BROOKLYN, Mich. - After four years and 143 races - the agonizing near-misses and all those questions about when he might finally win again - Dale Earnhardt Jr. was alone in his car, comfortably ahead of the field and only a few minutes from victory.

"That was the worst feeling, riding around there with 15 laps to go, wondering what was going to happen - how you were going to lose," Earnhardt said. "Those laps couldn't go by fast enough."

There was no falling short this time. Earnhardt held on smoothly at Michigan International Speedway for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory since 2008, and he did it in convincing fashion, beating Tony Stewart by 5.393 seconds Sunday. When the black Chevrolet with the green No. 88 crossed the finish line, Earnhardt ended a streak of 143 Cup races without a win and gave his legions of fans a thrilling reward for all their support - and patience.

"They stayed loyal," he said. "As soon as I got out of the car, that was my initial thought - was about how many people were in their living rooms screaming at the top of their lungs, or running out in the yard, or whatever they do. I just wish I could see it all at once."

The victory came almost exactly four years to the day after his last trip to Victory Lane in a Cup race. That also was in Michigan on June 15, 2008. He led for 36 laps a week ago at Pocono but made a late stop for gas instead of trying to stretch the fuel to the end.

On Sunday, it wasn't even close - but Earnhardt was still sweating out the finish, waiting for the other shoe to drop during the final moments of the 200-lap, 400-mile race.

"I was in there just going crazy," he said. "I just knew I was going to come around the next corner and see a piece of metal laying in the racetrack. I just was waiting on something to happen. That was terrifying."

NASCAR Sprint Cup

Quicken Loans 400

Sunday

At Michigan International Speedway

Brooklyn, Mich.

Lap length: 2 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (17) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 200 laps, 138.1 rating, 48 points, $168,775.

2. (8) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 200, 124.1, 43, $179,160.

3. (6) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 200, 116.1, 42, $155,096.

4. (3) Greg Biffle, Ford, 200, 129.8, 41, $120,910.

5. (10) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 200, 97.3, 39, $140,496.

6. (28) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 200, 100.4, 39, $134,046.

7. (13) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 200, 104.6, 38, $117,649.

8. (21) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 200, 94.5, 37, $120,176.

9. (1) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 200, 106.2, 36, $121,743.

10. (2) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, 81.4, 34, $134,346.

11. (42) Carl Edwards, Ford, 200, 80.2, 33, $133,426.

12. (16) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 200, 89.8, 32, $112,524.

13. (25) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 200, 91.4, 32, $118,705.

14. (19) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 200, 67.5, 31, $115,218.

15. (5) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 199, 83, 29, $125,068.

16. (31) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 199, 66.8, 28, $109,693.

17. (15) Aric Almirola, Ford, 199, 71.6, 27, $119,621.

18. (32) Landon Cassill, Toyota, 199, 58.2, 26, $108,630.

19. (20) A J Allmendinger, Dodge, 199, 74.4, 25, $122,860.

20. (24) Casey Mears, Ford, 199, 58.5, 24, $98,893.

21. (33) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 199, 58.2, 24, $119,735.

22. (18) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 199, 73.7, 22, $88,935.

23. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 199, 50.6, 21, $94,743.

24. (22) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 198, 65.1, 0, $88,285.

25. (36) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 198, 51.4, 20, $80,485.

26. (39) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 197, 44.4, 18, $99,268.

27. (35) David Gilliland, Ford, 197, 44.5, 18, $88,857.

28. (12) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 197, 62, 16, $87,160.

29. (14) Mark Martin, Toyota, engine, 195, 94, 15, $78,460.

30. (26) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 194, 40.3, 14, $85,385.

31. (40) Ken Schrader, Ford, 193, 36.6, 13, $83,735.

32. (34) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 157, 70.7, 12, $122,843.

33. (4) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, accident, 151, 65.2, 11, $83,910.

34. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, accident, 132, 61.2, 10, $120,451.

35. (9) Joey Logano, Toyota, accident, 125, 79.7, 9, $83,310.

36. (41) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, vibration, 68, 36.1, 8, $75,260.

37. (43) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, brakes, 67, 35.3, 8, $75,205.

38. (27) Michael McDowell, Ford, vibration, 41, 34.7, 6, $75,093.

39. (29) Mike Bliss, Toyota, overheating, 35, 31.4, 0, $72,340.

40. (37) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, vibration, 32, 31, 0, $72,300.

41. (23) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, power steering, 27, 34.5, 3, $72,260.

42. (30) Josh Wise, Ford, engine, 9, 29.4, 2, $72,195.

43. (7) Trevor Bayne, Ford, engine, 7, 30.8, 0, $71,792.

Top 12 in Points: 1. M.Kenseth, 565; 2. D.Earnhardt Jr., 561; 3. G.Biffle, 548; 4. J.Johnson, 532; 5. D.Hamlin, 514; 6. K.Harvick, 504; 7. M.Truex Jr., 497; 8. T.Stewart, 491; 9. C.Bowyer, 481; 10. B.Keselowski, 458; 11. C.Edwards, 456; 12. Ky.Busch, 432.