'Monster' relief needed for DEI.

Dale Earnhardt Incorporated are hoping that the 'Monster Mile' at Dover Downs Speedway will be kind to them this weekend after all three DEI cars suffered a poor run at the Lowe's Motor Speedway.

DEI team-mates Steve Park, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Michael Waltrip combined for a 22nd, 25th and 28th place finishes respectively in last Sunday's Coca Cola 600 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in what was a long night for the team in Charlotte.

Dale Earnhardt Incorporated are hoping that the 'Monster Mile' at Dover Downs Speedway will be kind to them this weekend after all three DEI cars suffered a poor run at the Lowe's Motor Speedway.

DEI team-mates Steve Park, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Michael Waltrip combined for a 22nd, 25th and 28th place finishes respectively in last Sunday's Coca Cola 600 at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in what was a long night for the team in Charlotte.

Park's No.1 Pennzoil Chevrolet Monte Carlo looked to be in good shape in the early going, moving from 38th to ninth in the first 100-laps of the 400-lap event before a pit penalty dropped Park off the lead lap and out of contention.

Pitting under the green at lap 109, the sanctioning body called Park back down pit-road for a stop go penalty after he had been reported for exceeding the pit-lane speed limit. This proved costly as it put the No.1 car one lap down.

It didn't mean Park gave up however and with a faster car than the leaders, he worked his way back to the front and sat right behind leader Bobby Labonte, poised to pass the current Winston Cup Champion if a caution occurred. When the yellow flag did drop on lap 252, Labonte raced Park back to the line and didn't let him get the lap back. On the re-start, Park dropped back as the new set of tyres created loose conditions, not allowing him to get into the corners as hard as he would have liked.

Getting the car performing in the corners late in the race, Park was running as quick as the leaders but being one lap down, finished 22nd.

"We were a little disappointed about not getting our lap back from Bobby," said Park, who site eighth in the Winston Cup points standings. "The Pennzoil team worked real hard to put us into that position to get our lap back. It was just one of those racing deals. We'll get ready for Dover."

Jeff Burton won Sunday night's event, a rare bright spot in a poor season for Burton and his team. Kevin Harvick was second while Tony Stewart completed an amazing double by finishing third. Stewart also finished sixth in the Indianapolis 500 earlier n the day.

Dale Earnhardt Jr and the No.8 Budweiser team struggled for much of the first half of the 600-mile race, dropped two laps behind the leaders and finished 25th. It is the first time the team has finished worse than 11th since late March.

The Budweiser crew and their driver spent much of the evening grinding their teeth in frustration as they attempted to solve the handling problems of the red Chevy. With clenched jaws, they finally were able to make the car competitive slightly past the halfway point, but had already dropped two laps behind the leaders. For much of the night, the car was very very loose, but Dale Jr was able to keep the evil-handling beast from sliding into the outside wall all evening.

"That was rough," announced Earnhardt Jr. "The car didn't drive too good, but I had some fun. We just didn't hit it tonight. We thought we had found something in the Winston, but it seemed like every change we made just made it worse. We finally got it close about three-quarters of the way through and we were able to keep pace with the leaders, but I think we went backwards again at the end of the race."

Despite the poor finish, Earnhardt Jr was able to retain his tenth position in the Winston Cup points standings while Michael Waltrip, in the No.15 NAPA Chevrolet, dropped to a lowly 26th after fading to 28th, three laps down on Sunday.

The Winston Cup series moves onto the Dover Downs Speedway this weekend where NASCAR's finest will do battle not only with each other, but also with the fearsome 'Monster Mile'.

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