he crashed at the race and he took out his teammate dam now i really wont be watching the end of the season wont be the same.
and there is a chance jeff gordon wont be in the chase either dam to good drivers not good.
its overEarnhardt Jr. gets to 'go home'
Crash on a restart ends day early, dims championship hopes
By JIM UTTER
ThatsRacin.com Writer
INDIANAPOLIS -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s hopes for a good finish in Sunday's Allstate 400 ended early, and any opportunity he had to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship field appear dim at best.
On a restart on Lap 62, Earnhardt Jr. – who was struggling much of the race – was hit from behind by Mike Skinner, turning him into the inside wall on the frontstretch of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After hitting the wall, Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 Chevrolet backed across the track and into the path of Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Martin Truex Jr. Robby Gordon and Scott Wimmer also got caught up in the accident.
"Everybody took off and then everybody stopped and when I stopped I got ran into," said Earnhardt Jr., who was credited with a 42nd-place finish.
"It's hard to see when you're way back in the back – you know, what the leaders are doing. But they called the green flag, and I was waiting for Bill (Elliott) to go, and when Bill took off, I took off - and we stopped again. I don't think Skinner knew what was going on."
When asked about the blow the wreck had on his championship hopes, Earnhardt Jr. said, "Man, I just hope I don't have to get into that piece of crap today. Hopefully, I can go home."
Earnhardt Jr. was 14th in points entering the race.
www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/cup/08/07/dearnhardtjr.indianapolis/index.htmlJunior admits the Chase now pipe dream for No. 8
INDIANAPOLIS -- Dale Earnhardt, Jr's recent surge toward Chase qualification may have officially ended Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"I ain't no fortune teller, but it ain't looking good," Earnhardt said. "It'll take something extraordinary to make the Chase, for us, at this point."
Earnhardt was struggling along near the back of the pack Sunday in the Allstate 400 when, on a Lap 61 restart, the field bunched up behind leader Casey Mears -- and in front of Earnhardt.
To elude the cars stacking up ahead, Earnhardt swerved and was tapped in the rear by Mike Skinner, sending the No. 8 Chevrolet head-on into the inside retaining wall.
"We were all in line," Junior explained, "and the guys in front of me went, I went, then they stopped and I tried to stop, pulled out to let the guy behind me have that outside line in case he couldn't get slowed down enough and he hooked me in the right rear and sent me into the inside wall."
Among those caught up in the melee was Earnhardt's teammate, Martin Truex Jr.
"It's unfortunate, we got two of our cars crashed," said Truex, who won the Busch Series event Saturday night at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
"I was having a lot of fun out there. That's it. I couldn't see anything really, just cars stopping. I tried to stop and go out by the wall and Junior come back across right in front of me. Wrong place, wrong time."
Truth be told, Earnhardt's primary frustration wasn't the accident -- rather the performance of his racecar.
"I had a terrible racecar [Sunday] and I'm glad it's over with," he said. "We tested real good, and we came here and we been junk. And it's frustrating when the car don't drive right.
"I was in the back and trying to work on it every pit stop and get it better. We did all we could do. Can't help circumstances like that.
"We can't bring cars like this to the racetrack. I knew when the race started it'd be a miracle to get a top-10 with that car. As long as we're bringing cars like that to the racetrack, that's where we're going to finish."