#87-Joe Nemechek ran out of time. #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas. But a timely caution with two of 117 laps remaining in Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway, allowed Earnhardt Jr. to claim the victory as two of the top-three cars ran out of gas after crossing the start/finish line. The win makes Earnhardt Jr. two-for-two in appearances in the NASCAR Busch series this season. He also won the series opener at Daytona with the same team he co-owns with his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt. During a pit stop on Lap 59, Earnhardt Jr. was first off pit road when he took only fuel. However, he elected not to relinquish the lead and stop for gas when a caution came out on Lap 111. It is unlikely Earnhardt Jr. would made it to the finish had the race remained under green. “I don’t think there was a whole lot of fuel left in it when I took the checkered (flag),” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We just didn’t have enough gas there at the end to go green, so that final caution coming out really helped us out. The racing gods here at Talladega really like the Earnhardt family because we seem to do pretty good here.”
#48-Shane Hmiel, who also ran out of gas after the finish, was third. #2-Ron Hornaday was fourth and #20-Mike Bliss rounded out the top five. A 19-car wreck erupted on Lap 10 after #21-Johnny Sauter blew a left-rear tire. Among those caught up in the accident were three drivers – #92-Todd Bodine, #57-Jason Keller and #38-Kasey Kahne – in the top 10 in points. Bodine, who finished 27th, leads the series race with a 39-point advance over #1-Jamie McMurray. The race was slowed five times by caution for 23 laps. There were seven lead changes among six drivers, with Earnhardt Jr. leading a race-best 60.(ThatsRacin.com column)
For results see Thatsracin.com, BGN Racing (they have many pictures posted over the weekend there too), MotorsportsOne or NASCAR.com.(4-5-2003)
