Samsung 500: A Promising Race For Earnhardt Jr Cut Short

A congratulations goes out to Jeff Gordon and the No. 24 team for their great win at Texas Motor Speedway for the Samsung 500.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. started the race in 20th. On lap 30, he was in the zone up eight positions to 12th place. Things were looking up for the No. 88 team.

On lap 221, Earnhardt Jr. had to pit twice to replace a missing lug nut, and on lap 222 Junior manages to go pass his pit stall and has to go around again.

On lap 259 pit strategy helped Junior and he ended up being the leader. On lap 260 the lapped car of Kyle Busch and Junior are both going at it, when Kyle Busch got "loose," and knocked Junior out sending him back to seventh, and giving the lead to Jeff Gordon.

On lap 290 Earnhardt Jr. scrapes the wall in turn 1 and 2 and ends up making a green flag pit stop dropping him back to 21st. He just couldn't get the drive after that to make it back up their and had to settle for a 20th place finish.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is still currently 16th in points.

Many people were rooting for Junior as always, but this time it was because his first win was in Texas. Many fans were thinking it was Junior's time to shine.

Speculations have said that pit problems are what caused Earnhardt Jr. to fall back. But after the bad stints on pit road, he still managed to be in the lead, and definitely had a top 5 car.

The issues with Kyle Busch and the wall are ultimately the reasons behind Junior's finish.

This is just a peek at what we know Junior can do and if he can tweak these and get some luck, he will hopefully be a force to reckon with.