Dale Earnhardt Jr
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No more riding around at the back for Junior Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s days of riding around at the back of restrictor-plate races are over. NASCAR's most popular driver said he and drafting partner Jimmie Johnson learned their lesson last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, where the Hendrick Motorsports teammates hung out in the back for much of the race, hoping to sprint to the front at the end. But three cautions in the final 20 laps derailed that plan, and the two were resigned to mediocre finishes for the second consecutive plate race. No more, Earnhardt said at Martinsville Speedway. "At the end of the race we collectively decided that we learned our lesson, and that we won't do that again," he said. "Given the opportunity to run that race over, we would have just thrown ourselves into the fight and tried to run as hard as we could and taken whatever risks needed to be taken to stay toward the front. Hindsight is 20/20, but when we get that opportunity again, I don't think that's a strategy we'll ever use again." Although Earnhardt was clearly unhappy with running at the back for much of the race -- he called it "boring" in the immediate aftermath last weekend -- he emphasized that the strategy was a team decision. Cautions at the end scuttled the plan, and the result was a 25th-place finish for Earnhardt and a 26th-place finish for Johnson, which put the reigning champion 50 points behind Carl Edwards coming to Martinsville. "I don't ever recall a disagreement," Johnson said. "What Junior and I did was in the days leading into the Talladega race, our crew chiefs took the responsibility to call the race and tell us when to go and what to do. Junior and I both agreed that inside the car it's tough to understand the big picture. And we find that it's really easy for us to get overly excited and feel like we need to go up in and race. And with the strategy we all agreed to put in play, it was to ride and wait and at the very end of the race, go, and get up in there. "And we took direction from our crew chiefs as we were instructed to do and those last cautions really hurt our plan. That's what really got us. And then on the last restart, we were sitting there in 20-something place with two laps to go. Junior was in front of me, and my car was overheating. I've got to get in front of him to try to get a push, and with two laps, it just didn't play out as we had hoped it would. But we were just sitting in the cars taking direction." Earnhardt said he understood the plan going in, and bought into it. "I wasn't a victim of it," he said. "I bought into the same idea that the two crew chiefs and that Jimmie had, and we all did that together. And we all made the choices that got us our poor finish together. And no one person out-ruled or overruled the other. Everybody sort of collectively sunk the ship as the race went on. And it was disappointing." Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows retaliation can come quick and easy at Martinsville Drivers can, and often do, get mad at one another at any NASCAR track. But when the series travels to Martinsville, where space on the 0.526-mile track is at a premium, tempers can go off the charts. There have been wars of words, retaliation with the race cars and physical altercations outside the cars. So what gives? “At Martinsville, whoever you are angry at is likely within reach,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at Martinsville while teams waited for the rain to subside. “So it is hard to contain yourself, to do the right thing, do the professional thing, to act accordingly, whatever you want to call it,” he said. “That is where you get in the gray area and struggle within yourself about what to do.” Martinsville, one of only three tracks under a mile in length that Cup events, is the shortest circuit. Navigating it’s tight, flat turns while trying to avoid contact from the front, the rear and either side, can make every lap an adventure. Cars that aren’t up to snuff can become rolling roadblocks, holding up traffic and making it difficult for a driver to put a great deal of distance on the competition. Unlike the 1.5-mile and larger tracks, a driver who feels he’s been taken advantage of at Martinsville often doesn’t have far to look to find the person responsible for his misfortune. “Most of the time you do not have the opportunity to so readily retaliate on somebody at the bigger tracks or wherever else,” said Earnhardt Jr., who will start ninth in Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500. “But here you know if a guy gets into you, more than likely you have the next corner to give it back to him; sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t and it just depends on who it is and how badly you think they used you up and whether you like them to begin with. “It is really hard to contain yourself and you have to think down the next straightaway whether you want to do something, what do you want to do and are you going to look like a jerk doing it? You just have to make that call.” The Hendrick Motorsports driver brings a winless streak of 125 races into Sunday’s event. He is ninth in points, 74 behind Chase For The Sprint Cup points leader Carl Edwards. In his last Martinsville start, Earnhardt Jr. finished second, losing the lead to eventual race winner Kevin Harvick with just four laps remaining. “I’m looking forward to the race and trying to run as good ... as good as we did last time, maybe improve a little bit,” he said. Qualifying the Chasers: Martinsville Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Qualified ninth) -- Earnhardt has just one top-10 in the six Chase races, but that could change at Martinsville. Earnhardt's average finish of 13.3 is fourth among Chasers and while Earnhardt hasn't won at Martinsville, he has nine top-fives and 12 top-10s in 23 starts. Since joining Hendrick, Earnhardt has found some of the success he had in the early 2000s. In seven races in the No. 88, Earnhardt has two runner-up finishes and three more top-10s. In his past two starts at Martinsville, Earnhardt finished seventh and second and led 107 laps. Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopes for another chance to win at Martinsville Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t forgotten about his near-miss at Martinsville Speedway last April. Passed by Kevin Harvick with less than four laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr. missed a chance to ditch that pesky losing streak – now at 125 races heading into the Tums Fast Relief 500 at the 0.526-mile paper-clip-shaped oval this weekend. The second-place finish at Martinsville has bothered Earnhardt Jr. ever since that missed opportunity for a victory. While he has had a good season – he made the Chase For The Sprint Cup for the first time in three years – he sorely wants to get back to victory lane. “Every time you lose a race, especially losing one that close, you run it through your mind for months and month’s maybe, about what you could have done differently,” Earnhardt Jr. said earlier this month. “Any time you recall an event like that where you came close to winning it, you think about what you could have done differently. “You never know what might have been the outcome, had I done something different. I would not have raced anybody dirty, but maybe I could have done a better job putting laps together while I was out there in front, done a better job of not slipping up into one and doing things to give him an opportunity to get under me and things like that.” Earnhardt Jr. obviously wants another chance at Martinsville, the oldest and shortest track on the circuit. “I wish I could try that again,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I don’t know, Harvick was pretty fast but I sure wish it had ended differently. “There are a lot of things you definitely would like another shot at in life. But we don’t get that. You have to look forward. You have to look in the direction you are going.” Earnhardt Jr. participated in a tire test at Martinsville in August and likes racing at NASCAR’s oldest track. “I definitely look forward to going to Martinsville because I love short-track racing and I like Martinsville and the challenges it has,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It has such different challenges than most race tracks, it is fun for me. I think it is a great race to watch, too.” Earnhardt Jr. has five top-10 finishes in his last seven races there – including a pair of second-place finishes. He has led 107 laps in the last two events there and will take the same car he had there in April. “You’ve got to be able to roll around the middle,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “You’ve got to be able to have good forward bite there. Getting in the power and getting the power down is real important.” Glance at the 12 drivers in the Chase DRIVER: Dale Earnhardt Jr. CHASE POINTS: Ninth, -74 POSITION CHANGE: None CAR: No. 88 AMP Chevrolet TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK: Waited with Johnson too long to try to move to the front, finished 25th. CAREER MARTINSVILLE STARTS: 23 BEST MARTINSVILLE FINISH: 2nd (2011) Dale Earnhardt Jr. got bored riding around at Talladega, couldn't make a move at the end Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t have a whole lot of fun in the Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday, but he had more fun than in his last restrictor-plate race. Instead of getting wrecked on the final lap as he did at Daytona in July, Earnhardt Jr. got stalled in the draft and wound up finishing 25th. He restarted 17th with two laps remaining in the race, but dropped back to get behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, whose car had grass on its grille, causing his engine to overheat and preventing him from pushing Earnhardt Jr. The duo stalled in the outside lane of the draft and didn’t have enough time to recover. “[I was] bored,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I'd rather race up in there and try to lead laps and do whatever – it's really not my style of racing. Being pushed and carrying on all day long, trying to lead a couple of laps that are sort of meaningless really doesn't make a lot of sense either. “Neither alternative is really all that great. … [Race-winner Clint Bowyer] ran up front and raced hard all day long. You have got to tip your hat to them for doing that, that is one of my favorite strategies." But Earnhardt Jr. wouldn’t blame his strategy on the poor performance. “It’s just real boring sitting back there, but we were around at the end of the race so I don’t disagree with the strategy,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We would feel more comfortable getting up in there and racing. … It’s a very, very tough mental task to do what they did [to win] today. “I’ve done it before. It’s just tough to be in the lead all day long and get yourself into some situations that are kind of crazy. In the long run, if you can get to the finish, you have got less cars to pass. We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole [and] when the cautions all came out around us and it got down to a green-white-checkered, we’re sitting there way behind on our strategy.” Earnhardt Jr. was noticeably frustrated at Daytona in July with his inability to make a move. He felt he could make more moves in the draft at Talladega on Sunday. “There's a lot more room at this place,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Daytona is real narrow when it comes down to it. We felt like we were in a good position to make our move inside those 20 laps to go and we just kept having cautions and that sort of hurt our strategy a little bit and didn't give us a chance there with two to go. “I mean, we run up on guys five wide, you can't go nowhere.” But there were plenty of times when Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson didn’t make a move, preferring to lay back and stay out of trouble. “We raced a little bit but not a whole lot. Whenever we thought they were getting a little bit crazy, we'd move into the safe areas and we rode there most of the day with a lot of other people doing the same thing,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Then at the end, we had a lot of cautions late, we wanted to try to work our way toward the front in the last 20 laps. “The cautions kept coming out and we ran over some debris and we had to come to pit road. We just didn't have the track position at the end to make a run with two laps to go. Just not enough time." Earnhardt Jr. remained ninth in the Chase standings, but fell 74 points behind leader Carl Edwards. Johnson, Earnhardt stymied in final Talladega laps As a five-time series champion and a five-time track winner, they comprised one of the strongest drafting tandems Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. returned to NASCAR's biggest track hoping to show more of the teamwork that resulted in a victory for the No. 48 car here six months ago. Instead, the mighty Hendrick Motorsports duo found itself mired back in the pack in the final laps, recording finishes that extended Earnhardt's winless skid to 125 races and may have finally ended Johnson's five-year championship reign. Earnhardt came home 25th, one spot better than Johnson, who is now a whopping 50 points behind series leader Carl Edwards with only four events remaining in the Sprint Cup season. "We've just got to keep fighting, and keep working on getting every point we can at every race," Johnson said. "We have no clue what's going to happen to all the Chase drivers, and I want to finish as high as I possibly can in the Chase. That does mean the championship. If it's not there, I want to finish as high as I possibly can." The pairing of Junior and Johnson -- would they have celebrated in Victory Lane with moonshine? -- led only a combined two laps Sunday, spending much of the race in the rear of the field in an attempt to avoid trouble. Johnson suffered a scare with about 25 laps remaining when Andy Lally caromed off his car and up into the wall, but the damage to his vehicle was minor. The real problems came at the end, when the drivers dealt with their own individual difficulties, and a flurry of cautions didn't provide them enough of an opportunity to climb back up through the field. "Whenever we thought they were getting a little bit crazy, we'd move into the safe areas and we rode there most of the day with a lot of other people doing the same thing," Earnhardt said. "Then at the end, we had a lot of cautions late. We wanted to try to work our way toward the front in the last 20 laps. The cautions kept coming out, and we ran over some debris and we had to come to pit road. We just didn't have the track position at the end to make a run with two laps to go. Just not enough time." It didn't help that the water in Johnson's engine-cooling system climbed perilously high. NASCAR lowered pressure-relief valve settings in the cars this week in a tacit attempt to break up some of the two-car drafting. Push for too long, and risk engine overheating and failure. Johnson found himself trying to play the role of pusher while also dealing with debris on his car's front end -- a recipe for overheating. "We planned our strategy like we had hoped to," Johnson said. "And on that last restart at the end, we had some issues with my car overheating. That last caution that came out, I got some trash and grass and stuff on the grille of the car. We were out of sequence the way we were lined up. I was going to push Junior, and I had to be in the lead the way we had the debris on the grille. And then as we went to make our switch, the pack was organized and with the [final-laps] situation, there's not a lot of time to get organized, and we lost our momentum there, and got to the outside and kind of stalled out up on the top, and finished far worse than we had hoped to." The end of the race was marred by three cautions in the final 20 laps, the last one turning the event into a two-lap sprint to the finish. Without those yellow flags, Earnhardt believes he and Johnson would have fared better. "Yeah. There's a lot more room at this place," he said. "Daytona is real narrow when it comes down to it. We felt like we were in a good position to make our move inside those 20 laps to go, and we just kept having cautions and that sort of hurt our strategy a little bit and didn't give us a chance there with two to go. I mean, [you] run up on guys five-wide, you can't go nowhere." After a crash last weekend at Charlotte, Johnson came to Talladega trailing by 35 points, which translated into a deficit almost equivalent to the 156-point gap he made up under the old system en route to his first championship in 2006. Next week brings perhaps his best track, Martinsville Speedway. But he's running out of races, and left Alabama in an even deeper hole. Still, there were no concessions Sunday from the five-time champ. "We're going to keep fighting hard," Johnson said. "... and see what we can do." Qualifying the Chasers: Talladega Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Qualified sixth) -- Earnhardt is among the best at Talladega, just not recently. Five wins, nine top-fives and 12 top-10s are nothing to scoff at, but most of those came before his move to Hendrick. In HMS equipment, Earnhardt has an average finish of 15.2 with two top-fives, but he has led at least eight laps in every race. In fact, Junior has been out front in 21 of his 23 starts at the superspeedway. Coming off a fourth in the spring, this weekend could be a huge momentum swing for Earnhardt. For Earnhardt, it's always sweet home Alabama You can hear the sound even above the roar of 43 engines on NASCAR's biggest race track, a wave of voices that escalates to a crest as the cars first become visible in Turn 4. The mass of humanity rises to its feet in a ripple effect, one row at a time, one section at a time, until the grandstand explodes in a chorus of cheering and stomping. There is no roar in the Heart of Dixie quite like that which erupts when Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes the lead at Talladega Superspeedway, a noise that shakes this old place right down to its soul. "It rocks and rolls," track president Grant Lynch said. "If you closed your eyes and just didn't open them for the whole race, you'd know when he was at the front. It wouldn't be hard. Once you hear it one time, you know what you're listening to." He may be a native of Kannapolis, N.C., but nowhere is Earnhardt more at home on the race track than big, bad Talladega, where his status as NASCAR's most popular driver is as obvious as the houndstooth fabric on a Bear Bryant hat. His father's often spectacular exploits on the restrictor-plate facility, his own string of victories here, his family's connection to the Alabama Gang, his willingness to hammer the accelerator and go to the front -- they all combine to make Earnhardt so beloved in this part of the world, it sometimes seems like he grew up in nearby Eastaboga. "You've almost got to say, in this state, it's like Alabama football," said Donnie Allison. Indeed, the devotion at times seems to reach that level, even in a state where the Crimson Tide is something close to a religion. Talladega may very well be the capital of Junior Nation, a place where Earnhardt frenzy can reach such a level that those who beat him here can find beer cans pelting their windshields -- as Gordon did in 2004, when he edged Earnhardt under caution in a finish that led to the green-white-checkered rule being adopted by the Sprint Cup tour. That unacceptable behavior is one extreme. The other is the raucous joy that erupts whenever Earnhardt takes the lead, something other drivers can hear even ensconced in their race cars. "Yeah, absolutely," Gordon said. "It's a big place, long straightaways, you've got a lot of time to look around. It depends on what situation you are in, but even if you don't see it physically with your eyes, you sense it. You know how excited they get around here when Junior is leading and battling for the win." Winning has helped cement the Earnhardt legacy at Talladega. The Intimidator won 10 times here, still a record, and 11 years ago this month recorded his final career victory by surging from 18th to first in the final four laps -- a comeback so jaw-dropping, so memorable, that the details of that race remain as vivid as