by Jeff Owens, NASCAR Scene, Special to FOXSports.com

The beleaguered organization can't seem to buy a break. Every time it seems to be headed in the right direction — like having three cars in the lead draft on the final lap at Talladega — it keeps getting the rug pulled out from under it.

Jeff Owens (NASCAR Scene)

It's almost as if the organization is cursed, the Chicago Cubs of NASCAR.

Smith, a rookie driver with a best Sprint Cup finish of 14th, pulled off one of the most spectacular moves of the season Sunday, forcing his way to the inside of two-time series champion Tony Stewart on the final lap and racing into no-man's lead to beat him to the checkered flag.

The move set off a wild celebration on pit road as it looked as if DEI had won a race for the first time in more than a year and for only the fourth time in the past four years.

But, alas, it wasn't meant to be — or more accurately, wasn't allowed to be.

NASCAR officials ruled that Smith had crossed the yellow line and was thus out of bounds when he made the pass. Stewart was declared the winner, and Smith was relegated to 18th.

It was little consolation for DEI that teammate Paul Menard finished second. Even Aric Almirola, who was running right behind Smith and Menard in yet another DEI Chevy going into the final lap, got a bad break, getting shuffled backward and winding up a disappointing 13th.

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It was a fitting conclusion to a distressing week for a once-proud organization still reeling from the departure of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Earlier in the week, Menard announced that he was leaving after this season and taking his family's Menard's home-improvement stores sponsorship with him to Yates Racing. He will become the third driver in a year to leave DEI, following Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin — who is also leaving after this season — out the door.

DEI also learned recently that the U.S. Army will not return to sponsor Almirola's No. 8 team in 2009, leaving the company with four Cup teams and only one primary sponsor for next year.

Smith has raced all season without a full-time, primary sponsor, making his dramatic run Sunday all the more spectacular.

Only Martin Truex Jr., who has re-signed to return next year, has a full-time sponsor in Bass Pro Shops.

Sunday's performance at Talladega should be a big boost for the organization and its sponsorship search. Still, it could have been so much bigger had Smith been allowed to keep the victory he earned.

Instead, Smith and DEI officials were left scratching their heads, wondering how and why they had had a sure victory taken away and how and why bad things keep happening to their organization.

"We feel very disappointed in the outcome of the race," said DEI President Max Siegel, who argued with NASCAR officials about their ruling. "We feel like we won the race today. I'm very happy for him (Smith). It was the biggest race of his career and certainly one of the biggest ones for our company this year. So we would have liked to see it come out differently and (are) very disappointed with the way that it did."

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It wasn't the first disappointment Siegel has suffered during his brief tenure as the man whose mission is to save DEI and turn it into a viable team again.

The biggest blow, of course, came last year when Earnhardt Jr., embroiled in a bitter dispute with his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, over control of DEI, left the team his father founded and joined Hendrick Motorsports.

Many believed then that Earnhardt Jr.'s departure was a death knell for an organization built around him.

Without him, DEI has clearly struggled to find sponsors. That it is floundering is no surprise. Many even predicted its downfall.

"For God's sakes, they let Dale Earnhardt Jr. go," driver Kevin Harvick told NASCAR Scene at Talladega. "That's a tough deal to recover from when you let the most popular driver in the sport go from your organization. I think you're just seeing the repercussions of that particular move, and it just keeps spiraling."

With Martin and Menard leaving and no sponsorship deals on the horizon, DEI will likely have trouble attracting top drivers and crewmen. Then, after 2009, the contract of Truex, its most valuable asset, is up. If things don't improve dramatically, he will surely depart, too.

The organization founded by one of the biggest names in the history of the sport seems to be spiraling out of control with no positive signs of a turnaround.

Every step forward seems to come with another step back.

Or, as they say, they can't seem to win for losing.

Even when they win.

Jeff Owens is a writer for NASCAR Scene, which is published weekly, 50 weeks per year. Visit www.scenedaily.com for more information.