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SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com
SPEEDtv.com
06/15/2008 - 04:55 PM
Brooklyn, Mich.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet celebrates after winning the Lifelock 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. (John Harrelson/Getty Images Photo) ยป More Photos
It took 76 races, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. made it to victory lane in the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Well, almost.
With two laps to go, the No. 88 driver stayed out and kept turning his ignition on and off to conserve fuel so he could make it to the end.
As thousands of members of the Earnhardt Nation cheered him on, the newest member of the Hendrick fleet ran out of gas on his way to victory lane.
"Well, it is what it is." Earnhardt said, " So if we ran out, we ran out. We were going to try it and have a shot to win the race. Knew we had a chance to win the race so we just kept running like we were running all day and we made it happen man. We got one."
A high stakes gamble made by crew chief Tony Eury Sr. kept Earnhardt out when all the frontrunners pitted in the final stages of the race. In the final lap, Patrick Carpentier hit the wall and Earnhardt took the checkered flag under caution.
"We
Team owner Rick Hendrick was rejoicing in his Father's Day victory.
"We've been waiting for this," Hendrick said. "We've been so close."
Current hotter-than-hot driver Kasey Kahne , who's won two out of the last four races, worked the Gillette Evernham Dodge to the runner up position .
“We had a real loose racecar sideways all day," Kahne said. "Especially in entry and middle exit. We just tried to keep fixing it and getting the car better and we did at the end of the race. The final run was the best that our Budweiser Dodge was all day, but it was still a 10th to 12th place car. We had enough to finish if it stayed green. It was just a great finish for what we had all day.”
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