Race: Virginia529 College Savings 250 at Richmond Raceway
Track Specs: .75-mile D-shaped oval / 250 laps
Weather: Clear, 64 degrees
Race Winner: Brad Keselowski
Earnhardt’s Finish: 9th

Dale Earnhardt Jr. logged a ninth-place finish in his second and final NASCAR Xfinity Series start this season Friday night at Richmond Raceway. The result was Earnhardt’s sixth top-10 finish in seven career Xfinity Series starts at the track.

After qualifying fifth, Earnhardt’s No. 88 Degree Deodorant Chevrolet propelled its way into third in the opening laps. Throughout much of the initial 75-lap stage, Earnhardt kept his No. 88 ride positioned just behind race leaders Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski. When the first caution of the night waved at Lap 53, crew chief Scott Radel elected to keep Earnhardt on track while a handful of other cars pitted for tires. The varying strategies resulted in Earnhardt dropping a few spots to end Stage One eighth, but allowed the Degree team to conserve a set of tires for later in the race.

The former two-time Xfinity Series champion wasted little time climbing back into the top five in the second stage. Earnhardt saw his progress halted after cracking the top five, but managed to maintain his fifth-place running position for the duration of the stage.

When teams pitted between the second and third stages, the Degree team made a minor chassis adjustment in addition to the typical four tires and fuel pit stop in an attempt to help the tight handling condition Earnhardt battled for much of the night. Earnhardt lined up seventh for the ensuing restart at Lap 174 and ultimately ended the race ninth as the event ran green through the checkered flag.

Keselowski won the race with Busch second, Ty Dillon third, Daniel Hemric fourth and Elliott Sadler fifth.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver No. 88 Degree Deodorant team
“I think we should have ran a little bit better. We expect to run better when we come here. I think everybody at JR Motorsports would feel like we missed it a little bit. We had a pretty good car and we tried to free it up for the last run and actually made it tighter. I was already kind of fighting a tight car and the adjustments we made just didn’t really work for us.”