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TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Armed with a pen and a piece of scrap paper, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., sat down in his motor coach Sunday morning and began to scribble down fuel mileage scenarios.
EA SPORTS 500
Earnhardt Jr. gets his third consecutive Talladega victory.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. earns a million-dollar hug in Victory Lane at Talladega.
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Engine trouble ends Jeff Gordon's day early.
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Several drivers have trouble in the pits at Talladega.
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Tony Stewart takes the Winston Cup points lead.
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• Results
• Standings
NASCAR had mandated a smaller fuel cell for the EA Sports 500, and he was unsure exactly how far he could stretch a 12.5-gallon fuel load.
After a few minutes of figuring, he came to the conclusion that 38 laps -- 101 miles -- was the maximum distance his Chevrolet could go. It was a good thing for him, then, that he took the lead for the final time with precisely 38 laps remaining.
He took the checkers for the third-straight time at the 2.66-mile track, then ran out of gas on the stroll to Victory Lane.
"I didn't have any idea (how far I could go)," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I was sitting on the bus before driver intros, and I was figuring the average would be 38 laps.
"Most of the guys said the couldn't go to 31 or so, so I was really surprised they didn't get good gas mileage. As good as our motors run, not to use that much gas...if we really put the fuel to it, I'd hate to see what we'd do with it.
"I ran out coming down pit road here. That's how close it was."
Junior, who led 56 total laps Sunday, was cycled into the lead for the final time on lap 150. On that same stop, Michael Waltrip's car fell off the jack, eliminating him from a chance at his second-consecutive restrictor plate win. He won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July.
Once out front, Junior stayed there, all the while fending off the single-file freight train of Tony Stewart, Ricky Rudd, Kurt Busch and Jeff Green, among others.
No one wants it
At Talladega, Tony Stewart became the fifth man to lead the points in 2002, and the third different points leader in the last three weeks. Here is how long each driver kept the points lead:
1. Ward Burton led after his win in the Daytona 500 but lost it the next week at Rockingham.
2. Sterling Marlin held the points lead from Rockingham until New Hampshire, a span of 25 races.
3. Mark Martin held the points lead after New Hampshire and Dover but lost it when his engine expired at Kansas.
4. Jimmie Johnson finished 10th at Kansas and assumed the points lead, but he finished 37th at Talladega and dropped to third in the points.
5. Tony Stewart finished second at Talladega and took over the points lead. Stewart's points lead means that every manufacturer (Dodge, Ford, Chevy, Pontiac) has held the standings at some point in 2002.
They caught him, but couldn't pass him. Stewart was perfectly content to ride second, and would have nothing of the sort.
"I wasn't about to leave him," Stewart said. "I told my spotter to go down and tell his spotter that I wasn't leaving him. I wasn't going to leave his back no matter where we ended up. It wasn't 'Top Gun,' but I wasn't leaving my wing man."
Stewart's rolling road block pushed Junior to his seventh career victory, and placed him alongside Buddy Baker in the Talladega record books as the only drivers in history to win three straight races here.
Junior also pocketed the Winston No-Bull 5 Million Dollar Bonus for the second time in his career.
"Tony and them guys had a good enough car to pass me, but the thing was the pack kind of thinned out down to four or five cars, and it's hard for four just three or four cars to push one guy by the leader," Junior said.
"My hat's off to Tony Stewart for being a friend there and helping me out, sticking behind me. He's a great racecar driver, true competitor."
By finishing second, Stewart shot past Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin -- who were involved in an accident before the race ever started when Martin's steering column locked up on the final pace lap -- and into the championship points lead.
With six races remaining, he leads Martin by 72 points. Johnson drops from first to third and now trails Stewart by 82 points, followed by Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace in fourth and fifth, respectively.
"I'm just as excited as can be," Stewart said. "Leading the points like we are, you couldn't ask for any more than that."
Martin and Johnson, who finished 30th and 37th, respectively, weren't the only championship contenders who had headaches Sunday. Jeff Gordon, who entered the race in fourth position, 109 points out of the lead, finished 42nd Sunday after breaking a valve spring.
In fact, all six cars powered Hendrick engines suffered exactly the same fate -- a broken valve spring -- according to the team. Gordon was running 13th on lap 126, having led 27 laps when the valve spring failed. He's now tied for sixth with Matt Kenseth, 201 points behind Stewart.
"We lost a valve spring. It's just really unfortunate," Gordon said. "Before that it felt so comfortable. I couldn't have asked it to be any better. We were hanging back there. We were going to be a force there at the end."
It was a bad day for Hendrick Motorsports -- Jimmie Johnson (left) finished 37th; Jeff Gordon was 42nd. Credit: Autostock
As it were, Junior was the force late. And to assure he'd make it to the end on fuel, he feathered the throttle when given the chance. Subsequently, he made it on fuel with one less stop than most everyone else.
"I'm just holding the wheel, man," he said. "I ain't really doing much, just turning left every once in a while. That car's got to go and the Bud team makes it go. We already had good gas mileage, but I lifted a lot, especially the last half of the race.
"My guys started figuring out what we were doing there about midway through the race. I started lifting a lot, just made sure that we saved fuel."
The race ran caution-free, marking the first time since April 2001 that that's happened at Talladega.
