Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Wins LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway; First Victory for Chevrolet at Home Track Since 2001

Brooklyn, MI – June 15, 2008 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr.(Junior) said yesterday that he and Tony Eury, Jr. might squabble like brothers from time to time, but winning with Eury, Jr. and having top-five and top-10 runs is way more satisfying for him personally than it would be with anyone else. Little did Junior know that satisfaction was 24 hours away for his entire No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Impala SS team fielded by Hendrick Motorsports.

Junior and Eury, Jr. gambled on fuel after running in the top-10 throughout the majority of the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway to bring home the win, the 18^th of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career and the first for NASCAR’s Most Popular driver since May 2006 at Richmond International Raceway.

There was just enough fuel for Junior to take the checkered flag but the team had to push his Chevrolet to victory lane when the car sputtered after the checkered flag flew.

Junior remains third in the standings, but moved to just 84 points behind the leader.

The popular win was the 17^th for the Bowtie brand at its home track and the first since June 2001. Rick Hendrick was the winning team owner of that race with Jeff Gordon taking the checkers that day in his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet.

The race ended under caution after a caution on lap 199 set up a green-white-checkered scenario.

Jimmie Johnson brought his No. 48 Lowe’s Impala SS to the finish line in sixth place after leading six times for a total of 65 laps. The strong run for the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver moved him up one spot in the standings, to fifth.

Team Chevy continues to have six drivers in the top-12 in points with 11 races remaining until the Chase for the Sprint Cup Series championship.  Jeff Burton, No. 31 AT&T Impala SS is second in the standings, just 32 points down to the leader. Burton finished 15^th in today’s race.

Gordon sits ninth in the standings after taking the checkered flag in 18^th position.  Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Impala SS, finished 12^th today to remain 10^th in the standings.

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Impala SS, is 12^th in the standings following his 26^th place finish.

The battle for the 2008 Manufacturers’ Cup tightened significantly after Junior’s victory. Chevrolet has 88 points and sits just 3 points from the top spot in second.

Round 16 of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is next week’s Save Mart 350 on Sunday June 22^nd at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California.

POST RACE QUOTES:

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 AMP ENERGY/NATIONAL GUARD IMPALA SS, STARTED 3^RD. FINISHED 1^ST: CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR VICTORY HERE AT MICHIGAN: “Thanks to all the fans. I hate a lot of fun today.  I want to say Happy Father’s Day to all the Fathers out.  I hope it was a good one for them, I sure had a good day. I was just thinking about the great opportunity I have got with this team, I have to give my team a lot of credit, Tony (Eury), Jr. and all the guys, the road crew. The fabrication and engine at Hendrick, they are awesome. I don’t want for anything; these guys give me everything I need.”

HOW WORRIED WERE YOU ABOUT RUNNING OUT OF FUEL? “Well, it is what it is. So if we ran out, we ran out. We were going to try it and have a shot to win the race.  Knew we had a chance to win the race so we just kept running like we were running all day and we made it happen man. We got one.

“This is pretty meaningful because of Rick (Hendrick, team owner), he is such a great man. I am glad to win for him and for Tony, Jr. for coming with me. Thankful for everyone at Hendrick believing in me, all my teammates and co-crew chiefs. All of these guys put so much in to this to help us. I just have to thank everybody, I just had a real good car.”

 CONGRATUALTIONS DALE, I KNOW THIS ONE IS BIG.  WHAT'S IT MEAN TO YOU TO FINALLY WIN FOR MR. H BUT ALSO WIN A FUEL MILEAGE RACE?  "Well I didn't know we didn't have enough gas to make it until that caution came out.  We had it set up to win if we didn't have a caution but thanks to the fans, Happy Father's Day.  Congratulations to my team they deserve it.  Congratulations to Rick (Hendrick - team owner)."

SO HOW CONCERNED WERE YOU ON FUEL?  "It is what it is.  We didn't have enough.  We run out coming to the white, stumbled off the straightaway so we were close.  We were going to stumble to the finish, probably not win the race but the caution saved us.  They can write what they want but we won one."

RICK HENDRICK, OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS: YOU WALKED UP TO THE CAR MR. HENDRICK, WHAT DID YOU TELL HIM?  "He told me maybe I shouldn't come today because he wasn't running that good so I said I'm glad I didn't stay at home and do what you told me.  Great job, I'm proud of you buddy."

BECAUSE OF FAMILY THROUGHOUT THE YEARS AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, THIS WIN IS SPECIAL FOR YOU AND FOR DALE BUT WHY IS IT SO SPECIAL FOR YOU?  "You know we started off and he won the Shootout and then the 150 and we said we don't have to worry about that winning a race now and then nobody counted it because it wasn't a points race.  We've been waiting for this so, it's so close."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S IMPALA SS, STARTED 6^TH, FINISHED 6^TH: YOU GUYS HAD A GOOD CAR.  "Yeah, I was just disappointed with the finish because the car handled better than that all day long.   I am happy for my teammate and it’s great for those guys to win and get Hendrick Motorsports another victory this year.  This track always does something weird at the end and we do the opposite.   Chad called a good race and it wasn't a matter of calling the race by any means it’s just the way it works out and we've had more slip away from us here than anywhere.  But, all-in-all a great day and I am very proud of this Lowe's Impala SS team and we're getting better."

HOW ABOUT AN ATTA-BOY FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU HAD SOME GEAR ISSUES AND YOU REALLY WORKED THROUGH IT UNDER THOSE CAUTIONS TO GET UP TO SPEED AND IT REALLY SEEMED TO WORK ITSELF OUT. "Ah if I didn't use the clutch and I banged it between third and fourth gear it would knock whatever loose and I could just get it in for a quick second and it stayed in second the rest of the time.  It worked on the pit stop and I was trying to be aggressive with it on pit road and thankfully I had first gear in it when I had to take off, but it certainly added frustration to the day."

NOW WE HEAD TO SONOMA A TRACK THAT IS SORT OF A COMING HOME OF SORTS TO HEAD OUT WEST FOR YOU. "Yeah, I love going to the west coast and that's a great track.  I just hope that I can run as good as these cars are prepared and we'll have a good day." 

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL IMPALA SS, STARTED 10^TH, FINISHED 12^TH: "It was a good day for the Shell-Pennzoil team today although we didn't get the finish we were capable of.   If the caution wouldn't have come out there at the end of the race we would have had a top-five finish.  However we just couldn't gamble on gas with that green/white/checkered finish, but overall it was a good day and we're looking forward to another great run in Sonoma next week."

MARK MARTIN, NO. 8 U.S. ARMY CHEVROLET IMPALA SS, STARTED 15^TH, FINISHED 26^TH:  “Tony (Gibson, crew chief) and the guys really put all they had into the effort today,” said Martin. “It was looking good there for a minute, but we just didn’t have enough left in the tank. We almost pulled off the top-five finish, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. Still it was a great effort by this Army team and one they can sure be proud of on their 233rd Birthday.”