they were the day it happened. Talladega had never roared like it did that Sunday afternoon, when the No. 3 crossed the finish line first to the delight of those legions of black-clad fans. That level of affection clearly carried over to Earnhardt Jr., who helped his own case by winning five times at Talladega, including four in a row between 2001 and 2003. "He did a lot of things in the sport that paved the road for me," Earnhardt Jr. said of his dad. "When I was able to come in here and win some races, that just solidified my position and the Earnhardt family's legacy at this race track. I have said it throughout my career: I know deep down inside I owe a great debt and a lot of credit to him for where I am, and who I am in the sport, and how I am perceived, the path that I have been given and what I have done with it and what I have accomplished with it. I think he was a legend here, and won a lot of races, and was very good at plate racing. He was real easy to cheer for when you came here. No matter who you were a fan of, it was fun to watch him race. ... When I was able to come here and have some success, I think it sealed the deal for all [those] Earnhardt fans out there." And yet, it all seems to go much deeper than just winning. Gordon has won six times at Talladega, more than any other active driver, but there's no question with whom loyalties in the grandstand lie. The Earnhardts have always been close with members of the Alabama Gang, the extended family of racers led by brothers Bobby and Donnie Allison who operated out of Hueytown, a hamlet on the western outskirts of Birmingham. The elder Earnhardt and Hueytown resident Neil Bonnett were so close they used to go hunting together in Alabama, Lynch said. Donnie Allison said he's known Earnhardt Jr. since the younger driver was "this high," holding his hand at hip level. There was a certain style with which the Alabama Gang drivers raced, Donnie remembered, and it was a straight-to-the-front approach born out of necessity at the big track in their home state. They didn't sandbag, didn't hold back, and the fans in Alabama loved them for it. Earnhardt was embraced, Donnie believes, in part because he competed in much the same way. Even Earnhardt Jr. has talked about the pressure he sometimes feels at Talladega to be out front all the time -- an approach that pleases fans, to be certain, but also hearkens back to this state's most famous racers. "I really think that stems from the fact that at Talladega, you've always had to be a wide-open racer, like his dad was, or I might even classify myself, or the guys who ran races back in the day," Donnie Allison said. "His daddy was so popular everywhere, but he was extremely popular here, and I really think that stems from the Alabama Gang, how close a relationship he had with the Alabama Gang. Out of all the race tracks we ever go to, they've always wanted that [get-out-front approach] out of everybody here. They've had train winners and things like that, but if you look back at all the races, the fast guys were always racing one another. Somebody might have a problem or what have you, but they were usually right there. There was no loafing around -- you had to go. Dale Sr. was good here, and Dale Jr. drives with that same mentality, so to speak." Those intertwined legacies of the Earnhardt family and the Alabama Gang, a no-frills approach to racing, winning on the biggest and meanest track out there -- it all resonates with the traditionalist fan base that calls Talladega home. "It speaks volumes about our core fans, especially the fan base here. This is the die-hards of the die-hards in our sport," Gordon said. "When you look at the history of our sport, this fan base is what made the sport. I think Junior really symbolizes that and where the sport has come from. I think he's still able to carry that on and maintain that." It's evolved over the years, from that sea of black that cheered for the elder Earnhardt, to that ocean of red that buoyed a Budweiser-backed Earnhardt Jr. to his best days here, and stayed strong despite the fact that most of the fans in the grandstand aren't from Alabama. Lynch said about 75 percent of his ticket-holders come from outside the state, and travel an average of 300 miles to get here. Mentally, though, they all seem to originate from the same place. "You have the core fan that built the sport. A lot of them are still here," the track president said. "And we're glad they are." Yes, even though he hasn't won here since the fall of 2004, Earnhardt loyalty still runs strong here in the hills of north Alabama. There's perhaps only one thing that could challenge it -- another driver from the state, maybe even with the right last name. Donnie Allison knows the perfect candidate. "I'll tell you who will challenge it -- my grandson, Justin Allison," he said. "If he makes it to this level, I promise you, he'll challenge it. Because he's an Allison, and he can drive the hell out of a race car." Justin Allison is 19, and just getting into late models after four years of racing Allison Legacy cars, which are turnkey vehicles capable of 120 horsepower. Donnie helps his grandson with the car, and said the plan for next season is to compete on the PASS late model circuit, if financing can be obtained. "I know he's an Allison, but the kid can drive," said Donnie, who has also worked with former up-and-comers like Joey Logano, Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith. "I'll tell you, the kid can get on it. It's just hard on me, because I don't have the money to back him." The Alabama Gang has been without an heir apparent since Davey Allison's fatal helicopter crash in the Talladega infield in 1993. Hut Stricklin, a Calera, Ala., native who married Donnie's daughter, last made a major NASCAR start in 2002. Justin is a long way from the Sprint Cup circuit, but Lynch would love to see him make it one day. "We need an Allison back there at the front," he said. "That would get us back to where we were with the Alabama Gang. That would be neat." For the time being, though, Earnhardt remains unrivaled. The fans on hand Sunday would love nothing more than to see his 124-race winless skid end at Talladega, a track where he led four laps in April, and finished fourth after pushing eventual winner Jimmie Johnson to the victory. "If he wins this race Sunday, that would be the biggest thing ever to happen to NASCAR, pertaining to the fans," Allison said. "I promise you it would be." If it happens, the roar accompanying the Mountain Dew-backed car's trip to Victory Lane might be loud enough to rival that which the elder Earnhardt heard after his final victory here in 2000. "It would be huge," Lynch said. "It would be great for the sport, would be great for us. How can you not pull for him? We do, for sure. I'd like to see this place turn green. That would be fine with me." Earnhardt: New rule adds danger to plate racing One of NASCAR's rule changes for Talladega Superspeedway will promote more swapping of positions, and more swapping means more potential danger, says Dale Earnhardt Jr. In an effort to break up sustained two-car drafting, NASCAR lowered the pressure relief valve setting from 33 to 25 pounds per square inch. The net effect is that engines will begin to throw off water at lower temperatures. Theoretically, that will make it more difficult for one car to push another lap after lap. The potential trouble lies in more frequent switching of positions in traffic, coupled with the closing rate of the tandem drafts. Typically, two cars linked together can run approximately 15 mph faster than a single car. "Say you're working with your partner out there, and you've got to change more often," Earnhardt said Friday. "That's when it's going to get crazy, because you lose a lot of speed, and the guys that are not changing, that are behind you, come flying up on you really quick, and if they don't have a lot of room, and everybody doesn't know what's going on, bad things can happen. "The change in the radiator to make us change more often -- I don't really see what we're trying to accomplish there and how that can bring about any good. I think that will just put us all in difficult situations." Earnhardt, who has five Cup wins at Talladega, finished fourth here in April, pushing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson to victory in a four-wide photo finish. Cars raced in tandem throughout the Aaron's 499, and NASCAR is looking to change that for Sunday's Good Sam Club 500. Qualifying for the sixth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins at 12:15 p.m. ET Saturday. Glance at the 12 drivers in the Chase DRIVER: Dale Earnhardt Jr. CHASE POINTS: Ninth, -60 POSITION CHANGE: None CAR: No. 88 AMP Chevrolet TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK: Another ho-hum run for Earnhardt, who started 15th and finished 19th. CAREER TALLADEGA STARTS: 23 BEST TALLADEGA FINISH: 1st (2001, 2002-twice, 2003, 2004) Earnhardt finds comfort zone inside the 'fish tank' NASCAR's premier division returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend, a trip that automatically brings back memories of the most agonizing near-miss of the season. In the mind's eye, you can still see it: that No. 88 car charging through the final corners in that final lap, spectators rising in anticipation, delirium about to explode as an epic winless streak comes to and end -- and then the vehicle slowing off the last turn, other cars screaming by, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. coasting home to finish a deflating seventh. Had he won? Oh, it would have been gleeful bedlam, of course, the masses celebrating the drought-buster right along with NASCAR's most popular driver, all of them throwing a party under the lights that would have gone on long into the night. No other driver can build up that kind of hope and expectation; no other drivers have fans that feel as crushed when he comes close to winning, but doesn't. Earnhardt has had many good runs this year, but that ranks among the best of them, but in the end it only extended a skid that now stands at 123 races since his last victory, at Michigan in the summer of 2008. But that's the way it is with Earnhardt, for whom everything is magnified, something that's evident even by his weekly behind-the-hauler media sessions, for which some reporters often arrive almost a half-hour early to stake out prime positions among the grill, crash cart, or beverage cooler. Show up much later, and you risk being relegated to the back, where Earnhardt's voice is barely audible, and he appears a bobbing set of sunglasses amid a sea of people, much like he is when he runs the gauntlet of autograph-seekers on the way into the garage area each day. Everyone automatically associates Earnhardt with pressure -- as in, the pressure he faces to live up to his last name, the pressure he feels racing for a 10-time championship organization like Hendrick Motorsports, the pressure to snap the streak. And some of that has to be there, to be certain, particularly given his presence in the Chase. But Earnhardt says pressure doesn't get to him as much as another force does, one that seems a touch ironic given his unparalleled levels of popularity and marketing appeal. You wouldn't expect an eight-time winner of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver award and the sport's preeminent commercial force to feel a little uneasy with the spotlight, but Earnhardt does. "I don't really let the pressure bother me too much. Attention bothers me, not pressure -- you know, just feeling like you're in the fish tank," he said last weekend at Kansas Speedway. "The pressure is not a big deal. I've been around this sport a long, long time, and I feel like I've got a good idea on what I'm doing. I feel comfortable doing what I'm doing and I haven't had many opportunities to race for championships. I'm sure that's a different situation that I'm not quite aware of. We were kind of close in 2004 and I didn't even realize it until it was over with, how kind of close we came." Indeed, the season of that inaugural Chase was Earnhardt's best on the circuit, a campaign where he won six times, finished fifth in final points, and was in the championship mix right up until the final week. Back then, it seemed like something to expect every year from a driver showing all the signs of being at his competitive peak; no one could have anticipated that he'd have won only three more times since. But even then, he was only in the margins behind Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch, needing breaks provided by others to have a real shot at the title. At the Cup Series level, at least, he's never faced the kind of make-or-break moment that Busch did then, that Johnson and Denny Hamlin did last year. How Earnhardt would react to the ultimate pressure this sport can exert, we still do not know. Attention, though, is a given. Has been since he arrived from the now-Nationwide Series with great fanfare, on the heels of two consecutive championships, everyone counting down to "E-Day," the moment he would make his debut in NASCAR's premier series. It's rarely let up, through the loss his family suffered in 2001, through the breakup with Dale Earnhardt Inc., though his alliance with the circuit's best organization and the expectations that followed. And while joining Hendrick Motorsports brought with a certain pressure -- that word again -- to perform, strangely enough it also brought a certain level of comfort, given Earnhardt's close relationship with Rick Hendrick, all the friends and family members who have worked there, security about his future. Crew chief Steve Letarte, who arrived this season with an upbeat approach that keeps Earnhardt motivated during races, certainly has helped (2011 results). Improvement on the race track -- Earnhardt was ninth leaving Kansas, after finishing 21st and 25th the past two years -- likely plays a part, as well. Until his driving days are over, Earnhardt will probably always be in the fish tank, looking out at all those faces pressed against the glass. But his present situation seems to make it more tolerable than it's ever been, despite all the expectations inherent to his organization. "I can't really put my finger on a measurement, but it definitely was a lot more when I came into the sport the first time because we had come off the two championship years in the Nationwide Series, and people just wondered what we were capable of doing. And that was pretty hard," Earnhardt said. "And then not even a year later, my dad died and we just had a lot of people watching us and seeing what we would do there and how we would react. Ever since then it's eased up quite a bit. Ever since I've been running with Rick [Hendrick], it's been a more comfortable thing to deal with. And this year may be even the best when it comes to that." Would he like to be running better? Sure. "I would like to be first. That would be the preferred position," he said. He's 43 points, a full race behind that spot at the moment, but he does have good tracks coming up in Charlotte, Talladega and Martinsville, and the early stages of this Chase have shown how susceptible the standings are to being turned on its head. The higher he climbs in points, of course, the more attention he'll receive, and the more uncomfortable life in the fish tank can become. And yet, Earnhardt is savvy. He understands his sport and his role in it, he reads his press clippings, and he gets that the attention and adulation come from the same reason he got in the race car in the first place. It all stems from a desire to see him win. "My own expectations and my own ambition and what I want to achieve for myself sort of correlates with what my fans want out of me and what the media wants me to do," he said. "So that gets you a lot of attention when you don't do it, or you get close to doing it. But this year has been good. We've been productive and showing some signs of life in my career a little bit. That's been a good feeling. And everything that's went along with it this year has been really good." Glance at the 12 drivers in the Chase DRIVER: Dale Earnhardt Jr. CHASE POINTS: Ninth, -43 points POSITION CHANGE: Plus 1 CAR: No. 88 AMP Chevrolet TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK: Not a lot—he started 18th and finished 14th, never making much of a peep. CAREER CHARLOTTE STARTS: 24 BEST CHARLOTTE FINISH: 3rd (2004) Qualifying the Chasers: Kansas Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Qualified 18th) -- Don't let the numbers fool you, Earnhardt isn't as horrible at Kansas as it may appear. His 17.5 average finish is ninth among Chase drivers and he has yet to win, but he does have five top-10s and is coming off his best finish at the track in June -- runner-up to Keselowski. Earnhardt has two DNFs at Kansas, and both ruined good race days. Take out the two DNFs, and Earnhardt's average finish is a much more respectable 13.7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. says his championship bid isn't over Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t believe he’s out of the 2011 title hunt despite a couple of bad finishes in the first three Chase For The Sprint Cup races. The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who finished 17th at New Hampshire with two flat tires, followed that with a 24th-place result at Dover where he had a sway bar break and then had to pit under green because of a loose wheel. Third in points two weeks ago, Earnhardt Jr. has dropped to 10th in the standings and 34 points behind the series points leader. “I’m not real happy with [my points spot],” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday prior to practice at Kansas Speedway. “I would like to be first, that would be the preferred position. … Thirty-four positions, you can do that in a race. “There’s 43 of us out there. So with the right luck, you can make it happen. But we’re going to have to run good to do that. We’ll see how that goes. We’ve had some pretty fast cars, quick enough cars to have some good finishes. I’d like to win a race before the year is out. I think we can do that as a team. I don’t think it’s over.” Earnhardt Jr. said crew chief Steve Letarte indicated it was a weld issue that caused the sway bar to break. He said Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief, said the cars that come out of the Johnson/Earnhardt Jr. shop would be fixed. “I haven’t seen the piece that broke, but it’s unfortunate and I’m sure it won’t happen again,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Chad Knaus promised me it wouldn’t. I’ll take his word. It’s a pretty strong word. “We don’t really need to improve the piece. We just might want to do a little better maintenance work, just kind of making sure that we don’t have cracks in them and stuff.” In his first Chase in the last three years, Earnhardt Jr. has said he doesn’t feel as much pressure in the Chase as he did just making it. But he also knows that as the sport’s most popular driver, he is still the focus of many. “Attention bothers me, not pressure – just feeling like you’re in a fish tank,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “The pressure is not a big deal. I’ve been around this sport for a long, long time and feel like I have a good idea what I’m doing and feel comfortable what I’m doing.” He said the attention was the most intense when he came into Cup after winning the 1998 and 1999 Busch Series titles and then after his father died. He said it has been easier to handle since he’s moved away from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick Motorsports. “My own expectations, my own ambition and what I want to achieve for myself, it correlates [with] what my fans want out of me or what the media wants me to do,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “That gets you a lot of attention when you don’t do it or you get close to doing it or almost doing it. “This year has been good. We kind of been productive in showing some signs [of] life in my career a little bit. That’s been a good feeling and everything that’s went along with it has been really good." Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopes to rebound at upcoming tracks where he ran well earlier this year Dale Earnhardt Jr. could dwell on his bad luck at Dover last week, where a broken sway bar and a loose wheel derailed him, but he has something to look forward to the next four weekends. Earnhardt Jr. will compete at four tracks where he nearly won races this year as the series heads to Kansas, Charlotte, Talladega and Martinsville for the next four Chase For The Sprint Cup races. Earlier this year, Earnhardt Jr. placed second at Martinsville after being passed late in the race by Kevin Harvick. At Talladega, he pushed teammate Jimmie Johnson to the win and finished fourth. In May at Charlotte, Earnhardt Jr. ran out of fuel while leading the race on the final lap and settled for seventh. The following week at Kansas, he finished second in a fuel-mileage race won by Brad Keselowski. So while his most recent on-track adventure at Dover left him 10th in the Chase standings, 34 points behind the leaders, Earnhardt Jr. has some confidence heading to tracks he performed well at earlier this year. First up will be Kansas as Earnhardt Jr. tries to get back in contention in the Chase and snap a nagging winless streak that has reached 122 races dating back to 2008. “We kind of struggled in that [Kansas] race, but the car ended up not being too bad,” Earnhardt Jr. said in a news release. “I don’t know if we could have caught Brad there at the end, but we had to do what we had to do at that point. “I was happy with the second-place finish. I do think this time we need to qualify better so we won’t have to deal with the dirty air. The aero balance on the car can be frustrating being so far back.” Earnhardt Jr. qualified 28th at Kansas in June. He will be driving the car that he started eighth and finished 14th with at Michigan in August. “We had a decent car [at Kansas],” crew chief Steve Letarte said. “It wasn’t as good as what we’ve brought to the track lately or what we had at Chicago. Last Kansas, Dale spun out and it put us in a position at the back of the field to make a fuel call, which ended up working out great for us. We were close to running the 2 car [of Keselowski] down and getting our first win of the year. “We came up a little short, but it’s a track that we’ve had circled on the calendar. It’s a track that we feel we can go back and can contend and hopefully get to victory lane.” Chicago and Kansas are similar tracks. Earnhardt Jr. placed third at Chicago in another fuel-mileage race to kick off the Chase. “You need to look at Chicago and that is going to be a sign of how this Kansas race will turn out,” Letarte said. “The first Kansas race was a fuel-mileage race and so was Chicago. I would expect nothing different when we go to this race. “It’s a little different than Chicago as far as the bumps go, but it will be the same setup and the same cars should be fast there. I look for the cars that were fast at Chicago to be fast at Kansas.” In 11 starts at Kansas, Earnhardt Jr. has one top-five and five top-10 finishes. He has led 81 laps. “It’s a lot fun to race around,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s real wide with a lot of room to run high or run low.” Glance at the 12 drivers in the Chase DRIVER: Dale Earnhardt Jr. CHASE POINTS: 10th, -34 points POSITION CHANGE: Minus 2 CAR: No. 88 AMP Chevrolet TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK: Suffered through a broken sway bar and a loose wheel to finish 24th. CAREER KANSAS STARTS: 11 BEST KANSAS FINISH: 2 (2011) Mechanical issues keep Junior from making move Tony Stewart's 25th-place finish in Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway tightened the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings considerably, but with a sway bar and a wheel threatening to fall off his car, Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn't able to take advantage of Stewart's problems. Earnhardt faded early with a car that handled atrociously, thanks to a sway bar that was dragging the asphalt because a mounting bolt hadn't been tightened. Earnhardt lost a lap while his team rectified the problem, but he regained it with a free pass as the highest-scored lapped car under a competition caution on Lap 44. Though Earnhardt drove back into the top 15, an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel delivered the coup de grace to his comeback effort. Earnhardt finished 24th, two laps down and only one position ahead of Stewart. "That's racing -- that's all I can say," Earnhardt said after the race. "I've had a lot of stuff happen to me over the years, good and bad, and you just have to roll with the punches. I don't think I'm BS-ing myself when I think that we brought a good car to the track. ... There were a couple of promising things today, but we didn't finish like we wanted to. "We had a pretty good car and ran well, and we didn't do anything stupid. We just kind of got snake-bit there a little bit today, so we can't be too upset with ourselves." Earnhardt leaves Dover 10th in points, 34 behind leaders Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards. A spread of 19 points covers the top nine drivers. Qualifying the Chasers: Dover Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Qualified 21st) -- Success has been in small supply for Earnhardt at the Monster Mile. In 23 starts, Earnhardt has just one victory, four top-fives and seven top-10s. The unfortunate thing for Earnhardt are his recent performances. Since 2005, he has finished inside the top five just once -- a third-place effort in 2007 with DEI. That means 12 races of 10th or worse ... an average finish of 20.3. That '07 Chase race is the only time in seven Chase races Earnhardt has finished on the lead lap. A silver lining -- Earnhardt led a lap in the spring and tied for his best finish in the No. 88 at Dover with a 12th-place run. Dale Earnhardt Jr. prepared for another bumpy ride on concrete surface at Dover Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s record at Dover International Speedway shows he has seven top-10 finishes but also 12 finishes of 20th or worse. So it appears that the Hendrick Motorsports driver has a little bit of a love-hate relationship with the 1-mile, high-banked concrete oval. He hopes he has more love than hate this weekend going in the AAA 400. “This track has been good at times and been bad at times for me,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday before practice at Dover. “I like asphalt better than I like concrete. “Concrete is just not as good a surface, in my opinion. As high-banked and as fast as this place is, it was the only way that they could really put something down that would survive. Once the concrete ages in a couple of years, it gets joints in it, kind of like a wooden deck – it gets bumps in it.” Some drivers say the track has character. “You just hop around the race track all the way around there, that’s just the way it goes,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It is character, but not all character is good character.” Sitting in a three-way tie for sixth in the standings, 26 points behind leader Tony Stewart, Earnhardt Jr. finds himself in the championship hunt after finishing outside the top 20 in the standings the last two years. “The Chase is a better environment – I feel more comfortable now that I’ve got making the Chase behind me,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I can just concentrate on how good can I do in the Chase. “I feel a little bit less pressure, I guess. I’m sure it would be quite different if I was leading the points right now. The pressure would be pretty high. I feel pretty good and pretty comfortable – a lot less pressure now than the last five, six races leading up to the Chase. There was a lot of pressure there.” No matter how Earnhardt Jr. runs during practice, the team likely will have to make adjustments during the race. His 12th-place finish at Dover in May tied his best finish at the track in his last seven races. He will race the car he has used at Darlington (14th), Kansas (second), Kentucky (30th) and Bristol (16th). “The key to success at Dover is the rubber buildup during the race,” crew chief Steve Letarte said. “That is the thing you can’t practice for and you can’t test for. The only thing you can do is learn from the last few races and try to make adjustments. “You try to have good communication with your driver before the race on how you are going to adjust for it and adapt for it. If you can get around the rubber buildup, you are going to have a great day.” Earnhardt Jr. said making the right adjustments even if the car isn’t good at the beginning of the race is possible. “You can definitely improve on your car during the race,” he said. “It’s just those bumps, the chatter and the way the car kind of skips across the race track like a stone across a pond, that’s always there. “You just have to sort of find a way to get your car to get around it the best and be the quickest. We’ve kind of done that sometimes and then sometimes we haven’t. And I don’t really have an explanation for what makes a good race car here.” Glance at the 12 drivers in the Chase Driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr. CHASE POINTS: Eighth, -26 points POSITION CHANGE: Minus 3 CAR: No. 88 AMP Chevrolet TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK: Was headed to a top-10 finish until two flat tires dropped him to 17th-place. CAREER DOVER STARTS: 23 BEST DOVER FINISH: 1st (2001) Dale Earnhardt Jr. foiled by flat tires at N.H. Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered two flat tires at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday, dimming his hopes for mounting a run for the Sprint Cup championship. Earnhardt Jr. believes it was an issue with the setup in his car and not with the Goodyear tires that caused the flats, including one in the last couple of laps that relegated him to a 17th-place finish. “I had too much camber or something in the right front,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It was an awesome car all day, and it’s pretty frustrating. I want to win here. “We’ve been so good here in a lot of races. I’d like to win, but you’ve got to get up front and we couldn’t really accomplish that all day long.” The Hendrick Motorsports driver fell three spots in the standings, to eighth, and is 26 points behind leader Tony Stewart with eight races left in the Chase For The Sprint Cup. “It could be worse,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We could be sitting in victory lane but we could be out of the Chase all together. “Having two flat tires, we got pretty lucky getting home in the top 20.” Earnhardt Jr. thought he was unlucky when he got caught a lap down when a caution interrupted green-flag pit stops, but he took the wave-around to get back on the lead lap. But then the flat tires ended his hopes of a good day. Earnhardt Jr. had the first flat with 71 laps remaining and possibly could have gone the rest of the way on fuel. But with the way the cautions fell, he appeared he could rebound to finish in the top 12 if not for another flat late in the race. “It was a camber issue – that’s what [crew chief] Steve [Letarte] thinks and he will go back and look at it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I can definitely understand how that could possibly happen. The car got a little bit tighter as the race went on, just a little bit too tight on the last two runs. “It pushed the right front off. The car was rolling and turning good, but the right front just couldn’t last.” Before the first flat tire, Earnhardt Jr. was running eighth and had been in the top 10 most of the day. He started the race 12th – a much better starting spot than what he has had most of the year – and was happy with his car over the first half of the race. “We had a fast car all day,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It was real competitive. We got to race up front and had a real good car. … I’m happy with what the guys did. “Everything was going as planned until we got caught a lap down. It was frustrating, but I was happy with how the car was driving. As a driver, we haven’t had that all year.” Earnhardt feeling better about title hopes Look at those standings. For once during the Chase, it’s Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon looking up at teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt is in fifth place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship standings, only 13 points ahead of leader Kevin Harvick. Earnhardt, NASCAR’s most popular driver, is three spots ahead of Johnson and six ahead of Gordon. Earnhardt finished third last week at Chicagoland for his fourth top-five of the season—and ended a five-race skid where he finished no better than 14th. “I think we made a pretty serious impact last week and we just kind of need to keep that momentum going,” Earnhardt said. Earnhardt finished 15th in NASCAR’s first stop at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. He wanted to build on last week’s finish with a solid qualifying effort and will start 12th in the No. 88 Chevrolet on Sunday. His first-year pairing with Steve Letarte was an instant smash, with the team in contention for several victories earlier this season. Earnhardt thought he was going to win at Martinsville Speedway until Harvick passed him with four laps left for the win. He settled for second, which started a string of three top-10 finishes. Then came heartbreak at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He led on the final lap before his gas tank ran dry and finished seventh. He followed at Kansas with another second, then sixth at Pocono Raceway. He fall into a seven-race slump after that and was teetering on the edge of falling out of Chase contention. He held on to enter the 10-race playoff seeded 10th. Earnhardt has not won since Michigan in June 2008, his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt’s career-best finish in the Sprint Cup standings was third in 2003. Under the Chase format, he finished fifth in 2004 and 2006. After missing the Chase the last two seasons, he’s poised to make a legitimate run at his first Cup championship. Owner Rick Hendrick believes in him, too. Hendrick and Earnhardt agreed earlier this month on a five-year contract extension. “When Rick makes a commitment like he made with me, it makes you want to go out there and work hard and do the best job can,” Earnhardt said. “Makes you want him to make you proud.” Winning the championship would do the trick. “It’s time to put it all out there and see what happens,” Earnhardt said. Drivers hope Talladega rule changes are enough Breaking up is hard to do -- particularly when it comes to breaking up the two-car drafts that have become such a polarizing part of restrictor-plate racing the past year. Apparently toward that end, NASCAR this week revealed two rules changes -- a larger restrictor-plate opening and a recalibrated pressure-relief valve -- that will go into effect for the Chase event at Talladega Superspeedway next month. But drivers aren't sure if the modifications will be enough to break them up for good. "It's a step to make us pass more. I don't think we are going to be able to stay connected as long. Any time you put a bigger plate on the cars, it allows for a larger closing rate with more opportunities to pass with more power," five-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, who won at Talladega in the spring, said at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "With that said, I don't think the changes are large enough to have us not push. That threshold for pushing, the grip level is still so high at the race track that I don't think it's going to separate us yet, but it should make for more passing. We see that more with a larger plate, and then the fact that we can't stay together ... we'll be changing out more often, which could lead to us being in a big pack like some of the fans want to see. We'll get down there and see what happens. I don't care what the rules are. I learned a long time ago to stop worrying about that stuff. I just go." The larger restrictor-plate opening will provide cars with about seven to 10 additional horsepower on the big 2.66-mile Alabama race track, while the pressure in the cooling systems will be reduced by about eight pounds per square inch compared to the April event. Theoretically, it would seem the changes will force drivers to break from the tandem drafts more often, since the trailing car risks overheating if it doesn't switch positions or duck down to force air through the front grille. How much the cars will have to switch could depend on conditions in Talladega on race day as much as the rule changes, Ryan Newman believes. "The biggest change of the two changes was the pop-off valve deal," he said. "Just trying to get the cars to not push as long, basically is NASCAR's objective there. Whether they want it or the fans want it, I don't know. To me ... that eight pounds is a decent change, but the actually ambient weather conditions can be a bigger change than what that change was. In other words, if it is a 60-degree day versus an 85-degree day, that plays a big factor in how effective that change is. We will not know how much we can tandem draft distance-wise until we get the ambient conditions, and obviously the horsepower is going to add a little extra heat. The pressure release value is going to take a little bit of time away from our push from a water pressure standpoint but we will do what we have to do to win." Although tandem drafting has produced some edge-of-your-seat finishes, the practice has its critics in both the grandstand and the garage area. Many fans simply don't like the way it looks, given that it's such a departure from the pack racing seen so often on plate tracks the past decade. Jeff Gordon doesn't like it because of the two-car position switches the practice demands, which can get hairy in traffic at a place like Talladega. "I know that a lot of people don't like us running nose to tail like that, but it's far more dangerous doing more swaps," said Gordon, a six-time winner at Talladega. "It causes far more chances to have crashes when you're swapping, especially at the end of that race where you are in the middle of a pack and all of a sudden two cars just swap. So I'd rather us not have to swap. I think the racing would be better and it would be safer." In the garage area, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is among the more vocal critics of the two-car draft, which arose from a combination of the race cars' reconfigured front ends and recent resurfacings at Daytona and Talladega. Under those conditions, drivers found the two-car hookups to be the fastest way around. Given the new rules, Earnhardt is certain of one thing -- the larger restrictor-plate opening will allow the cars to go faster, something he feels is necessary if tandem drafting is ever to be left behind for good. "I like the different style of racing that we used to have -- where you did not have to have a partner, you didn't have to be pushing each other every lap," he said. "[Tandem drafting] is just not what I prefer, and that is my own personal opinion. I think we will go a little faster. I am not sure it will break up the two-car drafting or not, but I hope it does. I think it was a great move. The track has new asphalt, new surfaces, the cars were making qualifying runs ... around the 187-185 [mph] range. That is just way to slow. We are drafting at 195 to 198 mph, so to have such a big difference between what a car will do by itself and what a car will do in the draft is a little bit dangerous, because the closing rates are kind of crazy when you come up on cars that aren't hooked up. Hopefully that will even that out, and make it a little more fun too." Regardless, Denny Hamlin said drivers will still be pushing, even with the changes. The only way to eliminate that, he said, is to allow drivers to go even faster. "The truth is that if we still go out there and push, we're going to be running faster than we would be in the pack," he said. "I would like to see [NASCAR] open it up more. It would eliminate the push quite a bit. Right now you're just relying on so many different factors to finish well in those types of races. I would like to see a change, and don't mind the change." Qualifying the Chasers: New Hampshire Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Qualified 12th) -- Coming off a third at Chicago, Junior heads to a track where he's had mediocre results. Earnhardt has yet to visit Victory Lane in 24 starts at New Hampshire and has just six top-fives and 10 top-10s. Earnhardt's average finish at the Magic Mile is 16.7, 11th of the 12 Chase drivers and a glaring stat are his four DNFs. There is some good news for Earnhardt, though. In his