Johnson, Junior each find trouble in Coca-Cola 600 (cont'd)

And oh yeah -- Earnhardt was leading when it happened. Unfortunately for Earnhardt, who thrives on running a high line at many racetracks, J.J. Yeley was using the same path a couple hundred yards behind him.

"I was behind Jeff [Gordon] and I wasn't trying to lap him -- I didn't want to lap my teammate if I didn't have to -- so I was just cruisin'," Earnhardt said. "I had been into that corner, 250 times before that and I just rolled down in there and it went straight in the wall.

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I hate to lose points. I'm very disappointed in that. But at the same time I'm very pleased with how comfortable the racecar was all night long. I'm going to sleep well tonight knowing that these guys are working really hard and we've found some speed.

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JIMMIE JOHNSON

"The right rear tire was blown out after I hit the wall [so] I am assuming it went flat getting in the corner -- but it went straight in the corner like a right front goes flat. Odd."

It seemed even odder that Yeley would have hit Earnhardt while the No. 88 was skimming along the wall atop Turn 3, but while Yeley was contrite, he was even more disgruntled to have his race ended on the spot.

"I was running up in the same spot and I don't know why [Earnhardt] slowed down as fast as he did, whether he was going to try to get to pit road, but he came to an abrupt stop there," said Yeley, who finished 38th. "I was just trying to get off the fence and get down out of the road and couldn't get turned quick enough and I ran in the back of him.

"When I [hit Earnhardt], it punctured the oil cooler and made it to where they are going to have to cut the front clip off this thing to get it going again. I was a lot faster running around the top. I just moved down to the bottom to let Junior go by and just passed another car and was getting my momentum built back up.

"As I dove into Turn 3, I saw him get up there and it didn't look like he was going to hit the fence and then he got into it. I just had no place to go and couldn't get slowed down and couldn't get turned and ran right into the back of him."

Two cautions later, Johnson took the lead for the fifth time in the race, but 20 laps after that, a rare engine failure for Hendrick Motorsports put Johnson on the sidelines in 39th spot.

"Although we didn't get the finish we wanted by any means, I can't thank my team enough and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for working as hard as they have," Johnson said. "We have closed the gap a lot and we have very competitive cars right now and that is all because of a lot of hard work by this No. 48 team.

"All in all, I'm pleased with the night. I just wish we could have made it 60 more laps. I am very proud of all the hard work everyone has put into this season. It certainly hasn't been the season we wanted, but I think tonight really showed we are really making gains on these big tracks.

"We're disappointed with the night and with the outcome, but we're pleased with the performance. We had great pit stops and a great racecar. All the hard work is paying off now. I just wish we could have got a good top-five finish out of it."

Earnhardt did just that and was in good humor at the end.

"We got lucky at the end, got gas and made it last," Earnhardt said. "I hate it for my guys. We were running really strong [and] I sure want to get me a win here.

"It was gas mileage, man. We came in and topped off with about 62 [laps] to go. I was about two laps short, and needed to save two laps [worth of fuel]. So me and Jeff [Gordon] sort of just sat there and drafted a little bit and lifted real early getting in the corners and made it to the end.

"I was working that throttle or not working the throttle, actually -- and made it work. Made it last more than it should. We were about two laps short, we saved and saved and come home good.

"We ran good tonight and I was proud of my team. We tore the car up pretty bad [and] I thought we were done -- then I got motivated again, but the car wasn't as fast. We were just trying to hang on.

"We got lucky; same way those guys did last year. We were running second last year and Casey and those guys stretched it out and won the race. We were on the other side of the fence tonight so we'll take it."