Posted 4/28/2008 @ 7:14:00 am by dalejrandnascar.com

(John Harrelson - Getty Images)

A day of highs and lows at Talladega left Dale, Jr. with mixed emotions. The car was strong, enabling him to run wherever he wanted. He practiced the newest trick of two car magic-fast for the first 107 laps with Tony Stewart, Paul Menard and anyone who could play! “We were flying up through the field so fast, if you ran into the door of somebody then they all started banging around, and he (Tony Stewart) cut a tire and went into (turn) one and just shot up the racetrack,” said Dale Jr. “It was frustrating. I was working so hard today to get a win and led a lot of laps for my fans that want me to win races. They just got to understand that we’re trying, really. We’re trying as hard as we can.”

Then Dale Jr. was caught up in the late crash on lap 175, with 14 to go, and re-started 31st with a damaged racecar. With 4 to go, he was 29th, but took advantage of another crash and finished 10th! “We got another top ten, and the way it was looking, I was real, real upset with four to go. But to get a top ten after restarting 31st, I’m pretty happy about that. But the way we were running, we should have been battling for the win. We deserve it, we work real hard as a team, and we deserve better than 10th. But there was a time when those were hard to comeby. So I’m kind of torn in half - part satisfied, but even now I’m getting a bit frustrated.”

After a long day at Talledega, Dale Jr. was still 3rd in the points, 79 behind Jeff Burton.

“I think this is something to be really proud of,” he said. : If you look at my career over the last several years, we are definitely in a better position. It would be foolish of us not to appreciate the good things that we have going for us. You get so frustrated you lose sight of how you’re running good and why you’re running good. The wins will come, I know. I want them to. And we’re going to have to keep talking about it until we get one!

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