LONG POND — Dale Earnhardt Jr. remembers coming to Pocono Raceway as a boy to watch his father race.
Perhaps his most fondest memory came in 1987 when Dale Earnhardt Sr. passed Alan Kulwicki with two laps to go to win the Summer 500.
“I was watching that from the infield with my buddy Scott Williams. He was Doug Williams’ son; Doug used to be a crew chief in the garage,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We just thought it was so cool how the 7 (Kulwicki) got under dad in turn 1 and dad backed the corner up and passed him on the exit of the tunnel. ... It was cool we got to go to Victory Lane.”
Earnhardt Jr. found his way back there eight weeks ago when he won the Pocono 400. He passed Brad Keselowski for the lead with five laps to go after Keselowski’s engine started to overheat due to a piece of debris that had lodged itself on the front grill of his car.
Now, Earnhardt Jr. goes for a season sweep at Pocono in the GoBowling.com 400.
He will start ninth in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race after qualifying at 181.741 mph.
Since NASCAR started coming to the track twice a season in 1982, six drivers have swept both races: Bobby Allison (1982), Bill Elliott (1985), Tim Richmond (1986), Bobby Labonte (1999), Jimmie Johnson (2004) and Denny Hamlin (2006).
To add his name to that list, Earnhardt Jr. believes he needs to find a little more speed in his No. 88 Chevrolet than he had here in June.
“The 2 (Keselowski) was probably the best car and a couple guys that if they were in front of us, we probably weren’t going to pass,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We had a really competitive car, but not the best car. The best car doesn’t always win, of course, but it sure helps to be the fastest guy out there.”
It has been an eventful week for Earnhardt Jr. On Wednesday, it was announced that Greg Ives will be his crew chief next season. Ives will replace Steve Letarte, who is leaving to become a television analyst for NBC Sports on its coverage of NASCAR.
Ives currently is crew chief for Chase Elliott in the Nationwide Series. Previously, the 34-year-old worked as a race engineer for Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet during his championship seasons of 2006-10.
Knowing that he and Letarte will be together for only 16 more races is emotional, Earnhardt Jr. said. But he is looking forward to working with Ives.
“I already know how good Greg is,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “But I’m excited by the fact that everybody (at Hendrick Motorsports) believes in the decision and that we’ll be better off than we are today. Any time you have an opportunity to fill a position, you look at it as a chance to get better. We’re not trying to photocopy Steve and plug in a guy just like him. We want to try to get better, and I think we have in making this decision.”
Also, Earnhardt Jr. is glad the decision has been made and won’t be looming over him and the team as they pursue a championship during the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“It’s a big relief to get it off my shoulders and not worry about who we are going to work with,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I feel good about it.”
Besides his win at Pocono, Earnhardt Jr., of course, won the Daytona 500. He has seven top-five and 14 top-10 finishes after 20 races and is second in the standings with 693 points. That is 24 behind leader Jeff Gordon.