Dale Earnhardt Jr. Was Disappointed But Not Defeated After Nearly Winning At Coca-Cola 600
Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat on the edge of his No 88 car window open, as quietly rolled into the garage Sprint Cup Series, the steering is like a child is seated sideways on the bike.
the most popular driver in NASCAR has navigated the car in the darkness of Charlotte Motor Speedway and placed in a garage, which runs between the two boxes and jumping as members of his crew arrived to arrest him.
There seems to be only a brief moment of disappointment on his face before he starts smiling and stroking the crew on their backs, shaking hands and shrugs over an exchange of end close to winning the seventh place in the Coca shot -Cola 600.
"What can you do, you know?" Earnhardt Jr. said.
And indeed, there was no response.
Earnhardt Jr. has tried - with the rest of the field - the milk of its fuel until the arrival of the longest race in NASCAR. Refusing to stand on his knees overtime green-white-checkered would be risky - the team of engineers, said crew chief Steve Letarte Earnhardt Jr. runs out of fuel on the backstretch of the final circuit - but the two pilots and the team agreed the best call was to go for the win.
When he took the white flag - a shift from the victory - Earnhardt Jr. was already at peace after what has happened.
Would finally snap winless streak in his long agony? Or it could run on petrol, breaking the hearts of his army of avid fans who are so desperate to see him win?
Earnhardt Jr. hit the gas and hope for the best.
"I walked around (Turns) 1 and 2, and (spotter) TJ (Majors) said: 'Seven car lengths (front). Eight car lengths," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I think," It feels really good. "I knew we could run out of gas, my mind had already adapted to that in the event happened so I would not be too bad. "
But before he even got a turn 3 on the last lap, his car sputtered and lost power. It was a gas, such as engineers had expected.
Majors came on the radio and frantically announced that his driver Kevin Harvick's No. 29 car and the rest of the field were approaching at a rapid pace. But Earnhardt Jr. could do nothing at this point.
Although it seemed that he ran out of gas just before the final round, his gas tank was dry and got to ride the backstretch. His pace took him only through Turn 3 and slowly decreasing to the finish.
"My car was just fast enough to keep, and it seemed that we were" Earnhardt Jr. said. "My spotter is like," Man, they will come! They're coming! "And I'm like, 'I'm cruising. What do I do this for the pedal and my feet?"
Majors was confident that the team had won the race - finally breaking s Earnhardt Jr. 'winless streak to three digits - as the driver was a white flag.
"Of course I thought I had won," said Majors. "But we are well. We put in a position to win. That's all I can really do, right?"
That's the whole crew chief Steve Letarte felt he could really do. The team leader said the teams should ask: "Are you here to run in the top 10, or you can win?"
And No 88 is entered to win, "he said.
"We had to try," said Earnhardt Jr., an echo of the philosophy of his team leader. "Think about it, man -!. Winds 600 It would be great I had to try, then you know have tried? ".
Letarte, leaning on the side of the No. 88 carrier, made the turn 3, then looked in the direction of the goal line.
"I do not know how much fuel it takes to get from there, but that's what we needed," he said, adding that in his trophy case "is not enough" to make any other decision, but that could result in victory.
"We will have prizes," he added. "These two races this year - Martinsville, -. and here we had a shot to win the final 25 laps"
winless streak is still alive, though. And so comes close to the Majors was asked about the team - and Earnhardt Jr., one of his closest friends - will start to doubt the trip would never have reached Victory Lane.
"No, man!" Majors said. "This is the point now where we just hold the tip and five points there and we'll win 'em That's how you win races you -. continue to put yourself in that position. "
Earnhardt Jr. said: "We are close enough that some 'em fell into our laps around, and if we get that little extra step, we'll be in business."
At the beginning of the weekend, the pilot had been skeptical about such a result was within the reach of the team. The No. 88 had a performance below normal in the past week-Star race - which teams use as a tuneup for the 600 - and Letarte even admits to being "embarrassed" at how the car has passed.
Thus, when the car Earnhardt Jr. has shown promise in trials that led to the 600, the driver was only cautiously optimistic.
