By: Tyler Ward
It looked like it was over. Finally, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was going to cross the finish line in first place for the first time in an astounding 105 races. He had not won since Michigan in 2008 and he was looking to stop that long streak.
He crossed the finish line and captured the white flag, meaning one lap to go.
Earnhardt made it one more lap and won for the first time in nearly three years. Smiles surrounded victory lane as people poured in to help Earnhardt celebrate.
Unfortunately, that's what "Jr." was thinking in his head. It did not happen and he will now have to wait even longer.
Instead of Earnhardt being passed on the final lap or wrecking his car, he was passed by Kevin Harvick on the last turn as he ran out of fuel. He would coast across the finish line with no gas, eventually coming in seventh.
Fans were stunned. Earnhardt was frustrated. And Kevin Harvick was jubilant, as he celebrated his third victory of the young season.
Harvick said after the race, "I think everybody sitting up here would say we want the 88 to win and they're so close to winning and both times they had a chance to win. We are going to do what we have to do to win the races, and today it all just worked out strategy wise that we won the race."
"But I feel so stinking bad for him, and I know how bad he wants it. It'll happen," he continued.
Earnhardt knew that he was stretching his gas, but crew chief Steve LeTarte told his driver to go for the win.
Over the final twenty laps, LeTarte continually told Earnhardt to chase down Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle and try to get the lead. Matt Kenseth, who was running fourth at the time, had to stop for gas, leaving Biffle and Kahne at a dead heat.
Thinking that the two drivers would run out of gas racing for the win, LeTarte told Earnhardt to sit tight and attempt to conserve fuel.
However, defending champion Jimmie Johnson blew his engine with four laps to go, meaning that the caution came out. Biffle stopped under the caution to get fuel, which left Kahne and Earnhardt lining up side-by-side for the final restart.
Earnhardt eventually got to the white flag, but ran out of fuel on the backstretch and coasted to the finish until Harvick passed him, sealing another victory on the season.
"The spotter was like, 'Man, they're coming! They're coming!' I was like, 'I'm cruising. What am I supposed to do, get out and pedal this thing with my feet?" Earnhardt said.
Harvick, too, thought he was going to run out of fuel on the final lap.
"The spotter was going nuts, "The 88's out of gas! Keep going!" Harvick said. "I'm like 'Well, I'm not going to let off!' What do you want me to do? I'm going as hard as I can go. All of a sudden, he just shut off. He had sucked every drop out of it."
The Coca-Cola 600's top ten was one of the weirdest ones on the year, as the "stars of NASCAR" frankly did not dominate it.
David Ragan got his best finish of his young career, coming in second place. Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, and A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top five.
Marcos Ambrose came in sixth, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. finishing right behind him. Regan Smith, David Reutimann, and Denny Hamlin finished out the top ten.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in his first career Sprint Cup start, came in 11th after a strong run for the Wood Brothers.
Although Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth arguably had the best cars of the 600-mile race, they finished 13th and 14th, respectively. They can both thank their fuel issues for not contending in the final laps.
Carl Edwards, the winner of the All-Star Race, finished 16th. Jeff Gordon, who was a factor for much of the race, came in a disappointing 22nd.
Defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who blew an engine with four laps to go, finished 28th. Kyle Busch led 55 laps, but spun twice late in the race and placed in 32nd.
The victory at the Coca-Cola 600 marks the third win of the season for Harvick. He had won previously this season at California and Martinsville.
"We were lucky," Harvick said after the race. "It's nothing against the race track, I just don't like racing here. It just doesn't fit what I do. I griped and griped and griped all day long about how terrible it was. I just had a bad attitude."
Well, I'm sure he doesn't have a bad attitude now.
Carl Edwards currently leads in the standings, just 36 and 37 points ahead of Harvick and Jimmie Johnson, respectively. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 43 points behind, is in fourth. Kyle Busch fell back to fifth in the standings, 53 points behind Edwards.
The Sprint Cup will go to Kansas next weekend.
