Sunday, August 3, 2014

Earnhardt Jr. sweeps Pocono, his first season sweep since 2002

Dale Jr sweeps Pocono
Dale Earnhardt Jr. got a new crew chief this week for the 2015 season, but he's not ready to get rid of his old one quite yet.

Steve Letarte employed the perfect fuel strategy Sunday and Earnhardt held off Kevin Harvick on a late restart for his second win this season at Pocono Raceway.

MORE: Pocono results | Stewart upended in big crash | Danica, Jimmie crash

The win was Earnhardt's third of the season and his first sweep of a track since 2002 at Talladega. It was the fifth straight win at Pocono for Hendrick Motorsports.

Harvick rallied from a speeding penalty and a wreck to challenge Earnhardt at the end and finish second. Joey Logano finished third, followed by Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon.

Earnhardt won the June race at Pocono when leader Brad Keselowski slowed to get trash off the grille of his car late in the race. He also won the season-opening Daytona 500. The victory Sunday was the 22nd of his career and the most he has won in a single season since 2004.

"I just feel really lucky to be able to work with (Steve) and the whole crew," Earnhardt said. "As good as Steve is, the whole crew is that deep. Everybody has got an awesome personality and a great attitude.

"I can’t believe I fell into this group, man. I’m just the lucky guy to be able to drive for them. They’d be winning races no matter who was driving the car. I’m just lucky to be a part of this."

Gordon, Earnhardt's teammate, dominated the race and was in a position to win until the final green-flag pit stops, when most of the leaders starting gambling on fuel. Earnhardt took two tires to Gordon's four and came out of the pits ahead of him.

Read More Here......Sporting News

Pocono Final Results

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