Junior almost does it

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The fans were on their feet, and not because they needed to stretch after six hours of racing.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who for much of Sunday's Daytona 500 seemed unable to get to the front, was suddenly exiting Turn 4 on the final lap with just Jamie McMurray's No. 1 Chevrolet between himself and the checkered flag.

"I looked up and said there's just one car in front of me," Earnhardt said. "Jamie's going to win this ... race."

McMurray did, but Earnhardt's charge from 10th to second in the final two laps breathed some fresh air into a fan base that has been craving for Earnhardt to be competing for wins on a regular basis.

It also helped erase some of the bad taste from nearly 21/2 hours of delays because of the asphalt in Turn 2 coming apart.

"That was unbelievable," said Earnhardt's crew chief, Lance McGrew. "You put a solid race car under that guy, and it's unbelievable what he can accomplish in a few laps.

"I think one more lap and we might have won the whole thing."

Win or not, the run by Earnhardt is a welcome spark for himself and his team coming off the worst season of his Sprint Cup career.

Earnhardt was 25th in series points with two top-five and five top-10 finishes in 36 races and changed crew chiefs during the season.

"It's great for our team to finish good anywhere, no matter what," Earnhardt said. "I was happy. I'm happy for the finish and it validates the changes they made [to the team] and the hard work they've done over the offseason to get better.

"You know, I just hope we can keep it up."