Race: STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway
Track Specs: .526-mile oval / 500 laps
Weather: Sunny, 55 degrees
Race Winner: Denny Hamlin
Dale Jr.’s Finish: 36th
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s attempt to secure a second consecutive victory at Martinsville Speedway came up empty after being collected in a lap-227 accident that damaged the No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew bad enough to send Earnhardt behind the wall for 47 laps. The end result on the day was a 36th-place finish.
Earnhardt’s day started positively as he quickly asserted himself as a contender, driving from 14th into the top five by lap 50. Running lap times on par with eventual race winner Denny Hamlin, Earnhardt continued his strong start while admittedly running a cautious pace. Following the team’s first pit stop, Earnhardt immediately reported that he had a loose wheel on his Chevrolet, so crew chief Greg Ives called him to pit road once again at lap 75. That move dropped Earnhardt to 29th for the ensuing restart.
Under the race’s next caution, Earnhardt told Ives he had no gear shifter – the result of a constant high-speed vibration. The misfortune forced the No. 88 team to make multiple pit stops to attempt to repair the shifter. After one failed repair attempt, Earnhardt eventually returned to the track with a new shifter and still on the lead lap in 24th at lap 216.
Shortly thereafter, a multi-car pileup in turn one happened directly in front of Earnhardt. Despite an effort to take evasive action, Earnhardt piled into the melee, causing substantial damage to the No. 88 Chevrolet. The damage was enough to send Earnhardt to the garage for repairs.
Earnhardt returned to the track 47 laps down. In the race’s final 200 laps, Earnhardt did not lose another lap and even raced his way past cars inside the top 20. However, being down so many laps, Earnhardt was only able to climb to 36th by the time the checkered flag flew.
Hamlin held off a fierce challenge from Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth and David Ragan.