FanHouse Dale Earnhardt Jr.

CONCORD, N.C. -- Sounding at times deflated and exasperated, Dale Earnhardt Jr. told reporters Friday at Lowe's Motor Speedway that he's just as perplexed by the disappointing performance of his team as the rising tide of critics and doubters.

Most frustrating, he said, is that he doesn't have the quick answers to turning things around.

Earnhardt used Thursday night's qualifying session as a microcosm of his 2009 season. After posting a top-15 speed during practice in his No. 88 Amp Energy-Chevrolet, he managed only the 39th fastest lap in qualifying.

"All the other cars qualified fine and backed their times up in practice and we didn't even get close,'' a mostly subdued Earnhardt said. "We looked ridiculous last night.

"It's like really encouraging one day and the next day it's equally discouraging and that gets really old. I'm about to the end of my rope on it.''

The good news for Dale Earnhardt Jr. is that the legions of his believers are still just that -- massive in number and faithful to his cause.

But even many of the most loyal are astounded that their beloved "Junior," NASCAR's most famous driver, isn't more than a footnote in this year's Chase for the Championship.

The most-talked about driver in NASCAR isn't being talked about when it matters most.

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. won a late gamble on gas, but that wasn't enough to overcome Kevin Harvick's dominance.

Harvick led most of the race and then passed Earnhardt with two laps left to regain the lead and win the Degree V12 300 Nationwide Series race on Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Harvick and Kyle Busch each went into the pits for gas and four tires with 14 laps remaining. Earnhardt and Brad Keselowski stayed on the track, gambling they had enough gas to finish the race.

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BROOKLYN, MICH. (AP) -- Closing in on the checkered flag with mostly fumes in his gas tank, there were only two possibilities for Brian Vickers.

Run out of gas and probably blow any chance at making NASCAR's championship chase -- or make a bold move toward title contention by winning the race.

After a surprising gamble on gas by his crew chief, Vickers drove conservatively to conserve fuel. Then he pounced when race leader Jimmie Johnson's tank ran dry, taking the lead with two laps to go and holding on to win Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.

Where: Chicagoland Speedway
Time: Saturday 8:00pm/EDT
TV/Radio: TNT, MRN Radio
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: 58 degrees, Partly Cloudy
Distance: 267 laps (400.5 miles)
Pole Winner: Brian Vickers
2008 Winner: Kyle Busch

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The "Big One," a 13-car accident at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night took out fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. before NASCAR's Coke Zero 400 was even halfway complete.

The accident on the backstretch was triggered when Kasey Kahne's Dodge tapped David Stremme's Dodge from behind. Eleven more cars were collected, including Earnhardt and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon -- both truly innocent victims of the smoky melee.

Where: Daytona Int'l Speedway
Time: Saturday 8:00pm/EDT
TV/Radio: TNT, MRN Radio
Twitter: Updates at FanHouseRacing
Forecast: 74 degrees, Partly Cloudy
Distance: 160 laps (400 miles)
Pole Winner: Tony Stewart
2008 Winner: Kyle Busch

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Catching up on the news and notes trackside at Daytona International Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. met with reporters briefly Friday and seemed pretty much resigned to the fact that he won't be making the 12-driver Chase for the Championship this season. He's currently ranked 19th, 285 points behind 12th place Juan Pablo Montoya with nine races remaining before the Chase field is set Sept. 12.

"It's going to be a real challenge for us to make the Chase,'' Earnhardt said. "We're still mathematically in it but we're not trying to catch just one guy. .. we're trying to catch four or five guys. And it's unrealistic to expect all them guys to have enough trouble.

Where: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Time: Sunday 2:00pm/EDT
TV/Radio: TNT, PRN Radio
Twitter: Updates at FanHouseRacing
Forecast: 67 degrees, 80% chance of rain
Distance: 301 laps (318.46 miles)
Pole Winner: Tony Stewart
2008 Winner: Kurt Busch

You may have heard or seen some reports this morning connecting Danica Patrick to NASCAR in a very big way, that also heavily impacts the sport's most popular driver. But here's one word of advice: don't read into it quite yet.

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- The most surprised person to find Mark Martin in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway was the driver himself.

The 50-year-old NASCAR star has run well but has had to deal with considerable bad luck this season. It looked like more of the same Sunday when the battery in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet began to fail before the halfway mark in the LifeLock 400 Sprint Cup race.

Martin turned off everything in the car that he could, nursing it as best he could. Then he realized the race was going to be a fuel economy run.