CONCORD, N.C. -- Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway became the latest chapter in a 74-race saga titled: "When will Dale Earnhardt Jr. reach Victory Lane?"

It looked like it might happen Sunday night, at the place where Junior won the 2000 Cup All-Star Race.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Coca-Cola 600

Official Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
2.	Greg Biffle	Ford
3.	Kyle Busch	Toyota
4.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
5.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
6.	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet
7.	Matt Kenseth	Ford
8.	Elliott Sadler	Dodge
9.	Carl Edwards	Ford
10.	David Reutimann	Toyota

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But after appearing to have his hopes completely crushed when he apparently cut a tire and hit the wall, Earnhardt -- through frantic pit work and a renewed focus -- parlayed fuel mileage into a fifth-place finish that maintained his third-place standing in the points.

"These cars are tough -- you saw Kyle [Busch] beat that thing up pretty bad and win Darlington," Earnhardt said. "I am proud of my team for being able to repair it and get a good finish.

"I was disappointed that we put ourselves back in the pack and had the incident, but [crew chief] Tony [Eury] Jr. had great strategy and it worked out. We were runnin' good though. Man, I was so proud of how we were running; I just wish we could get to the end."

As much as Earnhardt was pleased with his comeback, for Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, who has ruled recent history at his sponsor's namesake track, the brutal 600-miler provided a rare disappointment at the track Johnson's conquered five times in the 10 races since 2003.

After leading five times for 35 laps, the engine failed in Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet, relegating him to 39th in the rundown.

That it was his first engine failure in 96 total races and only the second time he's failed to finish a race at Lowe's since he dropped out of his first start here, in October 2001, was little consolation to Johnson, who fell from sixth to ninth in the standings, as a result.

"About three or four laps before I came to pit road, it dropped a cylinder, we were just running around on seven cylinders and I gave up a few spots," Johnson said. "I knew it was just a matter of time before it blew the bottom out of it, and sure enough, it went.

"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. We worked very hard to get our stuff right, and we've made some big gains; so all-in-all, I'm going to sleep well tonight knowing that these guys at Hendrick Motorsports are working really hard and we've found some speed."

Earnhardt, who'd not led a ton of laps in his 15 previous starts at Lowe's, led more laps than anyone -- 76 -- when his No. 88 Chevrolet abruptly veered into the outside wall entering Turn 3 on Lap 297 of 400.

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.

“

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."