Dale Earnhardt Jr.: MBNA 400 preview

DOVER, Del. -- The Budweiser team and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have competed in eight races at Dover International Speedway, scoring one victory and three top-10 finishes. His victory came in September 2001, in which he led 193 laps. It was the team's first Cup victory on a one-mile oval. (A victory at Phoenix last season is the second.) In all, Dale Jr. has led six of eight races at Dover for 364 laps.

"Well, it's gotta be better than the last time I was at Dover because I left in an ambulance (after a late race crash in Oct. 2003). But, before that, we led almost 50 laps and ran in the top-five for more than 300 laps, so I'd prefer to remember that part of the day. We've led a lot of laps over the last few years at Dover and I think our win there (two weeks after 9-11-2001) was one of the highlights I'll never forget. Not even so much that we won - but just the feeling among all of the fans and the drivers and teams that day. You always have a better feeling going to a track where you've won in the past."

"Look at how we finished the (Coca-Cola) 600 (at Charlotte)- making a gutsy pit call in the last few laps. We were snake-bit on those calls in the past, and I really remember losing spots in a similar position at the end of this race (at Dover) last year. I think you can point to that as a sign we're learning from our past mistakes and making better calls than we ever have before."