Johnson, Junior each find trouble in Coca-Cola 600

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.

Autostock

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. (Continued)