DAYTONA — A mechanical hiccup hindered Dale Earnhardt Jr. during Saturday’s final practice in advance for Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500.
2017 Daytona 500: Dale Earnhardt Jr. experiences mechanical troubles in final practice
The No. 88 team had to change a driveshaft on Earnhardt’s car during the last practice before Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Earnhardt was taking part in the 85-minute session when he felt a vibration. Rather than risk a failure in NASCAR’s marquee event, crew chief Greg Ives elected to change out the driveshaft in Earnhardt’s No. 88 team Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
The change will not force Earnhardt to relinquish his spot on the outside of the front row, alongside pole-sitter and Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott. NASCAR does not consider a new driveshaft reason for a driver to forfeit the original starting position.
“We had a little vibration and you worry about that because any kind of thing that is out of balance is going to hurt that straight-line speed,” Earnhardt said. “We tried to work on that and were able to fix it right there on that last run.
“You want to get all that out of there so you don’t have any doubts about anything holding your car back.”
Earnhardt completed 30 laps in practice, clocking the 19th-fastest single-lap speed (194.473 mph). Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse was fastest, with a 198.452 mph lap. Outside of the unexpected mechanical trouble, Earnhardt felt confident heading into Sunday’s race.
“It’s been really uneventful. We haven’t had any issues or problems with the car mechanically and nothing happened on the race track,” Earnhardt said. “So, it looks like we are going to get this thing on the grid tomorrow and ready to go.”
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