I was driving along and all of a sudden my whole car was dragging big time.. So I move forward again and it moves fine.. long story short no gear oil in the front.. I limp home keeping under 20 mph.. I grab some gear oil and I put in a bottle and I see it's got a crack in the case just a bit above where the drain hole is.

That seems like an odd spot for a crack in the case, no?

Maybe some parts got between the diff and the case? It can still roll but without gear oil I'm not going to really try anything.