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Hamlin's exit opened the door for Earnhardt to finally erase the losing streak which had reached 71 races Saturday night, with his last trip to victory lane ironically coming at Richmond in 2006.
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Locked in a side-by-side battle with Busch for the top spot, the two made contact racing through turn three with Earnhardt getting the worst of it with a hard impact into the outside wall.
The crash sent Junior Nation into a tizzy and made Busch Public Enemy Number One with the legions of Earnhardt fans in the stands and across the country.
But it also sent a stake right through the heart of Earnhardt, who could not hide his disappointment and disgust as he leaned next to his battered race car.
"Whether it is fair or not, he is going to need some security," Earnhardt said of his combatant. "I wouldn't say it was intentional because if he wanted to he could have thrown me in the fence off 2. We had been racing each other earlier and had no problems."
"I am pretty disappointed to say the least. I had a good race all night. I had a good top-three car most of the night. I just don't like it, well, to me it is just disappointing to not get what you can get out of the race car. Me and Kyle got together down there, not sure why it happened or how it happened. But, it is definitely unfortunate for us."
The incident not only ended Earnhardt's hopes of ending his dry spell but also stopped his streak of solid finishes since he moved over to Hendrick Motorsports at the start of the year.
"The worst part about it, is that I have been priding myself on running good all year and I was in position for a win," he said." I ran hard and got wrecked. I had a top-three car and should have finished in the top-three. So, I was going for the win. Just ended up on the hook today. Just disappointed."
And what looked to be a dream night for a couple of drivers turned into nothing more than another nightmare.
