Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Pocono race ends early because of broken transmission

— -- LONG POND, Pa. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s farewell season took another dive Sunday after he mis-shifted his car and ruined the transmission on the No. 88 Chevrolet SS just 58 laps into the scheduled 160-lap Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway.

His finish -- 38th -- is one ahead of last place but marks the fourth time this season his car hasn't been running at the finish in 14 races and it is his seventh finish of 30th or worse.

Clearly dejected in the garage after bringing the car in, Earnhardt took full blame in a TV interview with FS1.

"There really isn't anything different, the shifter's not different, the handle is not in a different location, everything's the same," he said. "I don't know whether it's something about my motion. ... It's going in the wrong gear.

"I wish I could blame it on something else, because this is awful. It feels awful."

Earnhardt had to start at the back of the field Sunday after his team changed the engine in his car after Friday's practice when he blew that up with a similar mis-shift. Both times he said he was trying to shift to fourth gear, which is the highest, but instead shifted into second gear.

At speed, that means a serious mismatch between engine RPM and the rate of RPM in the transmission. Something has to give in that scenario, and both times it cost Earnhardt and his team.

Earnhardt entered the race 22nd in the standings and has yet to win a race. If he doesn't win one of the next 12 before the playoffs start, he is unlikely to get in the playoffs on points because he would need to be in the top 16.

"It's my fault -- I don't really have anything else to say," he said. "This really concerns me coming back here [in six weeks] and on the [upcoming] road courses.

"I don't know why this is happening out of nowhere. ... I mean I've been doing this all my life and this isn't a common issue, but it has been this weekend."