"I don't like to run second after getting passed on the last lap no matter if we run out of fuel or just get out-run," Earnhardt said, leaning against his No. 88 Mountain Dew Kickstart Chevrolet on pit road. "We were supposed to be fine [on fuel] until the end of the race, and then we ran out with like two laps to go and I came in, took my helmet off and bashed a fender on the car and just made a real ass of myself and learned a lot from that experience," Earnhardt said of the Pocono incident. And this season, no team is more "up" than Earnhardt's. After winning the sport's biggest race in the season opener at Daytona, he's finished runner-up in both races since and holds the Sprint Cup Series championship lead by a point over Sunday's race winner, Brad Keselowski, who has three top-three finishes as well. That place atop the standings, and Earnhardt's victory already almost guaranteeing him a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, plus the fact crew chief Steve Letarte is in his final year with the team before moving to the NBC Sports television booth all created a fitting Las Vegas-style setting for a strategy of doubling down and taking gambles. More...