Junior's final race at DEI ends like so many this year

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- If it wasn't clear already, it's crystal clear after Sunday's Ford 400 in front of a sell-out crowd at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ready to move on.

In fact, that is a massive understatement. After completing his nine-year run with Dale Earnhardt Inc. with a 36th-place finish Sunday, Earnhardt sounded like a man who can't wait to change into his new work clothes at Hendrick Motorsports, where he will begin racing next season. (read more)

"It's been hard, man. This whole year has been hard -- and I don't ever want to do it again," Earnhardt said. "I just want to get happy. I want to get to where I'm in a good place, and I want to get to a place where I can run well and win races like I know I can. I want to get around good people and quit having to deal with jerks, and just set myself apart from all the things that get on my nerves and get right."

Earnhardt had hoped to end his run at DEI, where he clashed with his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, in memorable fashion. If he did so, his final race in the red No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet was much like his entire final season in the car. It will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

On Lap 50, he tangled with Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick as he attempted to head into the pits. And after getting tagged in the left rear by Busch and turned sideways, Earnhardt ended up going back out on the racetrack -- resulting in a penalty for a commitment line violation.

His troubles actually started even earlier than that. He qualified 13th-fastest Friday, but had to move to the rear of the field when the car required a transmission change after Saturday's practice.

Until his run-in with Busch, he was sailing up through the field, climbing as high as 11th at one point after starting in 41st. (Sam Hornish Jr. and Johnny Benson also had to move to the rear of the field prior to the start).

But none of it lasted. On the Lap 57 restart following the caution brought out by his pit-road mishap, Earnhardt got rear-ended by Jeff Burton's No. 31 Chevrolet, adding to his misery.

It was almost piling on when Earnhardt subsequently was penalized twice more -- first for pitting before pit road was open and also for excessive speed entering the pits. Each time he was penalized, Earnhardt was forced to go to the end of the longest line.

By then it hardly mattered. His car was so damaged that he was three laps off the pace, and he eventually fell six laps behind the leaders.

"I had a great car. I got up to 11th. Did y'all see that? I mean, we were running good -- and I got run over by a veteran on a restart. I don't know what in the hell that was," Earnhardt said. "I'm so disappointed. We all try to take care of each other on the racetrack, and Jeff Burton is one of the guys that I would expect the most of that out of -- give-and-take. I don't know. He said the sun was in his eyes, and it was blinding down the front straightaway.

"But my luck, I didn't think it could get worse -- until then. And then Jeff was the guy. It's upsetting, but there are bigger things. Kyle was being a jerk early on, running into me, trying to rile me up. I don't know why he spun me out on pit road. I guess he was blinded by the sun, too, or else he just can't see at all. (Continued)