Compliments of NASCAR, Inc

BROOKLYN, Mich. -June 15, 2008- Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended his 76-race winless string Sunday, coasting to victory at Michigan International Speedway under a caution flag with little but fumes left in his gas tank.

NASCAR's most popular driver gave his new boss, Rick Hendrick, only his second victory of the season as he somehow squeezed enough gas out of his last fillup to go three laps beyond the regulation finish in the Lifelock 400.
Autostock
LifeLock 400
Unofficial Results

Pos. Driver Make
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet
2. Kasey Kahne Dodge
3. Matt Kenseth Ford
4. Brian Vickers Toyota
5. Tony Stewart Toyota
6. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet
7. Carl Edwards Ford
8. David Ragan Ford
9. Elliott Sadler Dodge
10. Jamie McMurray Ford
• Results | Standings | Laps
• Race Video | Photo Gallery

A spin by Patrick Carpentier on Lap 203 brought out the final caution and probably saved the victory for Earnhardt, who ran out of gas moments after crossing the finish line behind the pace car (watch video).

"It is what it is, man," the jubilant Earnhardt said. "We were going to stay out there no matter what."

Asked if he could have made it if the green flag had stayed out, Earnhardt said: "We were going to stumble to the finish and probably not win the race. We weren't going to finish. The yellow saved us.

"They can write what they want, but we won one."

After leaving the team his late father founded to drive for Hendrick's juggernaut this year, Earnhardt began the new phase of his career in February with two non-points victories at Daytona. But, despite running well so far this season, that promising start did not lead to any victories in the first 14 Cup races.

"We started out and he won the [Budweiser Shootout] and the 150 [qualifying race] and we said, 'we don't have to worry about winning a race now.' Then nobody counted it because it wasn't a points race," Hendrick said in Victory Lane. "We've been waiting for this -- been so close."

Earnhardt was as relieved as he was joyful about his 18th career victory and first on Michigan's two-mile oval.

"This is pretty meaningful because it's with Rick," he said. "He's such a great man because he's been through so much. I'm glad to be able to win for him, for Tony [Eury] Jr., for the team for believing in me."

It was a typical Michigan race, coming down to who saved the most gas at the end.

As the laps wound down, driver after driver was forced to pit for a splash of gas. But Earnhardt, whose last victory came on May 6, 2006, at Richmond, wasn't about to stop.

Eury, the crew chief who followed Earnhardt to Hendrick, kept telling his driver to slow down and try to conserve gas.

It was still a big gamble with just two laps to the scheduled 200-lap finish when former IndyCar champion Sam Hornish Jr. brought out a caution flag with a spin. That extended the race to overtime and, by the time the green flag waved again on Lap 202, Earnhardt and his team had no idea if he could make it to the finish.

He did, barely.
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Kasey Kahne, coming off a victory the previous week in Pocono, finished second and almost came up with his fourth victory in his past five starts, including the non-points all-star race last month in Charlotte.

"It was pretty close there," Kahne said. "We topped off there and I think we pretty much had the most fuel of anybody out there. We did the best thing we could do today to get a good finish. the team did a good job."

Matt Kenseth finished third, followed by Brian Vickers, Tony Stewart and two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

Kenseth, who led several times, said he might have won the race if not for a mishap in the pits on his last stop. A NASCAR official, apparently thinking Kenseth was going to take four tires instead of two, walked in front of his car just as the former series champion started out of his pit. Kenseth didn't hit the official, but the hesitation cost him valuable seconds.

"I was hoping for some kind of break [from NASCAR]," Kenseth said. "The official walked in front of the car as I was ready to go. It was either I run him down or wait for him to move. The car just came up short because of circumstances and strategy."

Series points leader Kyle Busch finished a less than memorable three-race weekend with a 13th-place finish. The youngster, with 10 victories this season in NASCAR's three top series, finished seventh in the truck race here Saturday, drawing criticism when he spun out Ron Hornaday near the end. Busch then flew to Kentucky, where he crashed and finished 30th in a Nationwide race.

Cup runner-up Jeff Burton finished 15th Sunday and still trails Busch by 32 points, with Earnhardt 84 behind in third. Defending race winner Carl Edwards finished seventh and goes to next week's race on the road course in Sonoma, Calif., fourth in the standings, 206 points behind.


FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 3 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet AMP Energy / National Guard 190/5 203 Running
2 9 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser / LifeLock 170/0 203 Running
3 16 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Carhartt 170/5 203 Running
4 18 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 165/5 203 Running
5 12 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 160/5 203 Running
6 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 160/10 203 Running
7 4 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 151/5 203 Running
8 13 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance 147/5 203 Running
9 27 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge McDonald's Big Mac 138/0 203 Running
10 23 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal Cask No. 16 139/5 203 Running
11 26 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Sylvania / Menards 130/0 203 Running
12 10 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 127/0 203 Running
13 1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M's 129/5 203 Running
14 5 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Freight 126/5 203 Running
15 2 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 118/0 203 Running
16 19 28 Travis Kvapil Ford FreeCreditRep
ort.com 115/0 203 Running
17 17 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 112/0 203 Running
18 8 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 109/0 203 Running
19 39 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota Red Bull 111/5 203 Running
20 7 16 Greg Biffle Ford DISH Network / DishDVRs 103/0 203 Running
21 22 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 100/0 203 Running
22 35 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Mobil 1 102/5 203 Running
23 38 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 99/5 203 Running
24 43 10 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge LifeLock 91/0 202 Running
25 15 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 88/0 202 Running
26 11 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 85/0 202 Running
27 24 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditRep
ort.com 82/0 202 Running
28 42 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row
/ DenverMattress.com 79/0 202 Running
29 36 45 Terry Labonte Dodge Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil 76/0 202 Running
30 25 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's 73/0 201 Running
31 20 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil 70/0 201 Running
32 31 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 67/0 201 Running
33 34 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet State Water Heaters 64/0 201 Running
34 32 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 61/0 200 Running
35 28 44 David Reutimann Toyota UPS 58/0 200 Running
36 37 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft 55/0 200 Running
37 33 00 Michael McDowell * Toyota Champion Mortgage 52/0 199 Running
38 21 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Big Red Slim Pack 49/0 194 Running
39 29 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 46/0 180 Running
40 30 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Camping World
/ RVs.com 43/0 150 Accident
41 40 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota DLP HDTV 40/0 116 Engine
42 14 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Alltel 37/0 114 Engine
43 41 40 Dario Franchitti * Dodge Juicy Fruit Slim Pack 34/0 30 Engine
* Denotes Rookie

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