The pairing of Letarte and Earnhardt Jr. showed strong results early in the 2011 season. On April 3, 2011, Earnhardt Jr. held the lead late in the race at Martinsville Speedway, but was passed with less than 5 laps to go by Kevin Harvick who would drive on to victory. During the Coca-Cola 600, Earnhardt Jr. held the lead on the final lap, but was forced to surrender the lead to Harvick when he ran out of fuel. In the very next race at Kansas Speedway, Letarte had called Earnhardt to pit road thinking that no drivers would be able to make it to the end on fuel. Unfortunately for Letarte and Earnhardt Jr. Brad Keselowski was able to make it to the checkered flag and relegated the No. 88 to a 2nd-place finish. Letarte led Earnhardt Jr. back into the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship for the first time since the 2008 season. Despite failing to win a race during the course of the season, Earnhardt Jr. scored 4 top five finishes and 12 top ten finishes. The No. 88 car finished the season in the 7th place in points.