Earnhardt ends winless drought under caution

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended his 76-race winless string Sunday, coasting to victory at Michigan International Speedway under a caution flag with little but fumes left in his gas tank.

NASCAR's most popular driver gave his new boss, Rick Hendrick, only his second victory of the season as he somehow squeezed enough gas out of his last fillup to go three laps beyond the regulation finish in the Lifelock 400.

A spin by Patrick Carpentier on the 203rd lap brought out the final caution and probably saved the victory for Earnhardt, who ran out of gas moments after crossing the finish line behind the pace car.

"We were going to stay out there no matter what," "It is what it is man," Earnhardt said.

Asked if he could have made it if the green flag had stayed out, Earnhardt said, "We were going to stumble to the finish and probably not win the race. We weren't going to finish. The yellow saved us.

"They can write what they want, but we won one."

After leaving the team his late father founded to drive for Hendrick's juggernaut this year, Earnhardt began the new phase of his career with two non-points victories at Daytona in February. But, despite running well so far this season, that promising start did not lead to any victories in the first 14 Cup races.

"This is pretty meaningful because it's with Rick," he said. "He's such a great man because he's been through so much."

It was a typical Michigan race, coming down to who saved the most gas at the end.

As the laps wound down, driver after driver was forced to pit for a splash of gas, but Earnhardt, whose last victory came on May 6, 2006, at Richmond, wasn't about to stop.

Eury, the crew chief who followed Earnhardt to Hendrick, kept telling his drive to slow down and try to conserve gas.

It was still a big gamble with just over two laps to the scheduled 200-lap finish when former IndyCar champion Sam Hornish Jr. brought out a caution flag with a spin. That extended the race to overtime and, by the time the green flag waved again on lap 202, Earnhardt and his team had no idea if he could make it to the finish.

He did, barely.

Kasey Kahne finished second.