NASCAR Cup Series

Remembering Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s heartbreaking 2011 Coke 600 finish

Published May. 24, 2016 11:42 a.m. ET

foxsports

Racing is and has always been a cruel sport, one where the odds of failure far outweigh the potential for success and celebration.

For every winner in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, there are 39 losers, which makes it about as emotionally brutal as any professional sport can be.

Literally, in the blink of an eye, a race can be lost and the results can be devastating.

Consider if your will the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race, which is contested every Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Back in 2011, Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked like a sure winner in the Coca-Cola 600. There was only one problem: That particular race ended with a green-white-checkered finish and actually went 603 miles.

Had the race been 600 miles as scheduled, Earnhardt would have won. Instead, he ran out of gas on the third turn of the 402nd and final lap, allowing Kevin Harvick to steal the victory.

It was a tough way to lose, but it was just one of those racing deals that happens.

Earnhardt, fresh off a third-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at CMS last Saturday night, will be hoping for better luck this time around in the Coca-Cola 600 (FOX, 5:30 p.m. ET).

Earnhardt running out of fuel capped a horrible day for his sponsor, the National Guard. Earlier in the day J.R. Hildebrand was leading the Indianapolis 500 in his National Guard-sponsored car, when he crashed at the exit to the fourth turn on the final lap, allowing Dan Wheldon to win.