Stewart-Montoya tiff leaves behind trail of wreckage (cont'd)

"I'd lose such ground and I might have done some damage there just beating on the motor too hard."

For a guy who led only one lap in the season's first five races and was probably heading for his third consecutive top-10 finish after leading 96 laps at Texas, Earnhardt was surprisingly upbeat.

Junior drives 5

An odd occurrence came as a result of Kyle Busch slamming into Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior actually finished the race in the No. 5 car, yet his 8 car finished one spot ahead of Busch.

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"I'm real happy about how we ran [Sunday], it's so unfortunate for us," Earnhardt said. "There's a lot of ways to deal with it. We didn't do anything to cause our misfortune. You've got to take some satisfaction in how the car ran.

"The guys in the shop are bringing a car to the racetrack that's working when it gets here. We're improving that; we're running well in the races."

Kyle Busch, who was unable to drive his No. 5 Chevrolet into a garage stall to attempt repairs, left the track without comment.

Busch left the car and went to his transporter. He then left the trailer by a side door and went the opposite direction from the group of media waiting behind the truck, through a gate into the driver/owner motorhome lot.

Ironically, after his car's engine failed, Earnhardt jumped into Kyle Busch's car for nine laps and was driving it at the finish, where it was classified 37th, one position behind Earnhardt's car.

After spending 26 laps in the garage for repairs, Johnson returned to competition. But 30 laps later the engine problem resurfaced and Johnson also retired for the day, ending up 38th.

Earnhardt ended the day praising his team even -- as he continues to negotiate a new contract with DEI management.

"We had a great racecar [so] I'm proud of my team, all the guys at the shop," Earnhardt said. "They should be really, really proud of the car they brought to the racetrack.

"The guys should be really happy. We had a really, really fast car. We just haven't had any luck. One of these days it will be our day and we'll be able to celebrate.

"We just got to keep our heads up while we got this momentum [and] we got these great cars. Keep your head up and take advantage of what we have each weekend."