concentrated on."

After discussing Junior's setup a little more, Earnhardt and Gordon came to an interesting conclusion. It wasn't such a unique formula. Gordon had the same one in his car.