Night Rider: Jamie McMurray Wins In NASCAR’s Backyard Under The Lights

And then there were three.

In the best example yet of why NASCAR doesn’t need to institute an elimination round in the Chase, all but three drivers have virtually eliminated themselves from championship contention: Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.

An promising start to the weekend ended with a forgettable night for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who qualified eighth but finished three laps down in 29th place on Saturday night at Charlotte.

Earnhardt Jr. began the night with a decent car, but said it started landing roughly in the corner and “wouldn’t go.”

Though Kasey Kahne didn’t finish Saturday night’s race at Charlotte, his No. 9 car did – with JJ Yeley behind the wheel.

Kahne was “sick,” according to team officials, and left the garage area following a crash on Lap 124 that may have resulted from a brake problem.

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Despite finishing a career-best 21st, Danica Patrick was disappointed and a bit frustrated after the Charlotte Motor Speedway Nationwide race on Friday night.

Patrick, in her ninth NASCAR start, bested her previous top result of 24th (at Chicagoland). But she finished two laps down and struggled to run as well as she did at Fontana (where she was headed for a top-20 finish before being wrecked).

Jeff Burton, asked about the talk of a Hall of Fame snub for Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough yesterday, dismissed the idea that anyone should be upset for not getting into the Hall this year.

“If you’re honored enough to get into the Hall of Fame, you shouldn’t lose sleep about when you got into the Hall of Fame,” Burton said Thursday. “The third class in no less important that the second class.”