Race: MyAFibStory.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway
Track Specs: 1.5-mile tri-oval / 267 laps
Weather: Sunny, 71 degrees
Race Winner: Denny Hamlin
Dale Jr.’s Finish: 12th
Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup with a 12th-place finish in Sunday’s MyAFibStory.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. The finish has Junior and the No. 88 team ranked 10th of 16 after the first of three Challenger Round races.
Early on, Earnhardt crept forward from his 19th-place starting position. During a lengthy-green flag stint that saw teams cycle through pit stops twice, Earnhardt worked all the way up to the eighth position while radioing crew chief Greg Ives that he needed more front grip in the center of the turns to continue his march up the leaderboard. Ives and the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew team made multiple adjustments and kept their driver amongst the top 12 throughout the afternoon.
After an untimely caution during another round of green-flag pit stops at lap 191 trapped Earnhardt one lap down, he took the wave around to rejoin the lead lap. Earnhardt spent the balance of the race attempting to overcome that misfortune. After restarting 13th, he made his way back to the top 10 a handful of laps later and raced there before the final caution waved at lap 258.
Ives elected to give Junior four fresh tires for a five-lap dash to the finish. The call put the No. 88 10th for the restart. As the field raced through turn two, a checkup in the high lane halted Earnhardt’s advances. The brief hesitation dropped Earnhardt to 14th and left him scrambling to regain positions in the final laps. In the end, he crossed the finish line 12th.
Denny Hamlin claimed his second victory of the season over Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth.
With just two races remaining in the Challenger Round, Earnhardt ranks 10th. He is only two points behind eighth-place Ryan Newman, while holding a 10-point advantage over 13th-place Jamie McMurray.