| | Associated Press
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- What was supposed to be a special day for Kerry and Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned into a wave of disappointment at the Pepsi 400.
The two started Sunday's race at Michigan Speedway with their father Dale Earnhardt, marking only the second time that a father and his two sons started in the same Winston Cup event.
Lee Petty and sons Richard and Maurice were the first trio to accomplish the feat in Birmingham, Ala., in August 1960.
The race was only six laps old when Kerry crashed his car between turns three and four, forcing him out of the race.
"We got into turn three and there was a car underneath me and it took the air," he said. "We were real loose to start the race anyway. I thought I could hang on to it, but I spun out and hit the wall."
Still, he was able to find a positive note.
"It's disappointing, but we've got to look at the whole weekend," Kerry said. "We just made a few changes in the wrong direction before the race."
Dale Jr., who started from the pole position, led the first 13
laps but it was downhill from there.
"The car was good early on in the race," said Dale Jr., who
finished 31st. "We led pretty easily it seemed, but then it just
got tighter and tighter until it drove like a big old truck. It
felt like I'd wrecked it or damaged a fender."
Dale Jr. avoided being a part of the accident on lap 37
involving Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. On lap 178, he avoided
another accident involving Robby Gordon by spinning on the front
straightaway.
"It was a freak deal," Dale Jr. said. "Our spotter was changing batteries on his radio. All of a sudden I couldn't see anything in front of me, just smoke across the track. I went low and got into the grass and just spun out. Even after that we passed all the lapped cars, but the engine gave out."
The only Earnhardt highlight was turned in by their dad as The Intimidator started 37th and finished sixth.
Houston, he had a problem
Andy Houston's first drive in a NASCAR event was cut short on lap 157 when he was forced to retire from the race with engine problems.
Houston, who is a regular driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series, started in the 35th position and had moved up to as high as sixth place. However, he was dropping back into the field when he exited the race.
"Something in the engine just let go," Houston said. "Michigan is notorious for that. I had a great car today. We were running pretty good. We took two tires on our last pit stop to get the track position. We were holding our own pretty good.
"I felt like we had a top-15 car. For our first Winston Cup race I was excited and just looking for the finish. But we'll just have to come back and get it another day."
Houston, the son of NASCAR Busch Series driver Tommy Houston, hopes the performance will end up in a full-time driving assignment.
"I hope for people to take a look at me and see that maybe I'm capable of driving these Winston Cup cars," he said. "I had a lot of fun today."
Labonte back behind wheel
Terry Labonte made a return to his driver's seat after missing the last two Winston Cup races while recovering from the lingering effects of a July 1 crash at Daytona.
Because his car was qualified Saturday by Todd Bodine, Labonte was forced to start from the rear of the 43-car field. He slowly edged his way up and finished 20th.
"I feel fine," Labonte said. "Our car was pretty good but we just weren't very good on restarts. We'd lose so many spots on restarts and we'd make 'em back up.
"I've never been to Michigan and seen so many caution flags. Most of the time it's green (for go) all day. And if it would have been that way today, we would have been fine. I felt good all day. I'm really glad to be back."
Prior to the race, Kellogg USA and Hendrick Motorsports announced a three-year extension of their sponsorship of Labonte's Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Kellogg also presented him with a customized Harley-Davidson
motorcycle featuring special Iron Man graphics highlighting his
NASCAR record of 655 consecutive starts. That string ended Aug. 5
when Labonte decided to sit out the Brickyard 400 to recover from
the July accident.
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