Little E's winless streak is history and other lessons from Michigan

Five things we learned this weekend in the Irish Hills of Michigan :

1. The 76-race winless streak is mercifully over for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Every week this season the questions have been hurled like rocks at Little E: When will you win, Dale? Is this the race you'll break the losing streak, Dale?

Last week at Pocono I was hanging out with Earnhardt in the back of the No. 88 hauler when the subject of his winless streak, which had lasted for over two years, came up. "I try not to think about it," Earnhardt said. "We're running in the front and we're looking at the bigger picture of winning the championship. But man, dude, it would be nice to get that first win for Mr. Hendrick ."

Mission accomplished. On Sunday at Michigan International Speedway Earnhardt and his crew chief Tony Eury Jr. gambled on fuel strategy and won the LifeLock 400 -- barely. After the race was extended three laps because of a late caution flag, Little E ran out of fuel shortly after crossing the finish line. There's a stigma in the garage when it comes to winning races on fuel mileage -- Sure he won, but he didn't have the fastest car! is a refrain you'll often hear -- but this victory was long overdue for Earnhardt . He's consistently been in contention for the checkers this season, and with a little racing luck, he'd be sitting on three wins right now.

But the drought is now over for Earnhardt , and on Sunday afternoon he celebrated his inaugural win at Hendrick Motorsports with his owner Rick Hendrick . As I wrote in a cover story on Little E a few months ago in the magazine, Hendrick is almost like a second father to Earnhardt , and their close relationship was the single most important factor that led Earnhardt to sign a contract with HMS in the offseason. So it was perfectly fitting, on Father's Day, to see these two hugging in Victory Lane and smiling like they'd just conquered the sport, which for one afternoon, they did.

2. Kasey Kahne 's summer roll continues.

After he finished 22nd at Darlington on May 10th, Kahne was in 14th in the standings and looking very much like a long shot to qualify for the Chase. He'd struggled in the middle of the pack for most of the season and had shown precious few flashes of speed. But since that evening no driver has been as scorching hot as Kahne , who over the last month has two wins. He likely would have taken his third checkered flag on Sunday if the final caution hadn't come out and ended the race prematurely, but the yellow flag meant that he had no chance to catch Earnhardt , who was rapidly running of gas. Still, Kahne finished second and is now a virtual lock to make the Chase; after all, he's currently seventh in the standings and seemingly rising with every lap.

Last week Rich O'Brien , SI's motorsports editor, made this point to me about Kahne : Whenever he has a fast car, the kid wins. And it's true: he may be the best closer in NASCAR today. Whenever he has a car that's capable of contending for the checkered flag, he's almost always in the lead pack in the final laps. In other words, he's not one of those guys that you hearing saying after the race, 'I should have won.' Because when Kahne should win, he normally does.

3. The quietest big story of the season has been the emergence of David Ragan .