NASCAR Winston Cup Pennsylvania 500 Preview -- #3, Dale Earnhardt
17 July 1997
#3 Dale Earnhardt, GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR Winston Cup Series Pennsylvania 500 Advance Pocono Raceway GM GOODWRENCH SERVICE LOOKING TO IMPROVE SECOND TIME AROUND LONG POND, PA - Dale Earnhardt and the GM Goodwrench Service Plus team are making a charge in the Winston Cup points standings. Since the halfway point of the season at Daytona, they have gained 133 points on the leaders. Putting Earnhardt only 214 points out of the lead, the closest they've been since the fourth race of the season at Atlanta with 199 points. - The GM Goodwrench Service team has always looked forward to the summer stretch of the schedule. Over the last four seasons, they have shown that during the summer, hot and slick race tracks are to their advantage. They have averaged 11.77 finish since 1993, with a yearly break down of 5.2 in '93, 11.75 in '94, 11.12 in '95, and 18.12 in '96. - In the five races since the GM Goodwrench Service Plus team left Pocono Raceway in June, they have gone on to finish with four top-10's and two top-5's. - ACDelco driver, Steve Park, will be making his Winston Cup debut this weekend at Pocono. Park currently drives the No. 3 ACDelco Monte Carlo on the Busch Grand National circuit and is fourth in the points standings. He will be driving an Earnhardt, Inc. prepared Monte Carlo. QUOTES: "I'm looking forward to returning to these race tracks," commented Larry McReynolds. "I came here with books of information, but nothing beats hands on information and we've got that now on the return trips. I'm confident you'll see an improvement the second time around." "The last couple of weeks have shown that we're making the moves in the right directions," remarked Earnhardt. "If we continue this progress the way we have, we'll be a factor in the championship." "New Hampshire was a points gainer for us," said Richard Childress. "We were able to take advantage of the 24 and the 88's misfortunes and we haven't been able to do that this year." By Champion Sports Group