Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, called ‘Amelia,’ celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Can-Am Duels at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2016
Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
The superspeedways are where Amelia is at her best for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr and he loves racing this No. 88 chassis for Hendrick Motorsports. But Junior was willing to go with whatever decision he crew chief, Greg Ives made and this week, and the question on the minds of Earnhardt fans, received an answer on Monday.
For all those asking, it is time. Amelia will be making her return to the track this weekend. @TeamHendrick did a great job fixing her up.
— Greg Ives (@Ives_Greg) April 25, 2016
‘Amelia’ after an on track incident during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 21, 2016
Photo – Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
And with 668 retweets and 2, 534 likes from fans just on twitter alone, its clear everyone’s happy with Amelia’s return. ‘Amelia,’ was named after pilot Amelia Earhart, and is the chassis that Earnhardt drove to three wins in 2015 – one in the first Daytona Duel in February, another at Daytona in July, and one at Talladega in May – and another earlier this season, in the first Daytona Duel. After receiving some damage in the 2016 Daytona 500, the team repaired the chassis in preparation for this Sunday’s race.
“We’re going to have ‘Amelia’ She is fixed and (No. 88 team crew chief) Greg (Ives) says she is going to be the primary,” says Earnhardt. “He’s fired up his Twitter account recently … and he let all the fans know on Monday that Amelia is coming back. I’m excited about that – we know how she ran last year. We just have to run Talladega like we have to win it, just like we did the last time we were there. We did a good job. If we run it like that, we’ll be up front at the end.”
Talladega is a special track for Earnhardt, as he continues making his own mark at a track his father had mastered. Junior has six wins on the 2.66-mile tri-oval, more than he has at any other track on the Sprint Cup circuit. Last season, he won there in the spring race and entered Talladega’s fall race in a win-to-continue Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup scenario, where he finished second, just missing his opportunity to make it into the next to the last round of the Chase. With an average of 93.8, Earnhardt has the best driver rating among active drivers at the track. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The most a driver can earn in each race is 150 points.
For the month of May Earnhardt is also debuting a special pair of driving gloves accented in lavender bringing awareness to pediatric cancer as part of The Dale Jr. Foundation’s ongoing ‘Driven to Give Gloves’ program. At the end of the month the gloves will go up for auction to raise funds for Nationwide Children’s Hospitals clinical and research programs – a worthy cause allowing for care regardless of a family’s ability to pay. The hospital is one of the largest in America offering world-class diagnostic, treatment and research facilities, providing comprehensive, multi-disciplinary care for patients with cancer and acute and chronic blood disorders.
Watch the Sprint Cup Series, Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway this Sunday, May 1st with the FOX television broadcast at 1 pm ET or on radio at MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.