past three starts, he's finished eighth, fourth and 15th. In fact, in the past six races, Junior is eighth in total points scored with just one finish outside the top 15 due to a crash in 2009. In Chase events, he leads all drivers with four top-fives. Dale Earnhardt Jr. urges team to make bold changes for qualifying Dale Earnhardt Jr. wouldn’t have minded seeing it rain all day Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. That would have meant him starting fifth in Sunday’s race. Despite the threat of rain, the track was dry enough Friday for Sprint Cup practice, which could determine the starting order if qualifying gets rained out. Relying on the weather, though, can’t be Earnhardt Jr.’s strategy for a good starting spot if he wants to challenge for race wins and the Sprint Cup championship. The Hendrick Motorsports driver believes a bolder approach in qualifying could be the answer. Last week at Chicago, Earnhardt Jr. wrote down all his qualifying runs for the season just to get a visual of how “terrible” he’s been qualifying. In 17 of 27 races this year, he has qualified worse than 20th. “We don’t change a whole lot from race setup and our approach to that has got to change where we find the speed,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday before practice for the Sylvania 300. “We’re not going far enough to find the speed in the car.” Earnhardt Jr. has qualified in the top 10 in just five races this year but three of those came at restrictor-plate tracks. He has an average starting spot of 21st and an average finish of 13th. Thanks to a third-place finish in the Chase opener Monday at Chicago, Earnhardt Jr. sits fifth in the standings, 13 points behind leader Kevin Harvick. But even at Chicago, he started 19th before rallying to finish third. “We need to work on qualifying – that’s the most important part that’s hurting us,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “If we can get some better qualifying and start closer to the front, we wouldn’t have to work the whole race just to get in position to run well. “As good as we ran that last run at Chicago, if we had track position all day long, who knows? We might have been able to win that race. Those are opportunities we are kind of letting get by us because we are struggling in qualifying.” At New Hampshire in July, Earnhardt Jr. started 27th and worked his way to 15th. He likely can’t start 27th this week and hope to finish much better than 15th in the second race of the 10-race Chase. While he has struggled in qualifying all season, those problems will be magnified in the Chase. “It’s something as simple as a variable in setup like wedge that is kind of holding us back in qualifying,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We went to Chicago … and we thought we had done a good job getting the car in good race trim and we started making some qualifying runs and we were just not good, not fast, really slick up on the race track and couldn’t get any speed out of it. “We just cranked about 3 percent wedge in it and the car got better and better.” Despite a recent slump, Earnhardt Jr. entered the Chase believing he has a shot at the title. “We made a pretty serious impact last week,” said Earnhardt Jr., who hasn’t won this year but is making his first Chase appearance in three years. “We just kind of need to keep that momentum going. I like the race track and I like coming here racing, but you never know what you’re going to get. “These races are always real competitive and the racing always is kind of aggressive so you just kind of hope you can put together a full day, having the car run well and track position is real important. It’s difficult to pass here, but that’s no real different than any other place.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. feeling pressure now that he can see the top of the Chase standings Dale Earnhardt Jr. is competing in the Chase For The Sprint Cup for the first time in three years. And considering he was 10th in the regular-season standings, earning the final automatic spot in the Chase, it might seem like there is not much pressure on him. But the sport’s most popular driver still feels pressure. He knows that making the Chase doesn’t happen every year. “There is a certain level of pressure that you put on yourself being involved in it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. Although he entered the Chase tied for ninth in the Cup standings when points were reset, Earnhardt Jr. now has a little clearer view of the top. Thanks to a third-place finish in the Chase opener Monday at Chicagoland Speedway, he heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend fifth in the standings, 13 points behind leader Kevin Harvick. “You and your team [are] putting in the grind and going over the notes and from the moment you wake up in the moment until the time you go to bed, you’re thinking of how you could be better all the time,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “[You’re ] going over notes, thinking about this, thinking about changes you made, beating your head against the wall for every second you’re awake until it’s over.” Earnhardt Jr. might have felt like he was beating his head against a wall at Chicago, where he didn’t crack the top 10 until late in the race. He finished third by passing three drivers who ran out of gas on the final lap, but he also felt like he had a strong car at the end of the race and scored just his second top-10 in his last 13 races. “I felt we would rebound and kind of return to the form we started at the beginning of the year,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “A lot of guys ran out of gas. But we did adjust and improve the car and got faster at the end and drove by a bunch of guys that really weren't saving. “So that felt pretty good how the car was running at the end.” Now Earnhardt Jr. will carry some momentum to the 1.058-mile track at New Hampshire, where the Hendrick Motorsports driver will be trying to figure out how to get his car to turn on the flat track. Earnhardt Jr. finished 15th at New Hampshire in July and has 10 top-10 finishes there, including a third-place finish in 2004. He will be driving a new car out of the Hendrick stable that has never been raced. “I like [New Hampshire],” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Just getting the car to turn in the middle is important. That track is really flat and it is very hard to get a car to rotate in the middle of the corner really good.” Earnhardt Jr. knows he won’t have much time to adjust the car at New Hampshire, where the race is just 300 laps for a distance of 317.4 miles. “New Hampshire is a fun race track and it’s a great race, a perfect distance and it’s really a lot of fun,” Earnhardt Jr. said. Glance at the drivers in the Chase Driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr. CHASE POINTS: Fifth, -13 points POSITION CHANGE: Plus 5 CAR: No. 88 AMP Chevrolet TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK: Worked to get inside top-10 and finished 3rd after others ran out of gas. CAREER NEW HAMPSHIRE STARTS: 24 BEST NEW HAMPSHIRE FINISH: 3rd (2004) Aggressive approach pays dividends for Earnhardt After racing conservatively to get into the Chase, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he hoped to have a few more "bullets in the gun" once NASCAR's playoff started. Monday at Chicagoland Speedway, he had one -- in the form of a No. 88 car that helped NASCAR's most popular driver secure one of his best finishes of the season at the best possible time. Earnhardt placed third in the rain-delayed race on the 1.5-mile track, taking advantage of a number of other drivers who ran dry in a fuel-mileage finish. It was Earnhardt's best result since a runner-up finish in another fuel-mileage race, at Kansas in July. And it helped the last driver to secure a top-10 berth jump five spots to fifth in the standings. Earnhardt is now 13 points behind leader Kevin Harvick heading into next weekend's second round in Loudon, N.H. "You know what, I felt like we would do well in the Chase. These are good tracks for me," Earnhardt said. "... I felt we would rebound and kind of return to the form we started at the beginning of the year. Again, a lot of guys ran out of gas. But we did adjust and improve the car, and got faster at the end and drove by a bunch of guys that really weren't saving. So that felt pretty good, how the car was running at the end." Lost in the fuel-mileage finish was the fact that Earnhardt's car was fast at the finish, storming from deep in the pack and into the top 10. Earnhardt was sixth with two laps remaining, before the fuel-mileage shuffle began in earnest. Earnhardt's car started to sputter as he exited Turn 4, but it had enough gas to make it just to the finish -- and not one more lap. "I think we're proud of the fuel and how we managed that, but we're more proud of the car we had that final run," crew chief Steve Letarte said. "We started [19th], and we legitimately drove up into the top seven or so. That's what you need. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with how the guys managed it, how the driver did. Everyone did a great job. The pit stops were great. But I'm the most proud of having a car that could drive up through the field. We haven't had that for 10 weeks, and it felt good to finally have one." Earnhardt barely made the Chase last week with his 16th-place finish at Richmond, and early on Monday didn't seem able to make much ground. But Letarte kept adjusting the car, the No. 88 kept getting better, and by the end Earnhardt's was one of the fastest vehicles on the track. "At the end, the car was really good," Earnhardt said. "And I think we were up in the top 10 there. So [I'm] real happy with being able to adjust the car, improve it. That's all you can ask for as a driver, that the car gets better all day long." With about 20 to go, Letarte told Earnhardt to try and save enough gas to make it to the finish, thinking they'd be less than a half-lap short. With three laps remaining, the crew chief gave his driver the go-ahead to hammer the accelerator again. "All right, bud. Green light. Go as hard as you can go," Letarte said over the radio. It was all very different from the somewhat conservative approach the No. 88 team had taken to ensure they'd get into the Chase. Monday, they went after it hard, just as Earnhardt hoped they would. "We definitely made some major adjustments, and came here with something fundamentally different than we've been running," Letarte said. "Something more toward the beginning of the year. This is what we talked about. Being aggressive there in the end, we didn't save fuel for very much. We tried to pass as many as we could. We points raced to make the Chase. I doubt we're going to points race in it." That seems just fine with Earnhardt, who prior to last week's event at Richmond seemed weary of the conservative approach. Monday looked more like the No. 88 team of the first third of the season, during which Earnhardt finished in the top-10 with regularity and reached as high as third in points. "We tried to be really smart and utilize every minute in practice, and try to really focus in practice and get everything we could out of it," Earnhardt said. "And [we] tried to just be really smart about our adjustments and what we were trying to learn from the car throughout the weekend so we could put a good car out on the starting grid today, and I think we did a good job of that." Dale Earnhardt Jr. surges to fifth in points after best finish since June It wasn’t a Talladega-type weave through the field, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. went from 14th to third over the final 50-lap stretch to the finish of the Geico 400 on Monday. Earnhardt Jr. passed four cars that either ran out or had to pit for fuel, but he also passed five others thanks to a strong car late in the race at Chicagoland Speedway. For a driver who spent most of the day between 12th and 20th, it was a great surge, giving him his best finish since a second at Kansas in June and only his second top-10 in his last 13 races. For a driver who limped into the Chase, the final 50 laps could be the springboard Earnhardt Jr. needed for the rest of the championship run. He went from 10th to fifth in the standings and is 13 points behind leader Kevin Harvick. “Obviously we gained a lot of spots there at the end with guys that were short of fuel, but we were running really well at the end,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “The car struggled off and on throughout the day and we didn't have great track position either. “But at the end the car was really good. And I think we were up in the top 10 there. So I’m real happy with being able to adjust the car, improve it. That's all you can ask for as a driver, that the car gets better all day long.” For many, just the fact that Earnhardt Jr. made the Chase was a sign of accomplishment as he finished outside the top 20 in the standings in 2009 and 2010. But Earnhardt Jr. feels as if he has a shot just like his 11 other Chase competitors. “I felt like we would do well in the Chase,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “These are good tracks for me. And the tracks where I ran poorly just aren't – if you look at my track record I don't run good at those tracks. “And I was hoping [crew chief] Steve [Letarte] would give me a little magic to fix that but we'll have to wait until next year to see. I felt we would rebound and kind of return to the form we started at the beginning of the year.” Earnhardt Jr. has been fighting getting a comfortable balance of the car the last three months, and getting the left front of the car to rotate through the corners the way he wants. Letarte said he thinks some of those issues were resolved Monday as the front splitter didn’t drag. “We made huge gains this weekend,” Letarte said. “I asked him if some of the platform issues we’re fighting are gone, [and] he said they were. We knew it was going to be a struggle here with the bumps. “But we maybe uncovered one gremlin and we’ll see if we can find the rest of them as we keep going. It’s a great start.” The Hendrick Motorsports driver finished the regular season in 10th to slip in the Chase. Had he not run out of fuel on the final lap at Charlotte, he might not have had to worry so much about making the Chase. That had to be in his head a little bit Monday when the race came down to that final 50-lap green-flag run, but Earnhardt Jr. said he wasn’t worried. He was sixth entering the last lap and three drivers ahead of him ran out of fuel. “Steve said we're about three tenths of a lap short before we ever took the green flag for that last run,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We were going a little faster. We were worrying maybe this was probably the worst fuel mileage we was going to have all day long. “So we started backing off and saving gas with about 20 to go. And so it was just enough. It started running out at [Turn 4] but ran to the finish line but it wouldn't have made it another lap.” Earnhardt Jr. obviously has confidence that Letarte won’t run him out of fuel, and it’s another sign of what has worked this year in being paired with the crew of Letarte, who had guided Jeff Gordon for the five previous seasons. “I’m proud of these guys,” Letarte said. “There’s been a lot of pressure on these guys to make the Chase and to respond and have the car we had today and the pit stops, it was a solid day.” Diet Mountain Dew to sponsor No. 88 in 2012 Four years after making waves in NASCAR by signing on as the primary sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Amp Energy is phasing its brand off the car of the sport's most popular driver. PepsiCo is expected to announce this week that Diet Mountain Dew will replace its Amp Energy brand as Earnhardt's primary sponsor for 16 races in 2012. The company has the primary sponsorship rights for 20 total races on the No. 88 car, and Amp will serve as an associate sponsor while also appearing on the hood for the other four races. The National Guard will continue to be the primary sponsor for the other 18 races Earnhardt drives. The shift is a major downsizing in the sponsorship between Amp, an upstart energy drink, and Earnhardt, the sport's biggest driver. Pepsi, which owns Amp and Mountain Dew, has one year left on its contract with Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports, and the company's executives believe Diet Mountain Dew, which is one of the fastest-growing soft drinks, stands to benefit more from Earnhardt than Amp. "The story is really about opportunity," said George Cox, Mountain Dew brand manager. "With Dew, Dale and NASCAR there's this awesome marriage. Dale is the embodiment of the person we're trying to target with Diet Dew. We wanted to tap into that equity Dew has in NASCAR and put it into overdrive with Dale." Pepsi and Hendrick Motorsports are expected this week to unveil a new paint scheme for the No. 88 car for next year's Daytona 500. The unveiling comes just weeks after Earnhardt signed a five-year extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will keep him with the team until 2017. Cox said Pepsi plans to focus on developing its marketing and activation plans for Diet Mountain Dew and won't begin discussing a possible renewal with Hendrick until next year. Its current agreement with Hendrick and Earnhardt runs through 2012, but the company has had a long-standing relationship with Hendrick that dates to 1996. Amp Energy signed a deal with Hendrick Motorsports and Earnhardt in 2007, shortly after the team added Earnhardt to its stable in one of the sport's most anticipated free-agent signings. The sponsorship was valued at $25 million to $30 million and made the brand the primary sponsor for 20 races on the No. 88 Chevrolet. At the time, Amp was the fifth-largest player in a fast-growing category, which then had more than $6 billion in annual sales. But the category's growth has stalled recently. The category added only 1 million new energy drink consumers between 2007 and 2009, compared with 9.3 million new consumers from 2005 to 2007, according to Mintel, a global market research company. Amp Energy has remained a small player in the category, generating an estimated $234 million for the past year across key retail channels for energy drinks except Wal-Mart, according to SymphonyIRI Group, a company that tracks retail sales across consumer packaged goods. The shrinking number of new consumers made it difficult for Amp to justify the cost of the sponsorship. The brand also is planning to relaunch its product later this year and reposition it as an energy drink for older users, sources said. By shifting the bulk of its marketing support of the driver from Amp to Diet Mountain Dew, Pepsi can save the Amp brand money and align Earnhardt with a brand he's already passionate about. Earnhardt is a fan of Mountain Dew and grew up drinking the soft drink in North Carolina. When Brian Vickers drove a retro Mountain Dew car in a 2006 Nationwide Series race, Earnhardt famously asked for some of the retro hats that the brand rolled out for the occasion. Though not as prevalent, Amp Energy will continue to have an association with Earnhardt, which PepsiCo hopes can preserve the connection Amp made with NASCAR fans during the past four years. "They're going to continue to speak to the NASCAR Amp drinker we've developed, but Amp is going through an evolution," Cox said. "We're not to a point of where we can talk about where we're going with that, but once it's public it will make sense how we're using the NASCAR platform going forward." Earnhardt: It's human nature When you talk to a Cup driver before practice, you don't often get a philosophical statement. Nevertheless, discussion of Paul Menard's late-race spin last week at Richmond gave Dale Earnhardt Jr. a chance to express himself about human nature. Without opining whether Menard spun on purpose to cause a caution and help Harvick, a Richard Childress Racing teammate, Earnhardt said that, in general terms, that sort of incident is bound to happen from time to time. "We're all human beings, so, yes, things will happen, and things do happen, and things like that probably do go on," Earnhardt said. "As long as human beings are involved, there will be a certain level of corruption, you know." Qualifying the Chasers: Chicagoland Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Qualified 19th) -- Earnhardt Jr. is one of 11 drivers to