Dale Earnhardt Jr. gambles on fuel and wins!
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Although is victories in the season-opening Budweiser Shootout and in the Gatorade Duels at Daytona International Speedway were discounted because they were non-points races, Dale Earnhardt Jr. today left no doubt this one was going in the books as a W.
Gambling on fuel mileage, Earnhardt coasted across the finish line under caution, the engine of his No. 88 Chevy Impala SS shut down, to capture the LifeLock 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race today at Michigan International Speedway.
``We were going to have enough [gas] or we weren't,'' Earnhardt said. ``We ran out coming towards the white and stumbled towards the [back] straightaway, so we were going to stumble to the finish and probably not win the race.''
But when Michael Waltrip spun on the frontstretch as the field took the white flag, Earnhardt found his opening.
``That caution saved us,'' Earnhardt said, giddily. ``They can write what they want, but we won one.''
In snapping a personal 76-race drought, which dated back to his victory at Richmond International Speedway May 6, 2006, Earnhardt was able to deliver car owner Rick Hendrick his first points-paying victory since his earth-shattering announcement a year ago he was leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. to join the Hendrick Motorsports stable.
Hendrick drivers dominated last year, winning 10 of the first 14 races, but struggled this season, recording just one victory (by Jimmie Johnson at Phoenix) over that same span before Earnhardt's triumph gave the team its second of the season.
``Well, he told me that maybe I shouldn't come today because he wasn't running that good,'' Hendrick said of Earnhardt Jr. ``So, man, I'm glad I didn't stay home based on what he told me.''
Dodge driver Kasey Kahne, the winner of last weekend's Sprint Cup race at Pocono, Pa., finished runner-up, giving him two wins and a top 5 finish in his last four races. Matt Kenseth finished third and Toyota drivers Brian Vickers and Tony Stewart finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
