For Earnhardt, one chapter ends, and a new one looms

RICHMOND, Va. -- It was a little before 10 p.m. Saturday when the faintest hint of brightness began to creep into what had seemed a desperate situation for Dale Earnhardt Jr. He had spent most of the evening complaining about everything, from the handling in his racecar to the chattering in his brakes to the discomfort of his seat. Then a few adjustments took hold, the No. 8 shot to the front, and the man he needed to beat for a Chase berth saw the faintest geyser of steam emitting from under his hood.

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The scenario no one thought possible seemed unfolding, right here before 112,029 sets of eyes at Richmond International Raceway. He needed a miracle, a race win or a top-five finish, and for Kevin Harvick to place near the back. And he seemed to be getting it -- on a restart with 150 laps remaining, he was in second while Harvick stood 29th after being assessed a penalty for pitting too soon. What had been a 128-point deficit had been whittled down to a mere 37, and the red-clad faithful in the grandstand began to stir with hope.

Even the driver, who seemed surly and frustrated earlier in the race and once questioned why his crew had cost him six positions on a pit stop, seemed relaxed while conducting an in-car interview as the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 was stopped under a red flag.

"Today we're working hard, tomorrow we'll be hardly working," he said in typical driver fashion, relishing the idea of a rare Sunday off. "I can't wait to get out to that lake. I'm not going to get on anything that goes over 5 mph. I'm just going to chill and watch the Redskins. I think they're going to whip Miami."

It was all so hopeful, as much as Earnhardt's quixotic charge of the past four weekends, and equally as futile. For all the promise he and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team showed Saturday night, too much was out of their control. With each lap, with each caution period, with each car wrecked by another driver, Harvick stealthily closed in on his berth in the sport's 10-race playoff. The question became not whether Earnhardt would make it, but why his team hadn't been able to show all season the kind of sustained excellence they've demonstrated with their backs against the wall.

Saturday night's race was almost a microcosm of Junior's entire season -- rocky at the beginning, good near the end, and ultimately just short of the goal. The normally chatty driver was quiet for long stretches over the team radio, with only the repeated "clear" of spotter Steve Hmiel breaking the silence. When Earnhardt did talk, it was usually to let his crew know that something was wrong.

"Front brakes are vibrating like hell," he said on Lap 107. On Lap 137, it was his seat, which had evidently been adjusted for the Bristol test, and was hurting his back. On Lap 175, it was the vehicle as a whole. "It's not your setup," he told crew chief Tony Eury Jr. "It's the COT. Piece of crap."

But as the race neared its halfway point, the white Chevy began to improve, and on Lap 215 Earnhardt at last broke into the top five -- where he had to finish to have any hope of bridging the gap between him and Harvick, and remain in contention for the Nextel Cup title when the circuit moves to New Hampshire next week. Earnhardt was doing his part to make the miracle happen, and suddenly Harvick seemed to do his. (Continued)