Richmond Budweiser race preview

Dale Jr. Quotes

"I'm not going to guarantee anything at Richmond because we struggled last fall, but we had always been really good there before that. We went to Lakeland (Florida) a few weeks ago to work on some things for Richmond, and we had a really productive test.

"I'm happy that we've been more consistent lately. We've improved in points, and we have to be sure we're consistent about being consistent. It's good for the guys because they can soldier on in the shop to get the next car ready for next week's race with a good attitude. It's tough when you're wrecking a lot of cars and finishing 34th each week to keep that motivation going.

Number 50
The race at Richmond will be the 50th start of Dale Jr's Winston Cup career and also the 50th for the No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) Budweiser team. In the previous 49 races, the team has racked up some impressive results. <pre> Wins: 2 (Texas and Richmond, 2000 "Other" Wins: TheWinston (2000) Bud Pole Positions: 3 (Charlotte and Michigan, 2000 / Texas, 2001) Money Won: $4,594,386 Top Five Finishes: 5 Top Ten Finishes: 9 Races Led: 16 Laps Led: 583

Dale Jr. at Richmond

Winston Cup Starts: 3 Best Start: 5th (Spring, 2000) Best Finish: 1st (Spring, 2000) </pre> Notable: Dale Jr. became the first driver to win twice in 2000 when he won this race last season. Despite struggling to a 13th place finish in last year's fall race, the Richmond track remains the site of many memorable moments for Dale Jr. and the Bud team, including two victories in the Busch Series and their first-ever Winston Cup top-10 finish in 1999.

Dale Jr. is now 10th in Winston Cup points following his fourth top-10 of the season Sunday at California Speedway. The four top-10 finishes in the first 10 races matches last year's total for the season. The team has gained 16 positions in the Winston Cup point standings in the last four races with finishes of third, eighth (twice) and 11th. <pre> What: Pontiac Excitement 400 / 400Laps, 300 miles / .75-mile oval / Race #11 of 36 Where: Richmond International Raceway Richmond, VA When: Saturday,May 5 8:00pm Watch: FX-TV Pre-race:7:30 pm (AllTimes: Eastern) </pre> Bud Pole Qualifying: Bud Pole qualifying will be seen live on tape delay Friday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on FX. The Winston Cup Happy Hour will also be seen on the FX Network Friday afternoon at 6:30 pm.

What to Watch
This is the first night race of the season, which bodes well for noted night owl Dale Jr. He won this race last year, and also grabbed the winner's spoils at the Winston, another night race. The team led 175 laps of last year's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, a race that is predominantly run under the lights.

-Budweiser