Dale Jr. runs out of gas, rallies to finish fifth

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. almost saw a great day become a dismal day in one lap.

Quote  "I just about kicked a hole in the floorboard trying to go faster." -- Dale Earnhardt Jr., on the closing laps at PIR

Earnhardt Jr. was coming out of Turn 2 on the 118th lap of the 312-lap Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Speedway when his car ran out of gas, costing him the lead he had held for 105 laps.

But Earnhardt Jr. rallied -- it took him only 39 laps to climb back into the top 10, and he stayed there and finished fifth for his sixth top-10 finish in the last seven races.

Checker Auto Parts 500 Matt Kenseth uses a two-tire stop to win at PIR. Play video Junior rules the early stages until he runs out of gas. Play video Rusty falls one lap short of his first win of the year. Play video  •  Unofficial Results  •  Unofficial Standings  •  Wallace second -- again  •  Kenseth wins again  •  Points race still not over

"I am disappointed because we came out here to win -- and we had a car fast enough to win -- but once we ran out of fuel, we were never able to make it back up there to battle for the lead," Earnhardt Jr. said.

"My feet are sore because I was mashing that gas pedal so hard for the last 100 laps or so. I really wanted to catch Mark (Martin) and those guys ahead of me at the finish and I think I just about kicked a hole in the floorboard trying to go faster.

It was Earnhardt Jr.'s 11th top-five of the season, two more than he had in 2001. It was also easily his best finish at Phoenx in three starts -- he had finished no better than 27th in his first two races at the one-mile oval.

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We led a lot (twice for 105 laps) and I told the guys that a run like this makes the plane ride back a lot easier.

"I was pretty happy with the car. We ran out of gas, that was tough and hard to handle. But, after last week, we wanted to come here and fight hard."

"I'm real proud of the guys and Tony (Eury) Jr. and Tony Sr. and the car they gave me," Earnhardt Jr. said. "That was such a good car compared to what we had here in the past.

"I'm really looking forward to Homestead."