Gary Knapp / AP

Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks to reporters after the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. Earnhardt has missed the 10-race Chase for the championship.

No, he doesn't, and that's partly because of the motor problems that Truex, Paul Menard and Mark Martin have been immune to.

Although DEI has partnered with RCR on an engine program, Story said the teams are not yet using true common engines. They are combining parts and pieces, and he said his engineers are baffled as to why Earnhardt's keep breaking.

Each failure, Story said, is something different. In Watkins Glen, the team knew the motor was ailing during Friday and Saturday practices, but thought it could last through Sunday's race.

It's possible Earnhardt himself is damaging the motors. He's been driving the wheels off his cars the past few weeks, and perhaps he's been too hard on the engines.

But on Saturday night in Richmond, when Earnhardt was headed to a gutsy top-five finish, that motor failure with six laps to go was devastating. He wound up 30th in his sixth DNF of the season, and the brief hug he shared with crew chief Tony Eury Jr. showed their heartbreak over another wasted run.

"We deserve to be in the Chase,'' he said. "We race hard. We don't quit. We love racing. That's what we do. It's just disappointing, man. These dang motors.''

There's no doubt DEI's top officials were thinking the same thing, and they determined Monday that a broken oil pump belt - possibly from debris on the track - caused the failure.

Either way, there was no joy in Earnhardt's failure. After all, whatever is going on with his motors can very well spread to Truex's, and then DEI would have no shot at all at its first Nextel Cup title.