Driver of the No. 88 looks back at 16th-place showing, ahead to Richmond
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. felt like his No. 88 team had a fast car at Bristol but a loose wheel derailed their chances for a strong showing in the Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up to Cancer.
“We had a fast car all night, moving that track bar up and down, getting that thing to handle the way we wanted to,” Earnhardt Jr. said on “The Dale Jr. Download” on Dirty Mo Radio. “We passed a lot of cars. Had to run some people hard and rough and had a lot of fun doing it. We got pushed and shoved around a little bit too; that was pretty fun. We ended up going in the right direction. We clawed back there and got into the top 20.
But the early issue with the loose wheel was too much to overcome as it put him four laps down at one point.
“It’s hard to get them laps back especially when the leaders don’t pit. You can’t get that wave around. If you are two laps down, you are sort of stuck. Can’t get the lucky dog.”
On “The Dale Jr. Download,” Earnhardt Jr. discussed what he felt may have led to the loose wheel and took responsibility for making the issue worse.
“Me and the 5 got together on the back straightaway. I think I pinched him into the fence on the straightaway and we hit pretty hard. I don’t know if that knocked the dang wheel or what. The wheel shook pretty bad and I waited until the last minute to come down pit road so it torn the lugs up real bad when it was loose out there on the track. I waited too long.”
After pitting to try and fix the issue, Junior had to come back in a few laps later as the issue persisted.
”When they tried to put the next wheel on, it wouldn’t tighten up because the lugs were tore up and the threads were busted. So that wheel shook loose real fast. It’s not uncommon if you tear the lugs up. So what we had to do was come back down pit road and put a shim on the studs. We had to get approval from NASCAR first to put that shim on there. We put a shim on the studs which makes the wheel mount in a different place on the stud that’s not beat up or torn up. So we could actually tighten the lugs to the wheel.”
Several drivers battled loose wheels throughout the race such as third-place finisher Jeff Gordon as well as Martin Truex Jr. Dale Jr. wasn’t sure what that could be attributed to but thought the 0.533-mile track might have something to do with it.
“I don’t know if its just the track’s getting rough but you do kind of bounce around that place. Tires kind of bounce around the track like basketballs.”
With the wheel issue behind him, Dale Jr. grinded out a 16th-place finish thanks to a car that had the most speed in traffic (121.016 mph), according to loop data. He also had 61 green flag passes in the race, which was the eighth-most in the event.
Matt Kenseth eventually won the race at Bristol, snapping a 51-race winless streak, but Junior felt his car was better.
“I ran around that 20 earlier. I didn’t think it was that great. They must have gotten the car quite a bit better. I feel like we were faster than them.”
Now it’s on to Richmond where Earnhardt has three wins in 31 starts and has an average finish of 13.5 at the 0.75-mile track.
”Richmond is a pretty fun track. I’m looking forward to going there with Greg for the first time and seeing what kind of ideas he’s got to help us there. Help us get better than we’ve been.”
And last year’s four-time winner is confident that the 88’s time in Victory Lane is coming soon.
“We just got to keep showing up to the race track with cars like that and everything is going to work out.”
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