 | | Dale Earnhardt Jr. answers questions after his early retirement from Sunday's race. Credit: Autostock |
By Ken Peters, The Associated Press
September 5, 2005
02:03 AM EDT (06:03 GMT)
FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. watched any hope of qualifying for NASCAR's Chase for the championship go up in smoke. He blew his engine -- and any remaining chances to make the top 10 -- on the 211th lap Sunday night in the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway. His Chevrolet was spewing smoke and hemorrhaging oil as Earnhardt nursed it off the track. He said any chance he had at the championship "has been over for at least 80 laps," and obviously was disgusted with the way his engine performed. "It finally broke. We struggled all day and all night down the straightaway," said Earnhardt, who was eliminated as he dropped to 18th in the point standings. "We ran it hot in qualifying, I did, and might have burned something up in the motor and it finally just broke. Our car was horrible. But it's real disappointing. "I'm really glad it's over with and I'm ready to go to Richmond. I promise my fans I'll be back in victory lane next year." Heading into the race, Earnhardt had only a slim mathematical chance of squeezing into the top 10. He qualified 41st. "We just had a bad night tonight -- plus all year," he said. "I'm surprised. I bet you all are surprised." Earnhardt has won only once in the series this season and has led only 17 laps. Former series champion Dale Jarrett also was all but eliminated from Chase competition after finishing 24th. He remained 14th in the standings but fell 117 points behind 10th-place Jamie McMurray. | 
