News

Find the Latest News on Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt Starting 23rd at Phoenix

By Tyler Overstreet, JR Motorsports | Article Published 11/9/2012
Picture

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start 23rd in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Phoenix International Raceway. The No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet posted a lap of 135.547 mph (26.559 sec.) around the 1-mile tri-oval in Avondale, Ariz. Kyle Busch, the final driver to take time in Friday’s qualifying session, set a new track record with a fast time of 138.766 mph (25.943 sec.) to score the Coors Light Pole Award.

“We’ve got a completely different setup than we ran here earlier this year,” Earnhardt told reporters on Friday. “So right now I’m just anxious to get in the car and see what we can do.”

Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola filled spots two through five for Sunday’s grid, followed by Kurt Busch, Paul Menard, Regan Smith, Tony Stewart and Mark Martin in positions six through ten.

Two final practice sessions at Phoenix International Raceway are scheduled for Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. ET. Both sessions will be televised live on SPEED.

Coverage of Sunday’s AdvoCare 500 begins at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Standings
After Quicken Loans 400
Rank +/- Driver Points Behind
1 -- Jimmie Johnson 538 0
2 -- Carl Edwards 507 -31
3 -- Clint Bowyer 489 -49
4 +1 Kevin Harvick 476 -62
5 +1 Matt Kenseth 456 -82
6 +1 Kyle Busch 452 -86
7 -3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 447 -91
8 +2 Greg Biffle 443 -95
9 -- Brad Keselowski 430 -108
10 +3 Tony Stewart 417 -121
11 +1 Paul Menard 415 -123
12 -4 Kasey Kahne 407 -131
Full Standings