compete in all 10 events at Chicagoland, but has had mixed results. Earnhardt won in 2005 and backed that up with a fifth in 2006, but those are his only top-five finishes at the track. Since 2007, Earnhardt has finished no better than 15th and in his 10 starts, he has seven finishes outside the top 10. One bright spot, Earnhardt has just one DNF in his career at Chicagoland and has finished off the lead lap just twice. Dale Earnhardt Jr. says Chase all about opportunity Dale Earnhardt Jr. heads to Chicagoland Speedway, site of this year’s kickoff for the Chase For The Sprint Cup, in an unusual position. For the first time since 2008 and only the fourth time since the Chase began, he is among the drivers competing for the series title. And that, he said, beats the alternative. “I’m in the Chase, and I’ve got an opportunity to run for the championship,” Earnhardt Jr. said after clinching a berth with a 16th-place finish last weekend at Richmond. “I’ve got an opportunity to improve my points position. ... I’ve still got a race to run. “When you’re not in the Chase, it’s a consolation to finish 13th or whatever your opportunity is ... but it’s not all that exciting. You basically just kind of hold it together the last 10 races and don’t do anything stupid and settle some scores.” Based on recent results, Earnhardt Jr. isn’t exactly rolling into Chicago on a high note. He’s the only driver in the Chase field without a top-10 finish in the last five races, and one of only two in the 12-team field without a Sprint Cup victory this season. He does, however, have a win at Chicago (2005), as well as two top-five and three top-10 finishes in 10 career starts. And his record on the series’ 1.5-mile tracks this year has been much improved, with four top-10 runs in six starts, including a runnerup finish at Kansas. His team continues to search, he said, for setups that enabled him to amass eight top-10s in the season’s first 14 races and climb to third in the points standings. He’s managed only one top-10 (at Pocono) in his last 12 starts and it’s that chassis that crew chief Steve Letarte has chosen for this weekend’s stop. “We had a pretty good run going the first 15 races,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “And for whatever reason we sort of fell off and forgot some things or over-engineered something.” Whatever that might be, he said, has been “hampering our ability to drive the cars as well as I want to drive them.” Glance at the drivers in the Chase Driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr. CHASE POINTS: 10th, -12 points (tied with Stewart for 9th but ranked 10th because of tiebreaker) CAR: No. 88 AMP Chevrolet TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports CAREER CHICAGO STARTS: 10 BEST CHICAGO FINISH: 1st (2005) Dale Earnhardt Jr. among 10 finalists for most popular driver award Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has won eight consecutive most popular driver awards, is among the 10 Sprint Cup finalists for the honor again this year. The National Motorsports Press Association sponsors the award with sponsorship from General Mills’ Wheaties Fuel. The 10 finalists are (in alphabetical order) Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart. Vote totals have been reset to zero this week and fans have 10 weeks to cast their vote. Fans can vote only once per day through Nov. 20. Voting can be done at www.wheatiesfuelmostpopulardriver.com. Earnhardt makes Chase, must challenge for title NASCAR has never hidden its desire to have Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the championship field. As the sport’s most popular driver, his participation in the title chase raises the profile of the 10-race series. After a two-year absence, Earnhardt finally is back in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. But is he a legitimate title contender? Probably not, based on the last three months of racing, with just one top-10 finish in the last 12 races. NASCAR will soon find out if Earnhardt’s mere presence is enough to sustain fan interest over the next 10 weeks. If he’s not running up front and challenging for wins, he’ll stay close to the bottom in the standings, and all those eyeballs NASCAR is hoping for won’t be watching come mid-November. Earnhardt, by the way, has never said that simply making the Chase is his end game. He’s chasing the Sprint Cup, the ultimate prize, and considers the Chase just a brief break from the constant scrutiny on his failure to contend for a championship. “Making the Chase is important, but I have made the Chase before. I know what that feels like. My main concern is for us to be more competitive as a team,” Earnhardt said. “It is really frustrating to make the Chase and then not be as competitive as you want to be during those races. That is really all I am thinking about.” The last few weeks have been jarring for Earnhardt fans, who were ecstatic when his pairing with crew chief Steve Letarte resulted in a fast start to the season. It raised hopes that this might finally be the year Earnhardt claims his first Cup title. Three top-10 finishes in April—and near-wins at Martinsville and Charlotte—moved him to third in the standings, where he hovered through 15 races. Then he overheated on the road course at Sonoma and finished 41st. He’s had just one top-10 finish in the last 12 races, a slide that put his Chase participation in serious jeopardy. Although he went into Saturday night’s race at Richmond ranked ninth in the standings and only needed a finish of 20th or better to make the field, the entire 400 miles were a nail-biting test of patience. He ran in the 20s most of the race, griped to Letarte about how difficult his car has been to drive over the last 10 races and seemed at times rattled to the point of resignation. “I can’t think of the big picture because I really can’t see it. Y’all can see it,” Earnhardt sighed. Letarte, who plays the role of cheerleader and mental motivator to perfection, urged Earnhardt to stay focused when the driver seemed to be on the edge of despair. In the end, Earnhardt finished 16th and made the Chase for the first time since 2008. Although he three times needed the NASCAR free pass to get back on the lead lap, he insisted he never worried that he’d be shut out of the 12-driver field. “I felt like if we were a good enough team, we’d get the job done,” he said. “I knew my team could fix the car good enough, and if everything fell the right way for us as far as them cautions and getting them lucky dogs, getting an opportunity to work on the car, we’d be fine.” For now, sure. But 16th-place finishes won’t cut it going forward. Starting Sunday at Chicago, all 12 drivers in the Chase must be perfect to have a chance at winning the title. The field is too deep for anyone to be mediocre, and it should only take a race or two for the top teams to move to the front of the standings. Earnhardt, who has not won a race since 2008, is already in a hole: Seeded 10th in the field, he trails co-leaders Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick by 12 points. It doesn’t help, either, that this field is stacked. Carl Edwards has been the strongest driver through a long stretch of the season, and former champion Matt Kenseth has two wins and has been quite consistent. Jeff Gordon, a three-time winner this season, is running far better than he did in his nearly perfect 2007 campaign, and Brad Keselowski was on fire all summer as he stormed into Chase contention. Don’t forget five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, who has stepped it up a notch over the last month. Denny Hamlin, who nearly dethroned Johnson last season, has a fresh chance to redeem his disappointing year. It’s unclear where Earnhardt will land when it all shakes out with this group, which also includes Ryan Newman, and former champions Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart. Earnhardt knows he must find his early season form, and he’s hopeful Letarte has something up his sleeve for the Chase. “We had a pretty good run at it going the first 15 races, and for whatever reason we sort of fell off and forgot some things or over engineered something,” he said. “We need to look hard at what we’re doing, what we’ve been doing, sort of a pattern, find something within. But Steve has told me he’s been kind of conservative. “We’ll just see. I don’t think that any of that stuff is really going to make us faster, but we’ll go in there with a good attitude.” That might help, but what NASCAR really needs from Earnhardt are strong results. Without him in the mix, even the greatest championship battle in history might not be enough to draw the interest the series craves. Earnhardt Jr., everybody else still chasing Jimmie Johnson Now that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has squeaked into NASCAR's postseason, can his performance in the 10-race championship run match his star power? Earnhardt's 16th-place finish in Saturday night's regular-season finale at Richmond International Raceway was gritty — his No.88 Chevrolet overcame 17 pit stops and significant damage after running into four cars in three incidents — but on par with his recent slump. NASCAR's most popular driver enters the Chase for the Sprint Cup with no finish better than ninth in his previous 12 races. "We've got to run a different setup than what we ran tonight (and) in the last six weeks, frankly," he acknowledged. For Earnhardt — and the other 11 Chase-qualifying drivers — the leeway for middle-of-the-pack finishes is gone. "You're going to have to be in the top 10 pretty much every weekend," said Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports teammate. "And you're going to have to win races." Earnhardt, despite his 119-race winless streak, has shown championship flashes. Through 15 races he was third in points and, even though he dropped to the 10th and final guaranteed Chase spot after Saturday's Wonderful Pistachios 400, crew chief Steve Letarte has been playing it safe to make sure Earnhardt reached the playoff for the first time since 2008. "I feel like I'm a good enough driver to be in the Chase," Earnhardt said. "My team is good enough to be there. "We've been conservative on the motor and a couple other things the last several weeks to make sure we don't have any problems like engine failure." Earnhardt, 2010 runner-up Denny Hamlin (one top-five in his last 11 races) and two-time series champion Tony Stewart (whose 12-year streak with at least one win is in jeopardy) haven't been at their best lately, but they did lock up the last three Chase berths Saturday. They'll join Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman in the 12-driver playoff field. Though Harvick stormed to Saturday's win, his fourth, perhaps no driver comes in with more confidence than Gordon. Despite losing the lead to Harvick on the final pit stop Saturday, Gordon wound up third and has an average finish of 4.9 in his last seven races. "Lately I feel like we've been better than most on a lot of different types of racetracks — short tracks, superspeedways, intermediates," said Gordon, who has four series championships but none since the Chase format began in 2004. "We've got an awesome race team right now. I'm extremely excited." For Gordon or another hungry contender — such as Keselowski, who rocketed from 23rd to 11th in points, or Kyle Busch, with 11 top-threes — to win the championship, they'll have to unseat Johnson, who has established this Cup-hoisting blueprint in the 50 Chase races while taking five titles in a row: •One DNF (did not finish); •13 wins, including four each in 2007 and 2009; •40 top-nine finishes. Gordon knows how high Johnson has raised the bar. In 2007, despite two wins and no finish worse than 11th during the Chase, Gordon finished second, 77 points behind Johnson. "If you're (going to have) a couple 20th- or 25th-place finishes," he said, "then you might as well count yourself out." Despite the sense of urgency surrounding the Chase, a fast start isn't imperative for a Cup. Johnson was 39th in his first Chase race in 2006 but bounced back for his first title. Greg Biffle won the first two 2008 Chase races but finished 217 points behind Johnson. Last year, Clint Bowyer won the Chase opener but wound up 10th in points. Said Harvick, who has put himself in strong position after finishing a career-best third in 2010: "It's going to be who makes the least amount of mistakes and capitalizes the most on the days that you are off." For his part, Johnson is playing it cool, as he usually does this time of year. "I think it's real difficult to pick a clear favorite," he said. "There's probably seven or eight drivers that have had momentum at some point that are getting warm at the right time." Earnhardt perseveres and prepares for next step At the end, the thing was a smoldering husk. Tape that had been used to keep the right-front together had bunched and melted into a gooey black mess. The grille was bent in as if someone had kicked it with a steel-toed boot. Smoke emanated from underneath the wheel wells. Pieces of sheet metal had peeled away to the point where an onlooker could easily glimpse the pipes and tubes within. It was amazing the car had finished at all, much less held out long enough to squeeze Dale Earnhardt Jr. back into the Chase. "We're lucky the radiator stayed in it," crew chief Steve Letarte said. The green and white No. 88 was damaged worse than Earnhardt, or most anybody else, realized after it struck Clint Bowyer's vehicle early in Saturday night's event at Richmond International Raceway. But the end result saw a smiling Earnhardt receiving congratulations from teammates and crewmen, after his 16th-place result was enough to put NASCAR's most popular driver back in the sport's postseason for the first time since 2008. It was a trying and at times testy evening, but ultimately Earnhardt secured the top-20 finishing position he needed to keep Brad Keselowski behind him and slide into the 10th and final guaranteed Chase spot by a relatively comfortable margin. "I wasn't worried at all," Earnhardt said. "I had seen race cars run good at short tracks before, and I figured we had all night to fix it. I felt like if we were a good enough team, we'd get the job done. Brad had to run his ass off to win the race, to run in the top-five to make it tough on us. He almost did that, but I felt good. I knew my team could fix the car good enough, and if everything felt the right way for us as far as them cautions and getting them lucky dogs, getting an opportunity to work on the car, we'd be fine." That said, there were a few moments where it felt like it was all coming apart. The damage suffered in the eighth-lap accident with Bowyer crippled Earnhardt's car sufficiently enough to where the vehicle was terribly difficult to handle. Twice he was lapped and needed the free pass to get back among the leaders. Meanwhile Keselowski charged into the top five, threatening to crack the top 10 in the standings -- which would have knocked Earnhardt out of the Chase altogether. At one point, Earnhardt was holding on to his position by a precarious two points. The hamstrung vehicle and the stressful situation created some tense times over the radio, as Earnhardt complained about his car and Letarte deployed every motivational tactic in his arsenal. "Got to think big picture," Letarte told him. "I can't think of the big picture," Earnhardt responded, "because I can't really see it." Over time, the car improved enough to get Earnhardt back into the top 20, where he needed to finish to guarantee himself a Chase berth regardless of what Keselowski did. Getting there, though, was an adventure. In the immediate aftermath of the accident, the damage was severe enough that Letarte was reticent to open the hood -- he was afraid he wouldn't get it closed it again. A sometimes-testy Earnhardt questioned his setup. "We need to do something else, because it ain't working, what we're trying," he said over the radio. Again and again, Letarte preached patience and positivity, doing what he needed to get his car and driver to the end. "It was a patience-tester for sure," said Letarte, who was added to the No. 88 team prior to this season partly because of his calming demeanor over the radio. "The car was tore up a lot more than Dale thought. I think that was a lot of his frustration. It's not my job to explain that to him. It's my job to keep him driving the wheels off it all night long. ... We know we have to be faster in the Chase, no sugar-coating that. But gosh darn it, we're in it, so we have a chance." Yes, they do. Making the Chase was clearly a relief for a driver and a program burdened by expectations, something very evident in the faces of the No. 88 team members after the race. And yet, those expectations are there because many believe this should be just a starting point for Earnhardt, whose teammates at Hendrick Motorsports have combined for nine titles on NASCAR's premier series. Now, after a regular-season stretch run that saw Earnhardt drop from a high of third in points to almost missing the Chase, there will be questions over how much of an impact this team can have once the championship hunt begins in earnest next week outside Chicago. Drivers know -- the only thing worse than missing the Chase is getting in and running like junk compared to the other title contenders. Earnhardt has been there, and knows what it feels like. In his media session Friday, Earnhardt surmised that his team had taken a more conservative approach over the past month or so, trying to both secure a Chase spot and prepare for the playoff all at the same time. That's a delicate, and difficult, balancing act. Earnhardt mentioned that he hoped to have more "bullets in the gun" if his team qualified for the Chase. Well, mission accomplished. Now, it's time to load up on ammo. "We've got to run a different setup than what we ran tonight in the past six weeks, frankly. But we had a pretty good run at it going the first 15 races, and for whatever reason we sort of fell off and forgot some things or over engineered something. But we need to look hard at what we're doing, what we've been doing, sort of a pattern, find something within what we're trying to maybe harness or hampering our ability to drive the cars as well as I want to drive them," Earnhardt said after the race. "But Steve has told me he's been kind of conservative, that we've been conservative on the motor and a couple other things the last several weeks to make sure we don't have any catastrophic problems like engine failure, and there's some other things on the engineer's side. We'll just see. I don't think that any of that stuff is really going to make us faster, but we'll go in there with a good attitude." Letarte said his team has essentially been playing it safe since Watkins Glen in mid-August, just trying to ensure they'd qualify for the Chase. "Everybody wants you to turn it around, and [say] man, we should be a championship team and winning races and this and that," the crew chief said. "Goal one was to make the Chase. The unpopular guy to be was me. My goal was to lead the race team, and keep that goal very bright in front of us .... I never sugar-coated it. I think I was pretty honest from the start, but once we had a shot at it from the middle of the summer, we had to keep our heads down and keep working on it, and we did." They did, on Saturday night with a smoking, taped-together car that looked like it was about ready to sputter out. "I'd call that a championship performance with a car that damaged," Letarte said. No question, it was a performance good enough to get them into the championship picture. The next 10 races will dictate whether they can take the next step. Stewart and Earnhardt seem stressed When Michael McDowell pulled in front of Tony Stewart during Friday’s practice session at Richmond International Raceway, it ruined Stewart’s mock qualifying run, maybe his mood, too. The two-time NASCAR champion, who finished the practice session 30th on the speed chart, had words with McDowell before heading toward his team debrief. In between was his weekly media briefing, and the temperamental Stewart was just a little testy about his prospects for making the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. “The pressure is all the media standing here, we’re doing the same thing we always do every week,” Stewart snapped. For a guy trying to downplay being under pressure, Stewart sure seemed stressed. But that’s to be expected heading