EA SPORTS 500
Earnhardt Jr. gets his third consecutive Talladega victory.
Play video
Dale Earnhardt Jr. earns a million-dollar hug in Victory Lane at Talladega.
Play video
Engine trouble ends Jeff Gordon's day early.
Play video
Several drivers have trouble in the pits at Talladega.
Play video
Tony Stewart takes the Winston Cup points lead.
Play video
• Results
• Standings
NASCAR had mandated a smaller fuel cell for the EA Sports 500, and he was unsure exactly how far he could stretch a 12.5-gallon fuel load.
After a few minutes of figuring, he came to the conclusion that 38 laps -- 101 miles -- was the maximum distance his Chevrolet could go. It was a good thing for him, then, that he took the lead for the final time with precisely 38 laps remaining.
He took the checkers for the third-straight time at the 2.66-mile track, then ran out of gas on the stroll to Victory Lane.
"I didn't have any idea (how far I could go)," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I was sitting on the bus before driver intros, and I was figuring the average would be 38 laps.
"Most of the guys said the couldn't go to 31 or so, so I was really surprised they didn't get good gas mileage. As good as our motors run, not to use that much gas...if we really put the fuel to it, I'd hate to see what we'd do with it.
"I ran out coming down pit road here. That's how close it was."
Junior, who led 56 total laps Sunday, was cycled into the lead for the final time on lap 150. On that same stop, Michael Waltrip's car fell off the jack, eliminating him from a chance at his second-consecutive restrictor plate win. He won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July.
Once out front, Junior stayed there, all the while fending off the single-file freight train of Tony Stewart, Ricky Rudd, Kurt Busch and Jeff Green, among others.
No one wants it
At Talladega, Tony Stewart became the fifth man to lead the points in 2002, and the third different points leader in the last three weeks. Here is how long each driver kept the points lead:
1. Ward Burton led after his win in the Daytona 500 but lost it the next week at Rockingham.
2. Sterling Marlin held the points lead from Rockingham until New Hampshire, a span of 25 races.
3. Mark Martin held the points lead after New Hampshire and Dover but lost it when his engine expired at Kansas.
4. Jimmie Johnson finished 10th at Kansas and assumed the points lead, but he finished 37th at Talladega and dropped to third in the points.
5. Tony Stewart finished second at Talladega and took over the points lead. Stewart's points lead means that every manufacturer (Dodge, Ford, Chevy, Pontiac) has held the standings at some point in 2002.
They caught him, but couldn't pass him. Stewart was perfectly content to ride second, and would have nothing of the sort.
"I wasn't about to leave him," Stewart said. "I told my spotter to go down and tell his spotter that I wasn't leaving him. I wasn't going to leave his back no matter where we ended up. It wasn't 'Top Gun,' but I wasn't leaving my wing man."
Stewart's rolling road block pushed Junior to his seventh career victory, and placed him alongside Buddy Baker in the Talladega record books as the only drivers in history to win three straight races here.
Junior also pocketed the Winston No-Bull 5 Million Dollar Bonus for the second time in his career.
"Tony and them guys had a good enough car to pass me, but the thing was the pack kind of thinned out down to four or five cars, and it's hard for four just three or four cars to push one guy by the leader," Junior said.
"My hat's off to Tony Stewart for being a friend there and helping me out, sticking behind me. He's a great racecar driver, true competitor."
By finishing second, Stewart shot past Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin -- who were involved in an accident before the race ever started when Martin's steering column locked up on the final pace lap -- and into the championship points lead.
With six races remaining, he leads Martin by 72 points. Johnson drops from first to third and now trails Stewart by 82 points, followed by Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace in fourth and fifth, respectively.
"I'm just as excited as can be," Stewart said. "Leading the points like we are, you couldn't ask for any more than that."
Martin and Johnson, who finished 30th and 37th, respectively, weren't the only championship contenders who had headaches Sunday. Jeff Gordon, who entered the race in fourth position, 109 points out of the lead, finished 42nd Sunday after breaking a valve spring.
In fact, all six cars powered Hendrick engines suffered exactly the same fate -- a broken valve spring -- according to the team. Gordon was running 13th on lap 126, having led 27 laps when the valve spring failed. He's now tied for sixth with Matt Kenseth, 201 points behind Stewart.
"We lost a valve spring. It's just really unfortunate," Gordon said. "Before that it felt so comfortable. I couldn't have asked it to be any better. We were hanging back there. We were going to be a force there at the end."
It was a bad day for Hendrick Motorsports -- Jimmie Johnson (left) finished 37th; Jeff Gordon was 42nd. Credit: Autostock
As it were, Junior was the force late. And to assure he'd make it to the end on fuel, he feathered the throttle when given the chance. Subsequently, he made it on fuel with one less stop than most everyone else.
"I'm just holding the wheel, man," he said. "I ain't really doing much, just turning left every once in a while. That car's got to go and the Bud team makes it go. We already had good gas mileage, but I lifted a lot, especially the last half of the race.
"My guys started figuring out what we were doing there about midway through the race. I started lifting a lot, just made sure that we saved fuel."
The race ran caution-free, marking the first time since April 2001 that that's happened at Talladega.
