By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 9, 2007

RICHMOND, Sept. 8 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. needed a flawless car and sublime performances from himself and his team Saturday night -- not to mention an extraordinary amount of luck -- to earn a spot in the 12-driver Chase for the Nextel Cup.

That "perfect-day scenario," though, didn't quite materialize, and as a result, NASCAR's most popular driver will be racing for pride over the season's final 10 events, out of championship contention before the playoffs for the second time in three years after finishing 30th at Richmond International Raceway.

Jimmie Johnson, meantime, won the Rock & Roll 400 for his series-leading sixth victory and wrapped up the top seed in the Chase, which begins next Sunday in New Hampshire. Tony Stewart finished second, rookie David Ragan was third and Jeff Gordon came in fourth before a sellout crowd of 112,000.

"We're happy to be hitting our stride at this point of the season," said Johnson, who won here in May and also was victorious last weekend in California. "We're strong on all fronts."

Although Earnhardt was eliminated, he didn't go down without making Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch sweat, if only momentarily.

Earnhardt overcame an ill-handling car early and was running in second place when Harvick and Busch, the drivers just ahead of him in the points standings, encountered problems. Steam poured from Harvick's engine because of debris stuck in his car's radiator grill, and Busch's car suffered heavy damage on the rear during a multi-car wreck just after the race's halfway point.

But Harvick and Busch recovered from their misfortunes and wound up seventh and ninth, good enough to clinch the remaining two spots in the Chase. Earnhardt suffered his fifth engine failure with six laps remaining, 14 laps after being officially eliminated.

"I'm just disappointed," Earnhardt said. "I've run good every week, we're just not finishing races. We deserve to be in the Chase. We wish we were for our fans. It's disappointing."

For the first time since NASCAR adopted the playoff system in 2004, no driver forced his way into the playoffs at Richmond, the final race before the postseason.

Eight drivers had clinched a spot in the Chase before the green flag was dropped here, and two others, Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr., got in simply by starting the race. Harvick owned a 128-point lead on Earnhardt, and Busch possessed a 141-point edge. In essence, Earnhardt needed what NASCAR's statisticians dubbed "a perfect day" -- lead the most laps, finish up front and hope for either Harvick or Busch to wreck out or blow up -- just to have a shot at getting in.

In the end, it was too much to ask.

Earnhardt, who started 21st, is now guaranteed to depart Dale Earnhardt Inc., the race team founded by his late father, having failed to claim a Cup championship. In June, Earnhardt signed a five-year contract with rival Hendrick Motorsports that begins next season.

Gordon led four times for 191 laps.

Carl Edwards also had a fast car and was leading on Lap 182 when his engine blew up, sending smoke billowing from underneath the rear end of the No. 99 Ford and ending his day.

"Hopefully, this is the bad luck now that we don't have in the next 10 races," Edwards said.

Local favorite Denny Hamlin of nearby Chesterfield, Va., also was in contention for most of the night. In fact, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was leading when his car was tapped by Clint Bowyer on Lap 201. Though the No. 11 Chevrolet suffered almost no damage, he struggled to get back up front and wound up sixth.

On Lap 244, Ryan Newman spun, taking out Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya's No. 42 Dodge burst into flames as it slid to a stop on the infield. Busch, meanwhile, suffered sheet metal damage to the rear of the No. 2 Dodge.

"Our heart was beating 100 miles per hour," Busch said. "Thankfully, everything was okay."

Harvick went onto the grass to avoid the wreck, picking up grass with his Car of Tomorrow splitter. The grass got stuck in his radiator and his engine began to overheat. After an eight-minute-long red flag, he came into the pits and had the grass removed from the front end.

"This isn't near as exciting as winning the Daytona 500, but we needed to get into the Chase," Harvick said. "Now we've just got to get it together the next 10 weeks."