First Martinsville win for Dale Jr. authentic, enthusiastic, poignant

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Along with his win in this year’s Daytona 500, Sunday’s triumph for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Martinsville Speedway was one of the most popular triumphs of this or any NASCAR season.

There’s something more to winning at tracks with such history – and, unfortunately, the history of Martinsville for Hendrick Motorsports is no doubt affected by the tragedy that occurred 10 years ago.

It was an unfortunate subplot that was brought to the surface again this weekend on that 10-year mark, but for Junior, he understood the significance of what that meant, even though he was outside the family at that point.

“This is the 10th anniversary. It’s more difficult,” he admitted during the post-race press conference. “The 10th anniversary sort of has you reflecting and remembering.  On other anniversaries, you really don’t have to remember as much or reflect as much.  But when it sort of hits these particular anniversaries, like the 10th, you feel like you need to stand up and recognize and acknowledge.  You do.  You want to.  There’s a part of you that loves to celebrate those people’s lives.  But there’s the other half of you that can’t forget the loss.

MORE: Remembering the Hendrick Motorsports airplane tragedy: 10 years later, it still seems like just yesterday

“Losing my dad was difficult.  I can’t imagine that loss that he went through, his family went through, the whole organization.  All those people at one time.  It just has to be unbelievable to have to deal with that.

“They do a lot to recognize and remember and celebrate those people’s lives.  I think the more years, the more time I spend around the organization, the more I started to understand what that weekend means to the company.”

The team has dealt with it, of course, and emerged from the events of 10 years ago an even stronger organization.

Hendrick has now added its 12th win of the season, moving one ahead of Team Penske for the most this season.

For Junior, the Sunday win was about exorcising his own 15 years worth of demons at the tricky paperclip and winning that elusive first grandfather clock.

“I love the history of the sport and just can’t get enough of like all these pictures on the wall in here,” he said. “I just know this place has a special meaning and a special place in the series and the sport.

“I always wanted one. I came close I think several times. We had some good finishes here.  Even with Tony, Sr. and Tony, Jr. (Eury) in the Bud days, we had pretty quick cars here.  Several years I think the car should have won, but the driver didn’t.

“The clock seems so hard to get.  This is so special.  I try not to get too caught up in the emotion of it because it’s a team deal, but this is very personal and very special to me to be able to win here.”

The authentic nature of Junior celebrating this win like it was his first – or potentially last with crew chief Steve Letarte, who moves on at year’s end to join the NASCAR on NBC broadcast booth – was a refreshing tonic on a day where cautions and two red flags plagued the race and Junior nearly lost it again on the final sequence.

With under 10 laps to go, the pit stop sequence shuffled Junior outside the top three heading into the final restart. No matter, though, as he was positive he and Letarte had made the right call.

“It wasn’t hard at all. Staying out on old tires, we were going to lose for sure,” he said. “Taking two tires, if nobody else took two tires, so we got all these guys behind us on four tires, we were probably going to be beat.

“It was the right call to come get four.  I knew it was.  I had to hope to line up in the right line, get the right circumstances in the restart.  Sometimes it doesn’t work out.  I could have gotten beat out of pit road by somebody and not had the opportunities I made on the inside.”

But with fresh tires and a determined will to win, he made it back to the front those final few laps.

“I remember going into turn three and seeing Tony (Stewart, then the leader) struggle,” Earnhardt explained. “I thought, I got to get by him really fast because he’s going to hold me up.  If I have to run behind him for even a corner, I’m going to have somebody with four tires, just like me, on my bumper.  That’s not going to be fun for three laps.

“I got sort of a run.  I really wasn’t under Tony, but I think he knew that the position was lost and he’d give me the inside going into three.  As soon as we got in the center corner, I just gassed it, doored him pretty hard.  But I had to go.”

Go he did, and go hard celebrating he did immediately after that checkered flag.

