CONCORD, N.C. — At first, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was relieved he didn’t fall further back than seventh at last year’s Coca-Cola 600. Then he realized what he had lost for just about a gallon of gas.
“After a while, you start thinking about, ‘Oh, yeah, we really came close to winning a race,’ ” Earnhardt said last week. “It was really unfortunate there wasn’t just a little bit more gas in the car.”
If there were, Earnhardt wouldn’t have faced an additional year’s worth of questions about why he hasn’t won a Sprint Cup race since 2008 at Michigan. The drought has grown to 140 races and is a focal point at every track or appearance by Earnhardt.
“I’ve said it all year long,” he said, “that I think we’re a little bit better than we were last year.”
It looked like Earnhardt was the best at Charlotte Motor Speedway a year ago when he broke free on a late restart to take the lead. He got the white flag just fine, then ran out of gas on the front straightaway and coasted through the final turn before Kevin Harvick passed him for the win.
Harvick said afterward he “felt so stinking bad” for Earnhardt because he knew how much the Hendrick Motorsports driver wanted to win.
Earnhardt, who’ll start 12th tonight in Sprint Cup’s longest race, feels he’s in a strong position to contend again. He said he’s been faster at nearly every track he’s gone to this season and doesn’t expect that to change at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
