Race 22 of 33: Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Track Specs: .533-mile concrete oval / 300 laps
Weather: Cloudy, 79 degrees
Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Earnhardt’s Finish: 13th

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Goody’s Mixed Fruit Blast team logged a 13th-place finish in Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The finish made Earnhardt one of four JR Motorsports drivers finishing inside the top 13.

Early in the 300-lap race, Earnhardt crept forward from his 17th-place starting position while reporting to crew chief Scott Radel that his No. 88 Goody’s Mixed Fruit Blast Chevrolet was handling well, but progressively getting tighter and tighter as laps clicked away. It took the former two-time Xfinity Series champion only 44 laps to crack the top 10 for the first time and he improved one spot from there to end Stage One in ninth.

A quick pit stop between stages propelled Earnhardt to restart seventh at Lap 95. By Lap 109, Earnhardt had climbed to sixth despite reporting that his No. 88 car was wrecking loose on entry and exit, but still too tight in the center of Bristol’s high-banked turns. Midway through the stage, Earnhardt made contact with the outside wall in turn two and slid back to 17th before being lapped just prior to the end of the stage on Lap 170. He was the recipient of the free pass between stages and rejoined the lead lap when the final stage began on Lap 178.

Earnhardt wasted no time charging back through the field in the final stage. By Lap 209, he had climbed from 17th to 10th before the race was slowed once again by caution just seven laps later. All of the race leaders, including Earnhardt, elected to take their final set of fresh tires under the caution and the race eventually restarted with just 77 laps remaining. After restarting ninth, Earnhardt immediately radioed to his Goody’s team that his Chevrolet was too loose and lacking rear grip. The long run proved to be his undoing as he slid back to 16th and lost a lap to the leader before the race’s final caution at Lap 285. Earnhardt improved three positions after the ensuing restart and ultimately ended the night 13th.

Kyle Busch won the race with Daniel Suarez, Elliott Sadler, Ty Dillon and Justin Allgaier rounding out the top five.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver No. 88 Goody’s Mixed Fruit Blast Chevrolet
“We had a couple fast runs where I was having a lot of fun. Then, there were a couple runs where the left-front tire quit working and the car wasn’t much fun to drive and we weren’t able to do anything. I enjoyed driving tonight. I enjoy the race.”