LONG POND - Like his fellow NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitors, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had nothing for the No. 48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson during Sunday's Party in the Poconos 400.
At least he was able to keep his Hendrick Motorsports teammate within eyesight throughout much of the day.
NASCAR's most popular driver ran in the top-5 for nearly the entire race and left Pocono Raceway with a solid third-place finish.
"We had a great car. The National Guard Chevrolet was really fast all weekend," Earnhardt said. "We didn't have the winner covered, but we had everybody from fifth on back covered."
With his strong showing, the 38-year-old jumped to fourth in points and ended a recent string of frustrating final results.
"We have been running good all year," he said. "We just have had some troubles. We held on and had a good run."
This top-5 finish may only be the beginning for the No. 88 team.
With the second half of the regular season on the horizon, a few of Earnhardt's best tracks lie directly ahead on the Sprint Cup Series schedule.
That includes Michigan International Speedway, where Earnhardt went to Victory Lane and broke a 143-race winless streak last June.
The driver said his Pocono performance was key to building momentum for this looming group of races.
"We were counting on rebounding. We really haven't had a good last couple months," Earnhardt said. "It's good to get a solid full race in and finish where I felt like the car was capable of running."
Race-winner Johnson was not surprised to see his friend and teammate at the front of the lead pack.
"They ran great all day long," Johnson said. "They grow stronger and stronger each week. They're clicking and doing a great job."
Although he could not reign in the five-time champion, Earnhardt had his fair share of opportunities to overtake his teammate during the race.
After starting the afternoon in the sixth position, the North Carolina native bided his time during the first half of the race. Throughout the opening 66-lap stretch of green flag racing, he kept himself in a position to capitalize should the 48 car falter.
Earnhardt even lined up next to Johnson in second place for two restarts within the final 10 laps of the event.
"I felt like it really came down to who had the best handling car, and Jimmie had the best car by far today," he said. "The last restarts were kind of tough. I was just really more in defense mode."
Still, Earnhardt's vibe after 400 miles was very positive.
In fact, the quality of the racing Sunday left him very optimistic about NASCAR's next visit to the 2.5-mile triangular track in August.
"I really like it. I think it actually widened out quite a bit from last year to this year," Earnhardt said of the racing surface. "It's just going to get better and better.
But he also knows that he and his team have some catching up to do if they want to finish on top.
"We'll go back, try to work on our stuff, try to get a little better, and come back in a month or so and see what we can do."