Race: Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International
Track Specs: 1.99-mile road course
Weather: Clear, 75 degrees
Race Winner: Joey Logano
Dale Jr.’s Finish: 11th
Despite driving a car he called the best Watkins Glen car of his career, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 11th in Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, landing on the short end of a fuel gamble in a race that went uncharacteristically green the final 30 laps.
With multiple strategies playing out, the 88 cemented its gamble with a pit stop on lap 53 of 90. Crew chief Greg Ives and company packed their Chevrolet full of fuel, knowing they were about three-and-a-half laps short but hoping the race would replicate Watkins Glen’s races of the past with myriad cautions, crashes, and long clean-ups.
It never did. Even with Earnhardt Jr. catapulting to fourth when the leaders stopped during the fifth and final caution on lap 57, the race went caution-free after it resumed on lap 60. As a result, Earnhardt Jr. ran out of fuel while taking the white flag. He was able to limp it around the 2.45-mile course and coast across the start/finish line. Jimmie Johnson passed Earnhardt at the very end to prevent what would’ve been Junior’s 14th top-10 of the season.
"We had a fast car right off the truck,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We qualified with a lot of good speed. We practiced with great speed compared to the leaders all day. I can’t say anything about our effort, because it was good.”
Joey Logano won the race by virtue of Kevin Harvick running out of fuel on the final lap. It was Logano’s only lap led. Kyle Busch finished second followed by Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch.
“I think that’s the best I’ve run here comparable to the leaders maybe in my entire career. We came here in ’08 and led and did well, but I think this car was better. The strategy just didn’t work out in our favor, and you’ll have that at road courses.”