Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR Fans, Sprint Cup, Danica Patrick, NASCAR
MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- The legions of fans of Junior Nation rose as one on lap 285 of the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway Sunday, waving the little green flags passed out by the race sponsor and screaming their lungs out against the din of the more than three dozen race cars circling the half-mile track here. Their man, Dale Earnhardt Jr., had clawed his way to the front and taken the lead from Jeff Gordon during a green flag run at the midpoint of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
And he led 90 of the next 93 laps -- more than his total for the entire year before Sunday's race. Coming into Martinsville -- where Earnhardt has never won -- he had led a total of 71 laps in five races.
But after more than doubling his laps led total Sunday, Earnhardt was only partially satisfied. He faded during the long green flag run over the final 98 laps and finished seventh.
"Well, this isn't quite good enough," Earnhardt said. "We have to run way better than this. I can come in here and get a top-10 unless we have a major, major issue in the setup."
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