April 6, 2005

By Rebecca Gladden

There were winners and losers at the Food City 500 on Sunday, but when it comes to the points standings, no one gained bigger than Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earnhardt parlayed a 19th-place qualifying position into a fourth-place finish, climbing nine places in points - the biggest gain of any driver at Bristol. Junior came into the weekend 26th in points and left a much-improved 17th.

Dale Junior and Company were in bad need of a good finish at Bristol. Since coming in 3rd at the season opener in Daytona, Junior had finished no higher than 24th in his next three outings.

Before qualifying on Friday, Earnhardt talked frankly about his team's status. "We're not competitive like we want to be. We're not performing as good as we want to be. That's all right there in front of you in the numbers."

But on the horizon were Bristol and Martinsville, marking the first time the series would run back-to-back at short tracks since 1999. Junior knew this would be a golden opportunity to gain ground in the standings. Over the course of his Cup career, he has a higher average finish at short tracks than at any other type of track, including superspeedways.

In a race marred by collisions and cautions, Earnhardt found a way to stay out of the fray, although the hard racing took its toll: "Man that was some hard driving," he reported upon exiting the car. "There at the end, I kind of felt like I was arm-wrestling Sylvester Stallone."

Though exhausted, Junior expressed satisfaction with the effort. "I had a great car, a top five car all day. But being faster and passing those guys are two different things. We took advantage of everybody else's mistakes, had a pretty clean run, and stayed up there in the top ten all day. Pretty exciting. There at the end, the car was really sliding a lot ... But other than that, we had a really good car through the middle, and I was happy with the way the team got through the day."

One race does not a season make, but Earnhardt's top five at Bristol came just in time to put the brakes on a downhill slide. A good finish at Martinsville this weekend might provide just the spark that this team needs to carry it into the heart of the season.

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