The No. 8 Chevrolet when Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun out and crashed hard into the inside wall. Credit: Autostock

Late wreck costs Dale Jr. prime opportunity

HAMPTON, Ga. -- A blown engine opened the door. A gentle nudge closed it.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked to be in a good position to gain ground in the Chase for the Nextel Cup late in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 -- and perhaps take over the points lead.

BASS PRO SHOPS MBNA 500 •   Results •   Standings VIDEO Victory Lane The Hendrick team celebrates an emotional win Three in a row Jimmie Johnson pulls off an emotional win Junior wrecks late Dale Jr. smacks the wall hard, ending his day Engine problems Kenseth becomes second Roush driver to lose engine Transmission troubles Gordon develops gear problems on Lap 179 Pit problems Sadler damages his steering after contact on pit road Race tightens Points leader Kurt Busch loses his engine on Lap 53

Leader Kurt Busch had blown an engine on lap 52, and second-place Jeff Gordon was many laps down after breaking a rear-end gear. With Earnhardt Jr. racing for third place, he would have been in position to climb back atop the points standings.

But with 15 laps to go, Earnhardt Jr. tried to squeeze into a hole in front of fourth-place Carl Edwards coming off Atlanta Motor Speedway's Turn 2. What happened next was up to interpretation.

Did Earnhardt Jr. come up too soon? Did Edwards give Earnhardt Jr. enough room?

Whatever happened, the two made contact, sending the No. 8 Chevrolet spinning into the inside wall. The car made heavy contact and was all but done for the day.

Earnhardt Jr. ended up finishing 33rd and slipped to fifth in the Nextel Cup points standings, 98 points behind Busch. While Earnhardt Jr. actually made up ground on Busch (he was 125 points down coming into the race), he missed an opportunity to be even closer.

"I really ain't worried about it," Earnhardt Jr. said as cars piled into the Nextel Cup garage after the race. "We wanted to win today, and that's what we were trying to do. We could've gained a lot of points, and it would've been nice.

"It's hard to race like that. My car was really good there at the end, and I had good enough car to win, so I was trying to get up there and win it."

That's all that happened, Earnhardt Jr. said. He shouldered the blame.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"We were just trying to race for the win there," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I think I come up on Carl and turned myself into the inside fence there. Tore my car up. We had a good car. It kind of sucks to lose all them points. But it wasn't Carl's fault. I think I come up on him."

That wasn't how Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief, Tony Eury Sr., saw it.

"We had him passed off the corner," Eury Sr. said. "On the TV, it looked like to me he tried to cut back to the inside and run right across the back bumper and stuffed him.

"I don't know what (Edwards) was thinking. He had two tires, (so) he sure wasn't going to run with cars with four tires. I don't know. I reckon that's the way they race in the truck series. I guess he thought he was still there."

Edwards was racing in his 10th Nextel Cup event after taking over the No. 99 Ford when Jeff Burton moved to Richard Childress Racing. Edwards is a full-time Craftsman Truck Series competitor, too.

But Edwards' version matched Earnhardt Jr.'s.

"Heck, we're racing," Edwards said. "You're driving racecars sideways off the corner at 180 mph. If I'd have crashed, I would have to say it's just racing. It's happened to me a lot. I've been on the other end of it, so, hopefully, he understands."

He does, all too well. In this race last year, the same thing happened, only Earnhardt Jr. was on the giving end to Ryan Newman.

Still, with three races remaining, 98 points and four positions will be tough to make up.