Earnhardt’s 600 Wager Overshadows Harvick Victory

Neither could make it to the end.

Just like JR Hildebrand failed to capture the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, a similar fate befell Dale Earnhardt Jr. that night.

Inheriting the lead on a green-white-checkered fuel-mileage gamble, Junior came up just 500 feet short, surrendering the lead to Kevin Harvick on turn 4.

Harvick would win his series-leading third race of the 2011 season and Earnhardt finished in P7.

What happened prior to that is what garnered the most attention. On the final restart, Earnhardt restarted next to Kasey Kahne who immediately sputtered at the green, backing up the field and causing Jeff Burton, Brad Keselowski, and others to spin, littering the front stretch with cars and possible debris from the collisions.

Should NASCAR have thrown another caution, effectively ending Junior’s bid for a breakthrough victory or is there a conspiracy amongst us?

In hindsight, it didn’t matter since Earnhardt would have run out of fuel anyway.

I don’t believe NASCAR’s decision had anything to do with one particular driver as much as it did the entire Top-10. The Sanctioning Body is quick to tell us that they always try to finish the race under green and with as few “Overdrives” as necessary.

The accident on the restart involving Kahne, Burton, and Keselowski had been cleared up by the time Junior reached the backstretch. Keselowski had damaged his Dodge Charger but there were no noticeable parts littering the track.

Judging by definition of the rule and NASCAR’s previous verbiage, this is a non-story.

What’s actually the story is Kevin Harvick somehow stealing the magic horseshoe away from Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus. While winning the Coca-Cola 600 required a little bit of luck (just as I predicted in Thursday’s race primer), Harvick continues to put his team in positions to win.

It’s almost as if the 2011 season is shaping up to be his.

But it’s much too early for that. There are still 14 races remaining until the start of the Chase for the Championship at Chicagoland Speedway.

Sunday was about Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Fans will remember this race for Junior losing the race more so than Harvick winning it and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Like Harvick, Team National Guard/Amp Energy is putting themselves into positions to win. The consistency and guile Earnhardt has shown in 2011 promises a lot of good things for their summer.

Industry insiders are convinced that it’s only a matter of time before Junior breaks though and wins a race for the first time since 2008.

When looking at where his team is against where they were, it’s hard to argue.