into Saturday night’s race, the final chance for 14 drivers to lock down the final four spots in the 12-driver field. Under a new wild-card format this season, NASCAR will give the final two Chase berths to drivers ranked outside the top 10 who have the most wins. Stewart is ranked 10th in points, and should he finish 18th or higher Saturday night, he’ll be just fine. He’ll start 22nd in the race. But he’s got Brad Keselowski closing quickly on him in the standings, and should Stewart fall outside the top 10, he’ll miss the Chase for the second time since its inception in 2004. The only other time Stewart failed to qualify for the Chase was 2006, the year after his second championship, when he failed to deliver at Richmond with the chance to defend his title. Where did he finish that night? He was 18th. So here he is again, his season on the line and his temper running slightly hot. He wasn’t the only one on edge, either. Dale Earnhardt Jr. goes into Saturday night ranked ninth in points and needs to only finish 20th or higher to ensure his spot in the Chase. But he’s not been running well for almost three months and the pressure is on NASCAR’s most popular driver to make it back to the Chase for the first time since 2008. “Whatever happens is going to happen. That is just what you are going to have to live with at the end of the night,” said Earnhardt, who qualified 27th.. “We work really hard all year long and I feel good about our program, but it will be disappointing to miss an opportunity to race for the championship if we don’t get in (Saturday) night.” Earnhardt, by the way, ran 19th at Richmond in May and he has just one top-10 finish over the last 11 races. He’s also stuck in a 118-race losing streak dating to that Chase season. Getting back into the title hunt could help ease the criticism often directed at Earnhardt, but if his program doesn’t improve, his presence in the Chase won’t be significant. “My main concern is for us to be more competitive as a team,” Earnhardt said. “It is really frustrating to make the Chase and then not be as competitive as you want to be during those races. That is really all I am thinking about. That is really where my concern lies, where my worry is and what my mind is on. “Trying to be a better race team, man, because if we are going to be in the Chase you want to put up a good account for yourself. You don’t want to be a guy just taking up a spot in there.” Across the garage, the one guy who really is under the gun seemed rather relaxed. Denny Hamlin goes into Saturday night ranked 12th in points and holding tight onto the second wild-card slot. He’s got one win in his pocket and has several different scenarios to get into the Chase. A win would guarantee it, but a good run should be enough. It doesn’t hurt that Hamlin, who qualified 28th, is the two-time defending race winner, that Richmond is his favorite race track, and that he’s been up on the wheel since a bad day at Michigan three weeks ago dropped him to 14th in the standings. It’s been an abysmal season for Hamlin, who won eight races last year and nearly halted Jimmie Johnson’s run of five consecutive titles. He’s since had a heart-to-heart talk with crew chief Mike Ford, and his performance the last two races have shown a renewed effort. So he left the pressure and the stress to the others, and Hamlin came home with only one goal on his mind. “Winning is everything and we come here with the mindset that we need to win, so we want to do that,” Hamlin said. “These last two years we won this race going into the Chase, it really gave us a lot of good momentum … and it seemed like we had two good Chases in a row because of that. “I’d like to end the regular season on a good note and not limp in on the last leg.” Hamlin rarely limps around Richmond, where he has an average finish of 7.45 and has led 1,188 laps in his 11 career starts. His statistics, experience and comfort level gave him the laid-back attitude that Earnhardt and Stewart lacked Friday. “When I come here, it’s just a different attitude, mentality for the whole race team,” Hamlin said. “I’m fine. I think it’s probably easier on us than it is for the guys that have certain scenarios that have to happen for them to make it. Really, I’m racing this race as if it’s just a normal season race like I have the last few years - no different.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. expects 'conservative' approach to Richmond in quest to secure spot in Chase field Dale Earnhardt Jr. expects crew chief Steve Letarte to use a conventional approach to this week’s Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond International Raceway before rolling out any significant changes once the Chase For The Sprint Cup field is set. “I’m not concerned,” Earnhardt Jr. said following a 19th-place finish in the rain-delayed Atlanta Cup race. “Steve is awesome. He’s a good crew chief. He’ll take what we need to take to the Chase. We might be a little more conservative right now, just to make sure we get to the end of the race. I think we’re conservative on the engine, conservative on what we put under the car. “Some of the stuff we’ve been engineering ... we’re not running it just because we want to be on the safe side ... we can’t have any catastrophes. Once we get in the Chase maybe things will get better, but the cars have to drive better. I know Steve can do it.” He’s confident, he says, that his team will resolve issues with his cars that have seen the driver struggle in recent months. With a berth in the Chase on the line as teams turn to Richmond, the 36-year-old better hope that’s the case. Earnhardt Jr. is ninth in points and doesn’t need a miracle, just a 20th-place finish, to secure his spot in the 10-race playoff. That hasn’t been a problem of late, but his team’s performances haven’t exactly been stellar, either. The Hendrick Motorsports team has posted only one top-10 finish in its last 11 races. He began the year with eight top-10s in the first 14 races. “We were going [along] fine, [the] cars were great all year long,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We’ve hit some sort of invisible barrier we can’t just seem to break through and get the cars to driving good. The cars have had characteristics that have repeated every weekend that we didn’t have earlier. “I’ve been telling them about them and telling them about them, saying ‘look, this thing’s doing this and it’s been doing it for six weeks and it didn’t do it all year long. That’s a big problem and we need to figure out what that is.’ “Something we sort of evolved to on the chassis or something is hurting us. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” While he has finished outside the top 20 in four of his last five Richmond starts, Earnhardt Jr. has three career wins on the 0.750-mile track. And in 24 career Cup starts, he sports an average finish of 14th. The Atlanta setback wasn’t a surprise, he said, because the track doesn’t have the same characteristics as the other 1.5-mile venues on the schedule. “We came [to Atlanta] with what had been working [elsewhere] ... and it didn’t work,” he said. “I didn’t think it would, and it didn’t.” Should he get through Richmond unscathed, the 18-time Cup winner says there’s enough time remaining to turn his team into a contender. “If you’re doing something, you’ve got to believe in what you’re doing, you’ve got to believe that you can get it done,” he said. “... That’s the attitude that you’ve got to have. “If I didn’t think that or feel that, I don’t need to be driving race cars.” How to get into the Chase?: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (9th in points). Clinches a spot in the Chase with a finish of 20th or better, or by finishing fewer than 25 points behind Keselowski, regardless of position. Earnhardt also can qualify for the Chase if Paul Menard, Marcos Ambrose and David Ragan (drivers with one victory) all finish outside the top 20 in the standings, even if Keselowski knocks Earnhardt out of the top 10. That would leave Denny Hamlin (one win) as the first wild card and Earnhardt as the second, as the highest non-winner in positions 11-20 (as long as Stewart doesn't also fall out of top 10 and finish ahead of him). Earnhardt Jr. has three wins in 24 career starts at Richmond with an average finish of 14th. He has only one finish better than 20th in his last five Richmond starts. In his previous 19 starts, he had only two finishes outside top 20. Junior closer to Chase, but not happy with car Dale Earnhardt Jr. got a lap down Tuesday and was never much of a factor at the rain-delayed race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Still, he firmed up his hopes of making it back to the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Junior struggled to a 19th-place showing with an ill-handling car that was never capable of running up front, barely good enough to preserve his hold on ninth place in the season standings. “It was not a good day,” Earnhardt said. “We didn’t have a good car. We worked on it a little bit and had a couple of decent runs where we were competitive. But I just fought the car all day long and just couldn’t make anything happen.” He’s now only two points ahead of Tony Stewart, who finished third. But more important, Earnhardt still has a solid 25-point edge on 11th-place Brad Keselowski. Since the top 10 makes it into the Chase on points, Earnhardt merely has to make sure he doesn’t cede his advantage on Keselowski in Saturday’s race at Richmond, which will set the field for the 10-race playoff that follows. “We lost a little bit of ground and it’s a little bit tighter going into Richmond, but we still feel pretty good,” Earnhardt said. “We should be able to go out there and make that happen.” NASCAR’s most popular driver still hasn’t won since 2008, a streak of 118 races. But making the Chase would be an improvement on the last two seasons, when Earnhardt failed to qualify for the playoff and finished 25th and 21st in the final standings. Not that he’s satisfied merely being part of the Chase. He wants to be a contender, and that’s just not happening for the No. 88 team. “It doesn’t matter if we can’t figure out how to make the car run,” Earnhardt said. “We need to get our crap together and get to running good, or it doesn’t matter where we are in the Chase.” Slumping Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggles at Atlanta, worried more about performance than making Chase Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggled to a 19th-place finish Tuesday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. About the only good thing about that is that if he struggles to a 19th-place finish again next week at Richmond International Speedway, he still makes the Chase For the Sprint Cup. “I’m not really worried about it,” Earnhardt Jr. said following the Atlanta race, which was postponed two days because of rain. “I don’t have room to worry about it as bad as we’ve been running. “We need to get our crap together and get to running good or it don’t matter where we are in the Chase. It don’t matter if we are in it or not.” Earnhardt Jr. needs to finish 20th or better to earn a spot in the Chase at Richmond or, if Brad Keselowski doesn’t win, then finish within 24 spots of Keselowski to avoid dropping out of the top 10 in the standings. He also needs to finish at least 37th if Denny Hamlin wins to avoid dropping out of the top 10. The top 10 drivers in the points standings after Richmond make the Chase, plus two wild cards from among the drivers 11th-20th with the most wins. “We lost a little bit of ground, it’s a little bit tighter going into Richmond, but we still feel pretty good,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “But it don’t matter, man, if we can’t figure out how to make the car run. “We should be able to go in there and make that happen. It seems like we can finish in the top 20 pretty good. That ain’t good enough. I’m not happy about that, not satisfied. We have to figure whatever it is out [that] we need to do better.” Nine drivers have clinched spots in the Chase: Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Keselowski, who clinched one of the two wild-card spots. Gordon, Harvick, Busch, Newman and Keselowski clinched spots at Atlanta on Tuesday. Earnhardt Jr. has a 25-point edge on 11th-place Keselowski while Tony Stewart has a 23-point edge on Keselowski, who can still crack the top 10 and earn one of the guaranteed spots. Stewart finished third at Atlanta while Keselowski was sixth. An 18th-place finish at Richmond would clinch a Chase spot for Stewart. “Once we leave here, what we get here doesn't mean anything next week as far as performance,” Stewart said. “But those points are big going into next week, for sure. “So I wish what we did here transferred over to Richmond next week, but it doesn't. But I'm really proud of the effort that everybody gave this week. … We definitely gained a couple on [Keselowski] today. And it may come down to one point. So having the strong finish that we had may be the difference of making it or not making it next week.” Keselowski clinched a spot in the Chase with three victories. If he doesn’t get in the top 10, he automatically will earn a wild-card berth. The Penske Racing driver thinks even with his recent surge of two victories and three top-six finishes in the last five races, he won’t make the top 10. “It’s very doubtful,” Keselowski said. “Smoke [Stewart] is right there with [Earnhardt Jr.]. The only way we make those points up is to win and for one of those two to wreck out. That’s pretty gloomy. … I’m counting my blessings where I’m at now and I’m not going to get too greedy.” While he might not get greedy, Earnhardt Jr. wants better cars. He ran in the mid-20s early in the event, fell a lap down, got back up near 15th and ended up 19th. “We drove up to 15th spot and the car was good,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Then we loosened it up too much and I couldn’t drive it. Then we got it too tight. Then we backed off a little bit. We were just all over the place. “We’ve got to do something different. We’ve got two cars [at Hendrick Motorsports in Gordon and Johnson] running really good and two cars not running really good [in me and Mark Martin] and we’ve got to get four cars running good. That’s the job we’ve got. So we’ll try. I feel confident. You don’t stop trying.” With the tires having only two or three laps of optimal performance at Atlanta, Earnhardt Jr. said that his performance Tuesday shouldn’t be a bad sign for the Chase. “This track itself is an anomaly,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s not like the other mile-and-a-halves. It’s wore out, rough. You can’t run the same stuff. You’ve got to run a little bit different stuff and get the car to work more mechanically than you do aero-wise. We didn’t do a good job at that.” But Earnhardt Jr. has been slumping going into the Chase. He has only one top-10 finish in his last 11 starts. “It was not a good day,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We did not have a good car. We worked on it a little bit and had a couple of decent runs where we were competitive. “I just fought the car all day long and just couldn’t make nothing happen.” Earnhardt learns plenty from National Guard visit On Friday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got an inside look at how the troops train in the Military Intelligence division at the General Lucius D. Clay National Guard Center at Dobbins Air Force Base -- and found himself quite surprised with what he learned. Most people's impressions of fighting a military battle have come from a favorite war movie or the television show M*A*S*H. Not only are battles much more technologically fought now than a few decades ago, but the reliance on intelligence and the high-tech tools that the National Guard employs to gather it were nearly non-existent in, say, the World War II era. And troops fight these battles at home long before employing them elsewhere. Officers in training in the Military Intelligence division meet with high-ranking instructors in a tightly-secured row of classrooms and boardrooms. Earnhardt Jr.'s first task after arriving to the National Guard Center and receiving a formal introduction from Major General William T. Nesbitt, the head of the Georgia National Guard, was to listen to how the Guard gathers, analyzes and implements intelligence. Guard members are trained how to intercept and listen to enemies' transmissions, use satellite imaging to view enemy territory, and learn counter-intelligence -- the art of protecting U.S. troops from enemy attacks. After the intelligence presentation, officers showed Earnhardt Jr. a National Guard recruiting video, which focused on the high-tech gizmos and intricate networks that troops direct in the battlefield after their initial training. According to officers at the Guard Center, troops come from all over the country to train at this facility and prepare for deployment. Earnhardt Jr. was impressed with the process and related the Guard's art of communication to being a successful NASCAR driver. "Communication is important," Earnhardt Jr. said. "You've got to talk to your crew chief and keep your head on straight while doing it. You have to give him the most information you can, so he can make the right choices." After seeing the intelligence classrooms, officers introduced Earnhardt Jr. to a state-of-the-art language training building. There, instructors use native speakers of languages to train troops before they head overseas. One officer handed Earnhardt Jr. a small book and a CD, saying that they used to simply send pupils off with those two tools and tell them, "Good luck." As the focus on the battlefield has changed, so has the preparation for it. "I was assuming that they had translators and [the soldiers] did their best in the field," Earnhardt said. "But they're now full-on training them on how to really speak and how to not offend the culture." The game has changed for the Armed Forces in language training (each troop has to have 100 hours of classroom language training before going in the field) even more than it has for setting up a race car in the NASCAR garage and Earnhardt Jr. has now had a front seat for both. At the end of his visit, Earnhardt Jr. and several M.I. members unveiled the Military Intelligence paint scheme that the No. 88 will carry this weekend. Then Earnhardt autographed items, shook hands, and chatted with 30-40 troops and emergency workers on the base. While some are full-time National Guard employees, many are only required to work one weekend per month, two weeks per summer, and through any emergency deployment either at home or abroad. So, Earnhardt Jr.'s visit was a welcome break in the action. Captain Roger Roberts, a southeast aircraft flyover coordinator for the national anthems at NASCAR races and an Earnhardt Jr. fan since when Earnhardt's father was alive, summed up Earnhardt Jr.'s visit best. "What he's doing is great for the Guard and gives a lot of morale and support to the troops," he said. "It's good that the Guard sponsors and gets our name out." And Earnhardt Jr. took more than his share away from his mid-afternoon matinee with the National Guard. "You think you kind of know the basics of the military, but there are a lot of little important jobs and things that go on," he said. With that, he left Dobbins Air Force Base with a shower of cheers in favor of the No. 88 team's mission this weekend -- one that happens to coincide with the Military Intelligence division's slogan and is emblazoned on the race car's hood -- "Always Out Front." Junior expresses relief with contract, Chase Relief. That's the emotion that came to the mind of Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he described a five-year contract extension that will keep him an employee of Hendrick Motorsports through 2017. "I'm happy that it happened," Junior said. "Me and Rick talked on the phone about five months ago. I just told him that if we were going to do another deal, I wanted to do it now because I didn't want to talk about it next year and be any kind of distraction." That meant allowing sister Kelley Earnhardt to handle the specifics while he stayed out of the day-to-day negotiations. "I didn't want to talk about numbers and base salary versus percentages and this, that and the other," Earnhardt said. "[I told her,] 'Whatever you think is fair is fine with me.' " Junior will continue to work with crew chief Steve Letarte, a