By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Sports Writer
November 18, 2007
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s final ride in his red No. 8 car was just like so many others this season.
That is, frustrating.
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Earnhardt completed a winless farewell season with Dale Earnhardt Inc. on Sunday, finishing 36th in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He moves to Hendrick Motorsports next season, leaving the company that bears his late father's name, and the goodbye seemed to be an emotional one.
``I guess I thought I'd be sadder. But I'm not,'' Earnhardt said. ``I've still got these guys as friends. That's even better than the working relationship.''
It would have been a storybook finish for Earnhardt to win his DEI farewell.
But this year was anything but perfect for NASCAR's most popular driver.
He didn't qualify for the Chase for the championship, managed only seven top-five finishes in 36 races and announced in May that he was leaving DEI after months of contentious negotiations with his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt.
``It's been hard, man. This whole year's been hard,'' Earnhardt said. ``And I don't ever want to do it again. I just want to get happy. I want to get to where I'm in a good place and get to where I can run well and win races like I know I can, get around good people, quit having to deal with jerks and just set myself apart and get right.''
He was involved in two early accidents Sunday, taking away any chance he had of reaching Victory Lane and ending what's now a 62-race winless drought.
He drove through the grass leaving pit road on lap 52, and Kyle Busch tapped Earnhardt's car on the left rear side -- sending the 8 for a spin.
And only five laps later, Earnhardt was hit again in the left rear by Jeff Burton, getting knocked into the wall and damaging his car a bit.
Burton's tough tap came with the drivers on the front straightaway -- facing west, as the sun was starting to go down. In Burton's defense, the visibility in that area was, at best, awful.
``Had a great car and got up to 11th,'' Earnhardt said. ``Did you all see that? We were running good. And I got run over by a veteran on a re-start. I don't know what the hell that was. I'm so disappointed.''
He meant with the race.
The same applied to his season.
``It's over and it's over,'' Earnhardt said. ``Got to go do something else.''
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