#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr was sidelined with engine failure on lap 132 at Michigan, from Team Chevy Driver Race Quotes transcript: Q) HOW DISAPPOINTING IS IT TO BE RUNNING UP FRONT WHEN AN ENGINE LETS GO? Earnhardt Jr. ‘Yeah, that is worse than if it happens when youre running in the back. Im real proud of the car. We were really struggling in practice and Im just real proud of (crew chief) Steve (Letarte) and the whole team. They made a lot of great changes. And that car was just flying at the end there. I dont know if we had as good a car as Jimmie (Johnson), but we had certainly made some gains on it, even in the last stop. So, Im just real proud of my team. I hate to run into trouble. Theyll figure it out and well get it sorted and well be able to come back here and expect to run strong again. I just hate it. Hendrick Motorsports, they work harder than anyone in the business. Theyre the best company in the business and we ought to be out there running up front still, but well get it eventually.” Q) WAS THERE ANY WARNING WHEN THE ENGINE LET GO? Earnhardt Jr. ‘No there was no warning at all even after I think we lost a cylinder. The gauges all looked really good. Flipped all the switches I could flip and nothing was really making a difference. We just had something come apart in the motor. Really happy though with the engine. Happy with the way the car performed. Werent really happy with the National Guard Chevrolet yesterday. Made a lot of changes last night. Steve Letarte (crew chief) and the whole crew made some great changes last night. We had such an awesome car. Look forward to coming back here and try to get a win.” Q) YOU TALKED QUITE AWHILE WITH YOUR CREW CHIEF ONCE YOU CLIMBED OUT OF THE CAR. WHAT WERE YOU DISCUSSING? Earnhardt Jr. ‘I was just telling him how proud I was of him and the team because we were really frustrated yesterday after practice. Really frustrated with how the car was driving and where our speed was. Just telling them guys to hold their head up they did a great job overnight getting the car competitive. We had a first or second-place car right there.” (Team Chevy)
