Heading into Martinsville Speedway Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a favorite to win the TUMS QuikPak 500. Ending the race in second, everyone in JR Nation is pleased to see their favorite driver show some promise after how the past few weeks have unfolded.

The second place outing was his first top-10 in the Chase since the race at New Hampshire, and his efforts were good enough to bump him up one spot to ninth in the Point Standings.

“We have tore up a lot of race cars in the last few weeks,” said Earnhardt Jr. “[We’ve] had a lot of bad luck and we needed a good finish. I love short-track racing and this is a good track for me.”

Earnhardt Jr. was penalized for speeding down pit road, and consequently fell back to 41st. Earnhardt Jr. was able to gain his ground back following the second caution of the race. Crew Chief Tony Eury Jr. elected to leave his driver out on the track while the leaders ventured down pit road. The decision payed off as Earnhardt Jr. restarted in sixth and began moving his way up the field as the race went on.

“I just started taking care of my car,” noted Earnhardt Jr. “I was like, ‘Man, I never finish this race, never get top-fives here and always lead or run or mess something up.’ So there were a lot of times we were sitting there running fourth and fifth and I was just sitting there chilling, keeping my two-car length distance between me and the guy in front of me and just laying off the brakes and rolling down in the corner and trying to save a whole lot of race car and see what happened there at the end.”

Earnhardt Jr. missed the victory by one spot to his teammate Jimmie Johnson, who seems to have his best days at the short track in Virginia. Overall Earnhardt Jr. headed home to North Carolina happy with his performance, and will look on to next week where he will try to keep the ball rolling.