Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s third-place effort Monday was his best of the season. Credit: Autostock

Georgia just peachy for pair of DEI teammates

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Atlanta marked a little bit of redemption for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt still feels pain from his tortured finish at Las Vegas, when a late four-tire stop -- coupled with a speeding penalty -- turned a sure top-15 into a 27th-place finish.

	Credit: Autostock
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The finish was maddening because Earnhardt had been decent at Fontana and Las Vegas, places that had previously served as momentum-killers.

On Monday, Earnhardt came from the back of the pack twice to finish third, his best run since winning at Chicagoland last July.

"We were going to have a top 15 at Vegas I felt, and we had a bad deal there and lost a lot of points," said Earnhardt, who moved to seventh in the points. "We ran all right at California. It is a good feeling to kind of be back where we were in '04."

The finish didn't come easily. Earnhardt battled tire wear all day long, even at the end. Looking at the car on pit road after the race, it was evident that his tires were blistering in a short amount of time.

"The [tires] gave up, but we were not crashing, just sliding a lot," Earnhardt said. "Guys fell off real bad at the end, I was wrecking loose and I still put two more seconds on the guy behind me with 10 to go."

Earnhardt had a tire go down early, knocking him off the lead lap. He got the lap back a short time later, and Earnhardt started running the high line.

Earnhardt's Chevrolet was lightning-fast up top, and he picked off 10 cars in the last 50 laps.

"They got it handling good, man, I could make some passes," Earnhardt said. "[The high line] just seems to be the line I prefer. You just gain a lot of speed up there."

One of the cars Earnhardt passed in the closing laps belonged to teammate Paul Menard, who wound up seventh in his first Nextel Cup start on an oval.

Paul Menard

DEI was not originally going to bring Menard to Atlanta, but after his team failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, DEI team boss Richie Gilmore elected to field a third car at AMS.

Menard stayed out of trouble over the 500 miles, and more importantly, he avoided the tire problems that affected others.

Gas was an issue, however. Initial indications had Menard running out of gas with two laps to go, but DEI kept him on the track, and Menard coasted to the finish.

"We didn't have much to lose, so we took a gamble there," said Menard, who is expected to drive in seven Nextel Cup events this season. "I was a little nervous. I was lifting early. It all worked out."

Menard's No. 15 Chevrolet was remarkably undamaged after the race, and his tires were blister-free.

"Paul's car looked awesome and he drove a great race," Earnhardt said. "He's just a real professional with a good attitude, and that will get him some good finishes. He don't make a lot of mistakes, if any."