Dale Earnhardt Jr. avoided a late-race accident as he drove his No.
88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet to a second-place finish in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
event at Talladega Superspeedway.
Earnhardt's top-five finish -- his first of 2009 -- was the best among the Hendrick Motorsports
lineup, most of which were affected by accidents. Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's
Chevrolet, took 30th after getting involved in a crash with seven laps to go.
"It's tough to race here," Johnson said. "I'm mean it's just disappointing how many hours go into
these cars, and then we come out here and tear them up like we do. We were smart all day long,
and I think the field in general did a pretty good job."
Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont/Pepsi Throwback Challenger Chevrolet, and Mark, driver of
the No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet, both were victims of an early, 14-car accident on Lap 8.
They finished 37th and 43rd, respectively.
After Sunday's race, Gordon ranks second in the driver standings, while Johnson is third. Earnhardt
improves three spots to 15th, and Mark ranks 18th.
|
