Dale Earnhardt Jr. overcomes in-car cooling issues, scores best finish of the season

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s in-car cooling unit may not have worked correctly and he didn’t leave Texas Motor Speedway with a win, but NASCAR’s most popular driver was still ecstatic with how Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup Series race unfolded.

He finished fifth in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. That result snapped Earnhardt’s sluggish start to the season where he had finished no better than 14th in the previous six races -- his longest start to a season without a top 10 in his 17-year career.

“I figured we would get one sooner or later, but it’s nice,” Earnhardt said. “I know our fans are really pulling for us. Could have finished a little better, we will take top five.”

Earnhardt missed the entire second half of last with concussion symptoms and since returning he’s had several strong runs, but not the corresponding finishes. That wasn’t on the case on Sunday where he quickly moved up from his 37th starting position (he missed qualifying after his car failed to pass technical inspection) and became a fixture inside the top 10.

The only setback was that the air conditioner inside Earnhardt’s car wasn’t functioning, especially problematic on a day when the ambient temperatures rose to the mid-80s -- and it was even hotter in the cockpit.

When the race concluded Earnhardt would emerge from the No. 88 Chevrolet red-faced and exhausted. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, who won Sunday, also experienced a cooling issue and received three IVs in the infield care center.

“It was warm,” Earnhardt said. “I thought the car was pretty warm all weekend, but our air conditioner wasn’t doing very good job today. We’ve just got to relocate the outlet or the inlet to give it a better opportunity to get some air.

“I just ran with the visor up the whole day. I was happy to see that caution late to get us some Gatorade and cool off a little bit. It was hot.”