IndyCar Power Rankings: Alex Palou still first as Newgarden, Ferrucci make Indy 500 jumps

NBC IndyCar power rankings
Kristin Enzor/For IndyStar/USA TODAY Sports Images Network
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The biggest race of the NTT IndyCar Series season (and in the world) is over, and NBC Sports’ power rankings look very similar to the finishing results in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Pole-sitter Alex Palou entered the Indy 500 at the top and remains there after his impressive rebound to a fourth after a midway crash in the pits. Top two Indianapolis 500 finishers Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson also improved multiple spots in the power rankings just as they gained ground during the course of the 500-mile race on the 2.5-mile oval. Though Alexander Rossi dropped a position, he still shined at the Brickyard with a fifth place finish.

Santino Ferrucci, the other driver in the top five at Indy, made his first appearance in the 2023 power rankings this year and now will be tasked with keeping his A.J. Foyt Racing team toward the front as the IndyCar circuit makes its debut on a new layout..

Heading into the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the streets of downtown, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through six of 17 races this year (with previous ranking in parenthesis):

  1. Alex Palou (1): Three consecutive top 10 finishes at the Indy 500, and yet the 2021 IndyCar champion still seems slightly snake-bitten at the Brickyard. A few different circumstances and a dash of experience, and Palou could have three Indy 500 wins. But he at least has the points lead.
  2. Marcus Ericsson (4): Some want to say the Indy 500 runner-up’s unhappiness with IndyCar race control was sour grapes, but the Swede had a legitimate gripe about the consistency of red flag protocols. Still a magnificent May for Ericsson, especially while the questions swirl about his future.
  3. Josef Newgarden (7): Strategist Tim Cindric and team did a fantastic job catapulting Newgarden from 17th into contention, and the two-time series champion did the rest. Particularly on a late three-wide pass for the lead, it can’t be overstated how brilliant the Team Penske driver was in his finest hour.
  4. Alexander Rossi (3): He winds up being the best Arrow McLaren finisher in a mostly disappointing Indy 500 for a team that seemed poised to become dominant. With a third in the GMR GP and a fifth in the Indy 500, this easily was Rossi’s best May since his second place in 2019.
  5. Pato O’Ward (2): Unlike last year, the Arrow McLaren star sent it this time against Ericsson and came out on the wrong side (and with lingering bitterness toward his Chip Ganassi Racing rival). The lead mostly was the wrong place to be at Indy, but O’Ward managed to be in first for a race-high 39 laps.
  6. Scott Dixon (5): He overcame brutal handling issues from a wicked set of tires during his first stint, and then the team struggled with a clutch problem while posting a typical Dixon-esque finish on “a very tough day.” The six-time champion hopes things are cleaner the rest of the season after the first three months.
  7. Santino Ferrucci (NR): Pound for pound, he and A.J. Foyt had the best two weeks of the Indy 500. Ferrucci said Wednesday he still believes he had “by far the best car at the end” and if not for the timing of the final yellow and red, he would have won. Now the goal is maintaining into Detroit.
  8. Colton Herta (NR): He was the best in a mostly forgettable month for Andretti Autosport and now is facing a pivotal weekend. Andretti has reigned on street courses so far this season, and few have been better on new circuits than Herta. A major chance for his first victory since last year’s big-money extension.
  9. Scott McLaughlin (6): Ran in the top 10 at Indy after a strong opening stint but then lost positions while getting caught out on several restarts. A penalty for unintentionally rear-ending Simon Pagenaud in O’Ward’s crash then sent him to the rear, but McLaughlin still rallied for 14th. Detroit will be a fresh start.
  10. Rinus VeeKay (10): Crashing into Palou in the pits was less than ideal. But a front row start and 10th-place finish in the Indy 500 still were 2023 highlights for VeeKay in what’s been the toughest season of his career. The Ed Carpenter Racing cars have been slow on road and street courses, so Detroit is another test.

Falling out: Will Power (8), Felix Rosenqvist (9), Romain Grosjean (10)


PAST NBC SPORTS INDYCAR POWER RANKINGS

PRESEASON: Josef Newgarden is a favorite to win third championship

RACE 1: Pato O’Ward to first; Newgarden drops out after St. Pete

RACE 2: O’Ward stays firmly on top of standings after Texas

RACE 3: Marcus Ericsson leads powerhouses at the top

RACE 4: Grosjean, Palou flex in bids for first victory

RACE 5: Alex Palou carrying all the momentum into Indy 500