Bad day blemishes Earnhardt's strong start

LAS VEGAS -- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. learned several valuable lessons during a test session Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Yes, test session. Ultimately, that's what the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 was for Junior and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates.

"We were a second off the pace no matter what we did," Earnhardt said.

LAS VEGAS Kenseth celebrates his second consecutive victory Play video Kenseth and Kahne finish 1-2 again at Las Vegas Play video Kenseth and Stewart battle for the lead Play video Michael Waltrip backs it into the Turn 4 wall Play video Junior struggles early and heads for the garage Play video  •  Results  •  Standings

After opening the season with career-best finishes at Daytona and Rockingham, including a rousing victory in the Daytona 500, Earnhardt & Co. were never in contention at Las Vegas. They qualified 26th and never placed better than 29th in practice.

And it only got worse Sunday. So bad, in fact, that 106 laps into the 267-lap event Junior, four laps down to the leaders, pulled down pit road and into the garage, where his team made wholesale changes to the Budweiser Chevrolet.

Ten minutes later, he reentered the fray 22 laps down.

The changes didn't help, prompting Earnhardt to make several subsequent visits to the garage before parking his car before the checkers flew.

As race winner Matt Kenseth sped under across the finish line, the Budweiser team's transporter was already loaded up and prepared to roll.

All said, he finished 71 laps down in 35th position, dropping him from first to seventh in the championship point standings. Three races into the season, he trails Matt Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR champion, by 125 points.

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"It was disappointing. We probably should have tested, but it's too late now," Earnhardt said. "It will be a 'Black Monday' around the shop. We're going to bounce back and we're going do a heck of a lot of laps testing at Kentucky this week and figure out what we can."

Earnhardt finished second to Kenseth here in 2003 after leading 97 laps. Sunday's effort was the worst of his career in five Vegas starts.

Tony Stewart ranks second in the standings, 88 points behind Kenseth. Elliott Sadler is third, Jeff Gordon fourth and Kurt Busch fifth.