Dale Earnhardt Jr.: ‘I made a real bad decision’ in Daytona 500

As usual Dale Jr. had the best equipment but could not get the job done

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the car to beat in the Daytona 500, but he made a rare mistake that cost him a shot at the win.

Earnhardt, who led 32 laps, was running third on a restart with 18 laps to go but chose the wrong line and got stuck in the middle, dropping all the way to 15th. He made a late charge on the green-white-checkered restart to finish third, but left Daytona International Speedway disappointed.

"I made a real bad decision on that restart with 18 to go," he said. "I made a poor choice and got shuffled back and you can't do that. It's real disappointing because the team gave me the best car."

Earnhardt hoped to get a late push from runner-up Kevin Harvick or Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson to mount a charge at winner Joey Logano, but it was too little and too late.

"I had a good enough car to drive back up there," he said. " … You don't get cars that good too often so I tried to capitalize."

Earnhardt, a two-time winner and the defending champion of the Daytona 500, entered the race as among the favorites after winning his Budweiser Duel qualifying race on Thursday.

He ran at the front throughout the race, spending the first half latched onto the bumper of teammates Johnson and Jeff Gordon. He blasted past Logano for the lead on Lap 114 and led the next 32 laps.

But Logano got back past him on Lap 146 and Earnhardt could never get back to the front. He tried to pass Johnson for the lead on Laps 168 and 169 and but could not get enough drafting help and Johnson kept blocking him.

He was third when the fourth caution flag flew on Lap 177, but made his ill-fated move on the restart on Lap 182, fading into the middle of the pack. Sporting news