BRISTOL, Tenn. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat atop a cooler in Victory Lane, his arm dangling around the 4-foot trophy. His adrenaline spent, Earnhardt's smile showed the excitement his body no longer could.

For a struggling team, Saturday night's NASCAR Nextel Cup victory in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway was uplifting. It was extra special to Earnhardt, who has pined to win a Bristol Cup race after watching his dad win nine races at this high-banked half-mile track.

"That's awesome," Earnhardt radioed his crew after winning his fourth Cup race of the season and $322,443. "We sure needed that."

Just as happy was runner-up Ryan Newman. He bumped rookie Kasey Kahne out of the top 10 in the points standings. The top 10 drivers after the Richmond race in two weeks automatically qualify for the championship chase.

Newman is 10th in the standings, one point behind ninth-place Bobby Labonte and five points behind eighth-place Kevin Harvick.

Newman leads 11th-place Kahne by 26 points. Mark Martin and Jeremy Mayfield are both 35 points behind Newman. Dale Jarrett and Jamie McMurray are each 45 points behind Newman.

"[Dale Jr.'s] guys are happy, but our guys are happy times two," Newman said of his best finish since a third-place effort at New Hampshire a month ago. "It's a big race for us to get some momentum for the team."

Also gaining momentum is Jimmie Johnson. He had failed to finish the last three races and had to use a backup car Saturday after crashing Friday in practice. He came from the rear of the 43-car field to finish third. Jeff Burton was fourth with Elliott Sadler completing the top five. Kurt Busch, who had won the last three Bristol races, was eighth.

Earnhardt, who led a race-high 295 laps, was thrilled with his weekend. He had failed to finish in the top 20 in five of the last six races entering Saturday's event, leading some to question what was wrong with the team. Earnhardt had even been outspoken that his team was not racing like a title contender.

He looked like one this weekend, winning Friday's Busch race and Saturday's Cup race — which came five years to the day of his father's last win at this track.

It was a tough night for those trying to secure a place in the championship chase, which begins next month at New Hampshire. Among those who had problems were Harvick, Jarrett, Martin, Mayfield, Labonte and Kahne.

Kyle Petty replaced Harvick, who suffered numbness in his left arm and dehydration, on lap 360 of the 500-lap race. Petty finished 24th. A pit-road mistake on lap 227 cost Martin an extra lap to the leaders and he placed 13th. Jarrett was spun by Robby Gordon while running second with about 140 laps left and finished 10th.

Mayfield lost two laps to fix a flat tire and placed 22nd. He radioed his crew and said the flat was cause by contact with teammate Kahne, who also is racing for a top-10 spot. Later, Kahne and Labonte were collected in an accident on lap 389. Both continued. Labonte finished 16th, and Kahne placed 21st.

Although those drivers anguished over their race, Joe Nemechek's pain was more physical. He bruised his left foot and will be examined today after he was clipped by another car and slammed into the turn-1 wall on lap 33.

Mistakes prevented others from winning.

NASCAR ordered Jeff Gordon to drive through the pits on lap 405 for not lining up correctly on the restart. He finished 14th, but retains the points lead with a 24-point advantage on Johnson. Earnhardt trails by 51 points.

A pit road miscue also hurt Rusty Wallace.

Wallace, who has won nine Cup races at this track, ran out of fuel while leading on lap 203 and coasted into the pits.

"Who's in charge of the . . . fuel mileage," Wallace yelled on his radio after the pit stop. He finished 26th.