The ‘8’ is back. Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag at the Richmond International Raceway for the first time since Chicago Land last July. This ended his 27 race losing streak and has shown NASCAR just how far he has come since missing out on the Chase for the Nextel Cup in 2005. It was Earnhardt’s 17th career Nextel Cup victory and the third time in victory lane at the Richmond International Raceway, but why the change in performance? Most would say it’s due the fact that he has reunited with crew chief Tony Eury Jr. this season.
Earnhardt has moved up to sixth in the points standings, 216 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. Rookie Denny Hamlin finished second in the race, while Kevin Harvick, continuing his streak of good racing, finished in third in front of Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch.
After a long awaited start to the Race in Richmond, Harvick won again during the Busch series race, making it his third victory of the year in the Busch series, as he still claims the top spot in the Busch points, leading the points by 317 over Clint Bowyer. It was an exciting finish, with both Harvick and Jeff Burton headstrong racing toward the checkered flag, but with Harvick pulling off the win.
Following the race, Harvick announced that he would sign a three-year contract to stay with Childress racing, as he had since 2001.
Rule violations at Talladega Super Speedway cost five teams a number of penalties. Nathan Homick, a crew member for the No. 4 Dodge driven by Mark Green, received a $5,000 fine and indefinite suspension from NASCAR for actions detrimental to stock car racing; illegal possession of NASCAR seals.
Tony Stewart’s crew chiefs were fined and placed on probation for similar tampering. Both Walt Rogers, crew chief of the No. 33 and Gene Nead, crew chief of the No. 77, received $10,000 fines and were placed on probation until Dec. 31, caused by tampering found during pre-qualifying inspections.
Shane Wilson, crew chief for Kevin Harvick, was also fined $10,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31 for a series of violations. For more information regarding the fines make sure to check out www.nascar.com.