If you’re a Dale Earnhardt Jr fan, chances are anytime you see or hear a mention of ‘Coca Cola 600’, you immediately think about ‘that’ night at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2011.

It was the night when Junior came as close as he’s ever come to winning the crown jewel race.

He failed to do so because of a reason which was so cruel, no hater of his, which weren’t or aren’t many, could’ve ever scripted.

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s heartbreaking radio message after he missed out on 2011’s Coca-Cola 600

As he was coming off turn 4 to take the checkered flag at the Coke 600 in his #88 car, Earnhardt Jr ran out of fuel, which led to the aptly named Kevin ‘The Closer’ Harvick to win the race.

As Earnhardt Jr. ran out of fuel, began slowing down, and found himself in 25th place seconds away from a trip to the victory lane, he was obviously in pure disbelief. “Are you kiddin’ me?!” he said on his radio.

Later in a post-race interview, Junior stated the obvious as he touched upon how they “almost won the race.” But the cruel hand he was dealt with on that night was something the race winner Harvick also acknowledged.

“I think everybody sitting up here would say we want the 88 to win and they’re so close to winning and both times they had a chance to win,” Harvick said as per ESPN. “I feel so stinking bad for him, and I know how bad he wants it.”

“It’ll happen.”

But of course, it didn’t happen in the next seven years either. And it’s not as if Junior didn’t try to win the crown jewel or he didn’t want it bad enough. He did. This much was clear from his comments ahead of his final showing in the race in 2017.

WATCH THIS STORY: “The Thing He Kept Close to His Chest & Didn’t Share With You” – Jeff Gordon Reveals How Dale Earnhardt Kept Him in the Dark

Junior emphasized how much he wanted the Coca-Cola 600 win in 2017

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Ahead of his final Coca-Cola 600 in 2017, Earnhardt admitted that night in 2011 “doesn’t really weigh” on him that much even though it took him a few weeks to get over it.

But despite there being certain races he never won, he was still dreaming of winning the crown jewel race in Charlotte the most, as he claimed doing so “would be awesome” 

“Any of them that we haven’t won at would be great. Any win this year, right, would be good. But if I had to pick Charlotte would be … winning the 600 would mean a lot,” he said as per NBC Sports.

Sadly for him and his fans, that night in 2017 didn’t go their way either as Austin Dillon took the checkered flag while he finished in 10th place.

And today, even though the driver himself is over what happened, whenever a Junior fan thinks of the Coca-Cola 600 all that comes to their mind is that night in Charlotte in 2011.

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