Earnhardt Jr. close to his first win of the year

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had an interesting day at Dover. At one point, he was a lap down to the race leaders in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway.
He escaped a chain-reaction wreck near the end of the race and posted a third-place finish. He is still looking for his first win of the season, but it was a strong showing for Earnhardt Jr. and his team.
"We had a lot of luck go our way and we also worked really hard to get to where we got," said Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc. "I am real proud of my team, they gave me a great opportunity today to run great and we ran up front early in the race and were able to stay there most of the day. We had some down parts in the race and got a lap down but were able to get that back. I am just real proud of my team, Budweiser and everybody for supporting me this year and the rest of the season. This is a good run for us, this really helps us going in to the next couple of races."
Earnhardt Jr. narrowly missed qualifying for the Chase. He was the 13th place driver in the Cup standings when the Chase started two weeks ago at New Hampshire. The top 12 drivers earned spots in the Chase.
The next eight races will be his last eight with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Earnhardt Jr. is leaving DEI for Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. After the race at Dover, he reflected on his relationships with his teammates and crew.
"It is a celebration of great effort and friendship," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We have a great friendship with each other. We all really do enjoy working with each other. I think, if there is one travesty to me moving to another team next year and everything that has happened is that I won't get to work with some of these guys next year and that is pretty tough. We all get along. We will meet each other down the road somewhere and work together again or do something. But, I am just real proud of them because they haven't quit on me and I haven't quit of them and that is the effort we have to keep the rest of the year because we all deserve it."