Sports briefs

NASCARAfter Earnhardt Jr. runs out of gas,

Harvick goes by in Coca-Cola 600

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas a half-lap short of snapping his nearly three-year losing streak. Kevin Harvick sailed past Earnhardt coming out of the final turn in the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Earnhardt was comfortably out front in the closing laps of NASCAR's longest race of the year.

Earnhardt knew stretching his gas to the finish was going to be tough, but crew chief Steve Letarte ordered him to go for broke. It capped a frantic few minutes of strategy as nearly five hours of racing came down to fuel mileage and a final two-lap sprint.

The crew chief begged Earnhardt to not worry about gas and chase down Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne over the final 20 laps. But Letarte reversed course when Kahne closed in on Biffle, and Matt Kenseth, running fourth, stopped for gas.

Figuring Biffle and Kahne would run out racing each other for the win, he urged Earnhardt to sit tight and try to exploit their misfortune. It might have worked, too, if Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson's engine didn't fail four laps from the finish.

Biffle had to stop for gas under caution, and Kahne and Earnhardt lined up side-by-side for the final restart. Earnhardt got a great jump as Kahne got hit from behind by Brad Keselowski. It caused cars to stack up in the middle of the pack, with debris strewn everywhere. But the caution call from NASCAR never came, and Earnhardt needed only to get to the white flag to seal his win.

He got to the flag just fine. But because the yellow never waved, he had to race and couldn't make it to the finish.

Earnhardt ran out on the back straightaway, coasted through the final turn, and Harvick cruised by for his third win of the season.

"I just do what my dang crew chief says, and I believe that was the right call because if we would have pitted, I don't know where we would have finished," said Earnhardt, who was seventh. "We played our hand. I tried to save a ton of gas, as much as I could. I'm disappointed . . . but if we had won that race, it would have been a gift."

Earnhardt's losing streak hit 105 races and he apologized to his fans.

Horse racingShackleford to arrive at Belmont

Trainer Dale Romans said the van carrying Preakness winner Shackleford from Churchill Downs was scheduled to arrive at Belmont Park early this morning. Romans has said he will give the colt a workout at Belmont before deciding whether to run him June 11 in the Belmont Stakes.

In other Belmont news:

Graham Motion, trainer of Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up Animal Kingdom, said he hopes to work out the colt next Monday at his Maryland base or Belmont . . . Donnie Von Hemel said Alternation will skip the Belmont . . . Master of Hounds is scheduled to ship from Ireland June 7 for the Belmont.

Tackleberry, Haynesworth in Met

Tackleberry and Haynesworth top a field of 11 in the Grade I Met Mile Monday at Belmont. Todd Pletcher will saddle Aikenite, Caixa Electronica and Ibboyee. -- AP