Dale Earnhardt Jr. came with in one corner of winning his first race in nearly three years, but he ran out of gas as his Chevrolet swept of the final corner.
Instead, Kevin Harvick recorded his third victory of the 2011 Sprint Cup Season, sweeping past Earnhardt's stricken Chevrolet. David Ragan finished second, the best finish for the Unadilla, GA, native. Joey Logano came across the stripe in third, followed by Kurt Busch and A.J. Allmendinger.
Earnhardt's coasted across the line in seventh. It marked the second time in two races today that the National Guard machine led the race into it's final turn but did not win. J.R. Hildebrand crashed off the last turn in the Indianapolis 500.
The race appeared headed towards a three-way duel amongst Greg BIffle, Kasey Kahne, and Earnhardt, but Jimmie Johnson's engine erupted with five laps remaining to draw a caution flag. Biffle was forced to pit road under the yellow, then Kahne's Toyota never gained speed on the restart as he ran out of fuel. Biffle wound up 13th, while Kahne was 22nd as he failed to make it back to the finish line.