move that already has paid dividends as Earnhardt closes in on his first Chase berth since 2008. "I'm excited about it," Junior said. "[I'm] happy that I've got a place to work and happy to have Rick's commitment. Hopefully, me and Steve can continue to grow and start to do what we want to do on the race track. I'm looking forward to it, man. It puts it at ease, a little bit." And cementing a Chase spot following Sunday night's AdvoCare 500 would be one way to take away some of the pressure. "I think relief is the right word, because everyone expects you to make the Chase," Junior said. "And if you don't make the Chase, you get that tag on you. You get labeled when you miss the Chase. I just want to avoid being in that situation. "There's only a few drivers who get to make it and it's a pretty competitive sport. But if you can be consistent and be smart -- I made a few mistakes and a few driver errors that I wish I could have back now -- with the kind of team I have, I should make the Chase. We're plenty good enough to do that." Junior decided to leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the 2007 season but realizes now how different his situation was back then. "Driving with my family was really easy," Earnhardt said. "I didn't have to worry about job security. I was around a lot of relative and family friends. It was a relaxed situation. When I drove the red No. 8 and we had a bad race, we'd hear from fans and the media about it. But you know, we didn't care too much because your family wasn't going to talk crap about you behind your back. It was just easier to rebound. "Now when I have a bad race, I take it home and it lasts two or three days before I get over it." But Earnhardt believes he made the correct decision in 2008, and again this week. "I always idolized Rick. I always idolized that company," Junior said. "I never knew what the inside of that place looked like, worked like and how they did it. I wanted that opportunity and I'm glad I got it. I'm real lucky and fortunate to be there." Dale Earnhardt Jr. signs with Hendrick through 2017 Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be staying with Hendrick Motorsports for another five Sprint Cup seasons, keeping him with the NASCAR team through the end of 2017. Hendrick announced the completion of the extension Thursday morning. Earnhardt's current deal was set to expire after the 2012 season, and the driver and team had been working on a new contract the past few months to avoid distractions next year. "We're excited to have everything formalized and announced," team owner Rick Hendrick said in a statement. "Junior and I had a handshake agreement months ago, and we let other people work out the finer points from there. It was as simple and smooth as it gets. "My feelings haven't changed since the day he first signed with us. I'm committed as ever to putting him in the best possible situation to be successful and compete for wins and championships." Earnhardt, NASCAR's most popular driver, is ninth in the points standings and on pace to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the second time with Hendrick after missing the 10-race title run the past two seasons. He has one victory with the team in June 2008 at Michigan International Speedway. "It's great to have it all wrapped up so quickly and far in advance," Earnhardt said. "Rick and I were on the same page from the first time we talked about it, so there wasn't any sense in waiting. There were never any questions or hesitations from either of us. It was just, 'Yeah, let's do it.' "I'm really happy at Hendrick Motorsports and enjoy working with everyone here. The team's been very competitive this season, and we're all excited about the direction of things. I want to make sure we're giving our fans something to cheer about for a long time." Earnhardt Jr. spent his first eight Cup seasons with Dale Earnhardt Inc., the team founded by his late father. He signed with Hendrick in June 2007 and joined the team in 2008. Dale Earnhardt Jr. controls his own destiny as Sprint Cup Series heads to Atlanta Dale Earnhardt Jr. heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway in position to control his own destiny in his quest to make the Chase For the Sprint Cup. The Hendrick Motorsports driver sits ninth in the standings with an 18-point edge on 10th-place Tony Stewart and a 39-point advantage on 11th-place Brad Keselowski. That should be enough of a cushion for Earnhardt as the regular season comes to a close at Atlanta and then Richmond on Sept. 10. Earnhardt Jr., who has failed to qualify for the Chase the past two seasons, has eight top-five finishes in 23 starts at Atlanta and enters the Advocare 500 with an average finish of 12.5 at the track. Last year at Atlanta, Earnhardt Jr. had finishes of 15th and 22nd and is looking for his first top-10 in his last six starts at the 1.5-mile track. “Atlanta is a driver's track because it is so wide and races so wide that there's groove after groove after groove,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I always look forward to going down to Atlanta. It’s incredibly fast, and we’ve run well there.” Crew Chief Steve Letarte will take the chassis that Earnhardt Jr. has driven at Las Vegas (where he finished eighth), Texas (ninth), Charlotte (seventh) and Indianapolis (16th). “I love Atlanta,” Letarte said. “It’s extremely fast and has old pavement. The challenge at Atlanta is being good on old tires versus new tires, and you’ll figure that out in practice. “Atlanta is one of those places that you better have confidence in your notes, confidence in your plan and have a good organized plan because it’s a long race. If you miss some of the details, then you can pay dearly.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. welcomes trip to Bristol 'gold mine' Regardless of what brand of racing it delivers, Bristol Motor Speedway always will hold a special place in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s heart. As a seven-time NASCAR champion's son who was raised at Sprint Cup racetracks, Earnhardt found Bristol's cozy infield was his favorite spot for hanging out. "We always got on top of a van in Turns 1 and 2 and couldn't wait to watch the Nationwide and Cup race," Earnhardt said. "We'd run around and beg people to let us wax their race cars. I did that for years and years as a little kid. A lot of memories there. "It's an amazing track, and it's only gotten better in my opinion. They struck a gold mine when they built it." Saturday's Irwin Tools Night Race is the signature event at the 0.533-mile oval, where the 160,000 seats once were the toughest tickets on NASCAR's premier circuit. But a 55-race sellout streak ended in March 2010, and the throngs of fans have continued to thin. In March, large swaths of aluminum were visible in the grandstands for a crowd estimated by NASCAR as 120,000, the smallest in more than a decade. While the economic downturn certainly took a toll on a track that relies heavily on camping and has limited (and exorbitantly priced) hotel rooms nearby, the attendance dip has coincided with a repaving before the August race four years ago. The new concrete altered the complexion of races on the cereal bowl-shaped track by adding a second lane that was more conducive to passing but less likely to produce the fender-banging that was a Bristol hallmark. When the bottom groove was the only option, drivers often had to bump a slower car aside to pass. It has helped tame a track known for mayhem. In eight races since the repave, there have been an average of 9.3 cautions for 64.8 laps. In the eight previous races, there were an average of 14.3 yellow flags for 90.8 laps. "I definitely like the old (surface) better," Kevin Harvick said. "The new one is pretty easy. There is a lot of room to race. Two totally different animals." Some think the reconfiguration improved Bristol. "The track, for sure, from Day 1 has been better," Tony Stewart said. "You didn't have to wreck guys to pass them. You could use the whole racetrack now. That's all you can ask for, is to have a place that you can move around." Said Denny Hamlin: "This is a more racy Bristol. If you have a good car, you can make up ground." Earnhardt said Bristol had felt more of an adverse impact from the March 2007 debut of NASCAR's next-generation car in the race before the repave. "If you put the old car out there, you would see some bad-ass races," he said. "The track is perfect. It's as good or better than it ever was. … It's tough with the splitters to drive around the short tracks, especially a banked place like Bristol." That doesn't dampen his affinity for a track where he completed a winning sweep of Nationwide and Cup in 2004. "I feel like I can win anytime I show up there," Earnhardt said. "I excel on the short tracks." Earnhardt: Danica to give JRM, NASCAR a boost Kelley Earnhardt, co-owner and general manager of JR Motorsports, said Thursday that Danica Patrick's full-time entry into the Nationwide Series beginning next season should have a far-reaching and lasting positive impact on both her company and the sport of stock-car racing as a whole. "Obviously we're very excited to put this behind us. It's been several months of a lot of speculation and wondering about what Danica was going to do. [Thursday's] announcement can put that to rest. We're excited to have her for a full season in 2012," Earnhardt said in a conference call Thursday afternoon, a couple of hours after Patrick had made her announcement that she'll not only drive full-time for JR Motorsports in Nationwide but also that she'll drive in eight to 10 Sprint Cup races for Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick is in the midst of a second part-time season driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for Earnhardt's organization at the Nationwide level. In seven starts this season, she has posted three top-10 finishes that includes a career-best fourth at Las Vegas. "The last two years have been a good experience with her. I think she's shown that he has what it takes to race these cars," Earnhardt said. "On her learning curve, she's adjusted very quickly. So we're very excited to have her compete week in and week out in the Nationwide Series and in NASCAR. We're really just excited to have her come into our sport -- for the future of our sport and for our fans." Earnhardt said there never really was a chance of JR Motorsports fielding a Cup car for Patrick. "We discussed whether or not that would make sense for everyone involved. And quite frankly, JR Motorsports isn't ready to bite that bullet," she said. "We have partners under the JR Motorsports umbrella -- like Stewart-Haas Racing -- that were interested in adding cars to their fold on the Sprint Cup side. So I think it worked out best for everybody." Earnhardt also said she understands Patrick's desire to perhaps race in the Indianapolis 500 next year, but made it clear that she expects Patrick's top priority -- even during the month of May -- to be her Nationwide team. "We definitely left it open for her to consider, running in the Indy 500," Earnhardt said. "That's what she's done all her [professional life] -- run in the IndyCars. And her desire to do something in that realm makes perfect sense to us. Obviously we would not want it to interfere with any of the Nationwide commitments that she has in terms of practices and races, so we would work hard to avoid that because we want to run for the championship next year." Finally, Earnhardt said she is pleased to be part of what she envisions as a movement to increase the possibilities of women running more frequently and more competitively in NASCAR's many programs and series. She also said she expects Patrick to help attract more female fans and sponsors who are perhaps more aligned with the female audience -- all of which, in turn, should help JR Motorsports thrive as well. "I definitely think this will be a positive on all of those fronts. There are young girls that are in motorsports competing at the local levels and regional levels all over the United States," said Earnhardt, who has two young daughters of her own. "I think what this does, having Danica compete full-time in the Nationwide Series and part-time in the Cup Series, is it gives those young women hope that it can be done. We haven't had a lot of success with women in our sport throughout the years, but this continues to give them hope that they can reach for their dreams and chase their dreams, and that it's not necessarily going to be a wasted effort. It gives them someone to look up to who has managed her brand and done well. It gives them someone they can model themselves after." Patrick to leave IndyCar behind for NASCAR Danica Patrick is officially headed to NASCAR. After months of skirting speculation, Patrick announced Thursday that she’s leaving IndyCar in 2012 to run a full Nationwide schedule with JR Motorsports and up to 10 Sprint Cup races for Stewart-Haas Racing. One of auto racing’s most marketable stars, Patrick says she hasn’t mapped out which races she’ll run in Sprint Cup and didn’t rule out a return to open-wheel racing for the 2012 Indianapolis 500. Patrick had her highest finish at the Indy 500 when she took third in the 2009 race and became the first woman to win an IndyCar race when she took the checkers at Japan in 2008. She has driven 20 races for JR Motorsports the past two years and has five more scheduled with the team this season. Confident Dale Earnhardt Jr. says Bristol 'my style of racing' Dale Earnhardt Jr. heads to his best track on the Sprint Cup circuit this weekend, a place where he has finished 11th or better 15 times in his last 19 races. So it’s no surprise that the Hendrick Motorsports driver is confident going into the race Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I feel like when I go to Bristol, I can win any time I show up there,” Earnhardt Jr. says. “I really like the race track and I really enjoy racing there and I feel like that is my style of racing. I feel like I excel on a short track, and if you look back over some of the years and even some of the most recent years, we were one of the better teams on the short tracks, if not the best team on the short tracks a few years. “I really enjoy short-track racing. That’s what I feel like I was born to do. So when I go to Bristol, I feel real confident.” Earnhardt Jr. has one win, seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in 23 career Cup starts at Bristol. His average finish of 11.5 is his best on any Cup track. He has an average finish of 8.9 there since 2004. The highlight was his win there in August 2004, where he won the Nationwide and Cup races on the same weekend. “The Nationwide win and the Cup win in 2004 were great memories for me and difficult to top,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I remember the first time I went there to drive around the track and how terrifying it was and how fast it seemed and how long it took me to get used to that speed.” But while terrifying at first, Bristol was the track where Earnhardt Jr. loved to watch races as a kid. “That was our favorite place to go because you could get from one end of the track to the other in no time,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We always got on top of a van in turns 1 and 2 or somewhere real close to the corner and we just couldn’t wait to watch the Nationwide race and the Cup race and we ran around and begged people to let us wax the race cars or do anything we could.” Once he was racing, getting used to the speed was difficult because a driver is on and off the gas so quickly on the 0.533-mile, high-banked concrete oval. “It’s an amazing race track,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s only gotten better, in my opinion. They struck the gold mine when they built it. I don’t think they knew it for 10 or 15 years and it sort of evolved. Once they added the banking, it really took off.” Earnhardt Jr. will race the car he drove this year at Darlington (where he finished 14th), Kansas (second) and Kentucky (30th). Ninth in the standings, Earnhardt Jr. has a 30-point cushion on 11th-place Clint Bowyer. Looking to make the Chase for the first time in three years, he likely won’t be taking many chances at Bristol, the 24th race of the 26 that make up the regular season before the Chase field is set. “The first thing we are doing is racing ourselves,” crew chief Steve Letarte said in a news release. “With a 30-point lead, if we go run in the top 10 at all three tracks, then it doesn’t really matter what the [others do]. “I think we’ll outrun them, but I’d be lying if I said they weren’t on our radar. I will adjust our pit strategy or our race against theirs.” Earnhardt Jr. said he feels like a top-10 driver at Bristol. “Bristol is a real rough-and-tumble short track,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “There’s a lot of ways to go around the corners, so you can find somewhere where your car has speed. Speed kind of comes and goes all night long as your car changes with the flow of the race. “You have to move around and find speed in the corner. The balance of the car is important.” Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart have different outlooks after holding onto Chase spots at Michigan The two drivers just inside the top 10 in points as the Chase For The Sprint Cup nears held onto their positions at Michigan International Speedway Sunday, but had very different outlooks following the Pure Michigan 400. Part of that could be the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t made the Chase the last two years while Tony Stewart has. Earnhardt Jr. ran well with the exception of a couple of runs while Stewart seemed to struggle the entire day. Stewart finished ninth after restarting 12th on the final green-white-checkered restart while Earnhardt Jr. restarted 15th – and in the more difficult inside row – and wound up 14th. Earnhardt Jr. ran in the top 10 much of the day and should have had a better finish, but with Clint Bowyer finishing eighth, Earnhardt Jr. remained ninth in the standings and is still 30 points ahead of 11th-place Bowyer. Stewart is 10th in the standings, six points behind Earnhardt Jr. and 24 points ahead of Bowyer. Having snapped a six-race skid with a top-10 finish two weeks ago at Pocono, Earnhardt Jr. felt he was stronger than during a rough last two months. “Our car was fast,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I was happy. We outran them all [the Chase bubble drivers] all day long. We outran those guys, and that was good. “We’re a better team than we have been over the last couple of months. It was just frustrating there to have a green-white-checkered there that shuffled the damn finish. I don’t know what happened there. Guys just couldn’t finish the race. They had to run each other into the fence.” With three races left before the Chase field is set, Stewart has a 24-point edge on Bowyer. For Stewart, he isn’t interested in just slipping into the Chase. “At this point of the deal, if we are going to run this bad, it really doesn't matter whether we make the Chase or not because we are going to be occupying a spot in the Chase that somebody else that actually can run for a championship is going to be trying to take, because our stuff is so bad right now that we're just wasting one of those top-12 spots right now,” Stewart said. Stewart said he couldn’t find a good balance with his car. “I don’t know what we have got to do to get one [car] balanced for a day, but we can't,” Stewart said. “We haven't figured it out yet. We were on both sides of the coin all day long. Just back and forth between tight and loose. So we'll just take what we can get, I guess." Earnhardt Jr. felt his problems were related to tires. He said is car was sensitive to any slight change in the sets of tires. “I don't know whether they are bad sets of tires, but I put them on my car and they drive like crap,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “And then I put on another set and they would drive good. I don't know how to explain that. I've been doing that all my life. “I ain't got an explanation for it yet. I had some awesome runs where the car was really fast, then I'd put on some tires and I just couldn't drive the car. So, you tell me. I don't know." At the end, track position doomed Earnhardt Jr., who was 10th before his last pit stop. “We probably shouldn't have pitted there at the end,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I don't know. We took two tires like a lot of guys and just didn't have the good fortune at the end on that last green-white-checkered. “We were on the bottom, stuck behind the No. 00 [of David Reutimann] and some other people that were as slow as hell and just couldn't go nowhere." That’s just the nature of the sport, Earnhardt Jr. said. “At least we run good when we had our opportunities,” he said. “We had a pretty good car. We had some bad stuff happen on pit road. We got back up to 10th or ninth, drove it up there.” Disputed finish Earnhardt Jr. still thinks he should have been credited with finishing ahead of Clint Bowyer in Monday's race at Watkins Glen. Bowyer spun on the final lap under yellow and was passed by several cars, but NASCAR awarded him 11th after it decided he maintained a reasonable speed when the field was frozen by the caution. Earnhardt, who finished 14th, spent 20 minutes reviewing videotape with NASCAR officials in the Sprint Cup hauler Monday in Watkins Glen. "I was happy that they gave me the opportunity to discuss that with them," said Earnhardt, who is ninth in points. "They could have just said, 'No, we're going home, and we'll talk about it later or holler at me Monday or whatever.' I don't agree with the decision. (Bowyer) crashed and went to the grass, and in my opinion that means you're involved in the accident and shouldn't be able to maintain a position. I don't think you should go to the tail end of the lead lap, but I think he lost a couple spots there, and those points are really important, especially right now." Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR peers would welcome having Danica Dale Earnhardt Jr. wouldn't confirm reports that Danica Patrick will drive for his JR Motorsports team next year in the Nationwide Series. But NASCAR's most popular driver is hoping Patrick will be sticking around. "We've enjoyed working with her; would love to keep working with her," Earnhardt said Friday before Sprint Cup practice at Michigan International Speedway. "What she has accomplished already is a success, in my opinion. She obviously would want to continue to improve and compete for wins and win races. But it's tough to learn new cars, a new vehicle and be able to drive it well and adapt to it. "She's done that awesome. She seems like she's fun to work with. It doesn't matter if it's a man or woman, you've got to be able to manage people and manage relationships. She seems to do a great job of that." ESPN and other media outlets reported Wednesday that Patrick will announce plans next week to enter NASCAR full time in 2012. It's expected she would spend next season in Nationwide and then run full time with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2013. The report was met with positive reactions Friday at Michigan from some drivers in NASCAR's premier series. "That is great," Matt Kenseth said. "We have seen her improve a lot from when she first came in to get to the point where she is at now. I think that will be a good next step to do (Nationwide) every week. We have seen big improvement, so I think that will be good." Said Kevin Harvick: "I think if that is what she is going to do, that is great for our sport. Danica is a good person and wants to race and wants to do the things that it takes to be successful. But, as far as the sport in general, it is really good for us." In 19 Nationwide races over the past two seasons, Patrick has three top-10 finishes. All were this season, including a fourth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March that was the best ever by a woman in a NASCAR national touring series. "I think she's made tremendous strides in her short NASCAR career that have exceeded my expectations for sure," Denny Hamlin said. "Her being here on a weekly basis, you'll see her running consistently in the top 10." Patrick was asked about the reports in Montreal, where she was practicing Friday for Saturday's Nationwide race. "I unfortunately am going to give you the same boring answer that I just have nothing new to report," she said. "I see this on SportsCenter like others do. I wish I could give you something interesting, but at this point in time, there's just nothing new to report." Earnhardt: Patrick already successful in NASCAR Dale Earnhardt Jr. was noncommittal on reports that Danica Patrick will race full time for his JR Motorsports Nationwide Series team next year, but he has been impressed with Patrick's performance on the track. According to reports by various news outlets, an announcement of Patrick's plans for 2012 is expected for next week in Phoenix. "There ain't been no announcement yet, so I don't know why you would go report that," Earnhardt said Friday at Michigan. "We've enjoyed working with her and would love to keep working with her. When there's something to announce, they'll announce it, and we'll just wait until that happens, I guess." Though Patrick has but one top-five (fourth at Las Vegas in March) and three top-10 finishes in 19 Nationwide starts during the past two seasons, Earnhardt said she has made significant progress since her debut at Daytona in February 2010. "I think what she's accomplished already has been success, in my opinion," Earnhardt said. "She obviously would want to continue to improve and compete for wins and win races. It's tough to learn new cars, to learn a new vehicle and be able to drive it well and do well in it and adapt to it. I think she's done that. "She's awesome about it, and she's really done a great job. She seems like she's fun to work with, and no matter whether you're a man or woman, people have to be able to get along with you, and you have to be able to be a people person and manage people and manage relationships. She seems to do a great job of that." Crew chief Steve Letarte can't make mistakes at Michigan, says Dale Earnhardt Jr. can win at 2-mile track Dale Earnhardt Jr. left Michigan International Speedway in June with a disappointing finish, and although contact with teammate Mark Martin derailed him, crew chief Steve Letarte is taking some of the blame for how the car ran there earlier this year. Letarte doesn’t plan to make the same mistakes when the Sprint Cup Series returns to the 2-mile oval this weekend. “The problem with Dale Jr. at Michigan is that he is so good there that you can be misguided by your practice,” Letarte said in a prerace news release. “He will make your car look good in practice whether it’s good or bad. Michigan is the first race this year that I didn’t manage the weekend very well. “I let Dale set the tempo. He went out and was so fast in practice that I was a little complacent. I don’t think I pushed him hard enough on car feedback. I don’t think I did my job as well as I could at Michigan.” Michigan is where Earnhardt Jr. won his last Sprint Cup race – 115 races ago, in June 2008. It was his first and only victory with Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt Jr., who finished 21st at Michigan in June despite running in the top 10 most of the race, says he isn’t focused on winning as much as just running well. If he runs well, it will enhance his chances of making the Chase For The Sprint Cup. He sits ninth in the Cup standings with four races left before the Chase field is set. He has a 36-point cushion on 11th-place Clint Bowyer. “The guys send great race cars down the road and I just try to take care of them and hopefully we can get the job done,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I think we're a good enough team to make the Chase bar none, we should be able to get in there no problem." Making the Chase has been a problem the last two years for Earnhardt Jr., who has failed to make the postseason field and ended up outside the top 20 in the standings after making it in 2008. Letarte became Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief in the offseason, and they clicked right from the start. They are bringing a new chassis that has never raced before to MIS, a track where Earnhardt Jr. has one win, four top-fives, eight top-10s and an average finish of 15.9 in 24 starts. “I wrote in my notes, ‘Make sure you do your job,’ because he is so good there that he makes a lot of things look like they aren’t there in practice, but they don’t hide and they usually show up in the race,” Letarte said. “I think we could have run top five. I think he is a driver that needs to go run for the win at Michigan.” The tracks the next four weeks – Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond – are all good tracks for Earnhardt Jr. “I feel like I run good at the next four tracks we go to. I think I can go to those tracks and get the job done,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “You’ve got to race hard and race smart like you always do. I try to get to the end of the race with my race car intact, no matter what the situation is.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. on marriage: No, thanks Dale Earnhardt Jr. won't be marrying you — or anyone else — anytime soon. Earnhardt, who will turn 37 in October, has always been tight-lipped about his personal life. But the most popular driver in NASCAR and also its most eligible bachelor was especially blunt when he addressed the topic Thursday night on Speed's Race Hub. "I have no real interest in being married," Earnhardt said. So there you have it. Earnhart is thought to have a girlfriend (no word if she was watching) but is a self-proclaimed introvert and has an affinity for online racing. "I haven't changed my life a whole lot in the last eight years," he said. "And I don't want to change it that much." However, the 18-time winner in the Sprint Cup Series didn't completely shut the door on potential female suitors. "I'd like to have kids one day," he said. "But that's not something I've got planned out." Slumping Dale Earnhardt Jr. still confident he'll make Chase A wailing ambulance siren cut through the din of a rush-hour afternoon in this city's bustling uptown district Tuesday. On stage in a plaza to promote a new paint scheme he'll run at Bristol Motor Speedway this month, Dale Earnhardt Jr. waited through the ear-splitting interruption and smiled at a few hundred supporters, most of them decked out in green-and-white gear. "That's how big this is!" the emcee boomed into a mic as the siren's volume peaked. "It's red-hot!" Blaring distractions and overheated expectations are nothing new for NASCAR's most popular driver, and he isn't anticipating the pressure to subside anytime soon. With five races remaining until the Chase for the Sprint Cup field is set, Earnhardt — who has fallen from third in points to 10th in the last six races — is trying to cling to the final guaranteed spot. If his No. 88 Chevrolet finishes outside the top 10, the only way to qualify for the 10-race title run would be getting a win to sew up one of two wild-card spots. The Hendrick Motorsports driver hasn't triumphed in 114 races — a skid that is the fourth longest among full-time Cup drivers (behind Bobby Labonte's 273, Martin Truex Jr.'s 152 and A.J. Allmendinger's 137). With negotiations on a contract extension beyond 2012 bringing a round of questions each week, it's no wonder Earnhardt said Tuesday, "I have to remind myself I'm doing this for myself sometimes." Yet he also said he hadn't felt more confident during his 12 seasons in Cup because he'd learned to compartmentalize the many demands of fans and sponsors while competing at NASCAR's highest level. "I wasn't very good at it when I started," he said. "When you're not confident, it's in the back of your head bugging you. But I've got confidence. I feel like we can do it. That helps me get into the car and go, 'All right, time to block everything out no matter what it is' — the media, Mom's birthday, whatever. You block it out and help get the car faster." Earnhardt has been much faster this year after abysmal campaigns in 2009 (25th in points) and 2010 (21st). A ninth-place finish Sunday at Pocono Raceway was his ninth top-10, more than he's had in a season since 2008. He made the Chase that year but was limited to four top-10s in the final 18 races. Speed analyst Larry McReynolds said Earnhardt's recent swoon was reminiscent of the fade three years ago. "I don't have a great feeling about them winning a race anytime soon, and I'm a little nervous abut them making the Chase," McReynolds said. "He can be a championship contender. But I think he gets so caught up in the things he can't control." Earnhardt, though, said his frame of mind was better, as evidenced by his approach to Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International. Rather than focusing on being winless at the 2.45-mile road course, he was reminding himself of his two top-fives there. Earnhardt has victories on the four ovals after the Glen. "Given the right opportunity at any of those tracks," he said, "we could win." Once known for in-race, sometimes-vulgar outbursts on the team's radio, Earnhardt, 37, has sounded calmer this season while embracing the even-keeled nature of crew chief Steve Letarte. "When things look bleak, he don't change his tone, his opinion, his outlook," Earnhardt said. "I've learned how much having a good attitude (is for) your confidence. I thought confidence was elusive. I thought I'd go win and confidence would just happen. But it doesn't. You've got to work on it." Pit notes: Pocono said it would cut the length of its two Sprint Cup events from 500 to 400 miles in 2012. …Kurt Busch will substitute as driver of the No. 22 car in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen for Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski, who is recovering from a broken left ankle. Ninth place earns breathing room for Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt Jr. got exactly what he needed Sunday -- a ninth-place finish that gave him a reasonable margin for error heading into next Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen. It was hardly a perfect performance. Glitches on pit road probably cost Earnhardt three or four spots at the finish. Nevertheless, Earnhardt solidified his 10th-place position in the Cup standings and goes to the Glen with a 23-point advantage over 11th-place Denny Hamlin. "We had a real good car, and we had some real good speed in the car," Earnhardt said. "We had some struggles on pit road, and I know the guys on the team will get that sorted out -- and sometimes we just have mistakes. "Sometimes the driver makes them, sometimes -- there's so many guys on the team it's rare when everyone is kind of clicking. We'll get it sorted out. We had good speed, though, we had a good car all day long, and [I'm] real happy how that worked out." That kind of finish, Earnhardt's first top-10 since June 12 -- the last time the series came to Pocono -- gives him breathing room at the road course at the Glen, not one of his strongest tracks. "Well, we're just going to try and go up there and steal a good finish -- like everyone else, you know," Earnhardt said. "You've got to do different strategy at the road-course races and pit once you get inside the [fuel] window and it's all kind of craziness. It's not really much fun, but that's the way it is." Don't expect Dale Earnhardt Jr. to gamble while on Chase bubble Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t plan on gambling on the track this weekend at Pocono Raceway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver sits 10th in the Sprint Cup standings, the lowest spot he can be six races from now and make the Chase For The Sprint Cup unless he wins a race. Earnhardt Jr. will start 19th in the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 on Sunday at Pocono Raceway. Last week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Earnhardt Jr. said his team couldn’t afford to gamble on fuel and it could be the same as he tries to make the Chase. Earnhardt Jr. has a 19-point cushion on 11th-place Denny Hamlin. “I think the main difference would be you see people making different choices and different strategies at Indy – we feel like we weren’t in a position to really take a gamble of trying to make it on fuel,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “So we played a safer strategy. If we were more in [another] position, we might have taken the gamble and tried to do what some of those guys did to stretch it.” Earnhardt Jr. typically doesn’t qualify well and started the June race at Pocono 21st and wound up sixth. In the six races since then, Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t have a top-10 finish and has dropped from third to 10th in the standings. So he will hope for similar improvement Sunday at a track where he typically doesn’t run all that well. “The track is a lot of fun to race on, but it’s real challenging to pass,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “And with the shifting, it has sort of made it more difficult to pass. “I think track position is going to be real important trying to be out front or do whatever you’ve got to do to come out of that last pit stop in the top-five somewhere around there.” Hendrick, Junior close to contract extension It appears Dale Earnhardt Jr. will soon join Carl Edwards and Juan Montoya as drivers agreeing to contract extensions with their current teams. According to a published report in the Charlotte Observer this week, team owner Rick Hendrick said he expects an agreement within the next 30 days to keep Earnhardt in the Hendrick Motorsports fold. While Edwards personally handled his deal with Jack Roush, Junior said he leaves the negotiations to sister Kelley Earnhardt Elledge. "I really don't get involved in my negotiations too much because I'm too nice," Earnhardt said Friday at Pocono Raceway. "I had to send my sister in there because she is a shark about it. I just want everybody to be happy and everybody to go on down the road and get back to work and move in the right direction and all that good stuff." That's just fine with Junior, who said he'd rather fight it out on the track than in the boardroom. "I also like to try to keep the relationship between me and Rick less about money and more about being friends and trying to do better on the race track and helping each other out," Earnhardt said. "If I had to jump in there, I really don't know if I could put up the fight. I'm just not that kind of guy and would likely come out with the short end of the stick, so I'm probably glad I've got her around." Stewart, Earnhardt Jr. non-committal about Danica Tony Stewart remains non-committal about reports that he plans to make Danica Patrick part of his team's Sprint Cup program and have her run a partial schedule in 2012. "I've heard all kinds of stuff," said Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, on Friday. "I can't say anything (about the rumors)." But that hasn't stopped discussion of the possibility this weekend at Pocono Raceway. Although Patrick is not at Pocono (she's at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, prepping for Sunday's Honda Indy 200), all indications are she will commit her efforts to NASCAR in 2012. Patrick, running a partial schedule this season for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports, is expected to ramp up her efforts with a full Nationwide Series schedule. Earnhardt, however, was not ready to confirm the deal Friday. "Nothing new to report on that," Earnhardt said. "I don't know nothing that I didn't know last week." Earnhardt, however, was clear that Patrick, 29, needed the apprenticeship that his team has provided the last two seasons. "Anyone that comes into the sport — anyone — needs two to three years in the trucks and Nationwide Series to step into Cup Series and be comfortable," Earnhardt said. "Two or three years in Nationwide Series is a pretty decent amount (but even that) would be rushing it in my mind. Cup cars are a real challenge and the travel and the series itself is just a big old pool to jump in right off the bat." Any deal with JR Motorsports might also include Mark Martin, who would not only drive, but help mentor Patrick. But Earnhardt said any decision will be affected by sponsorship and the bottom line. "We can't consider adding to our program without money — and money's tight," he said. Although Patrick's fourth-place finish on March 5 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is her only top-five finish in 19 Nationwide starts, Stewart's teammate Ryan Newman respects Patrick's ability to compete in a male-dominated sport. "She's got a ton of ability and she's been put in an extremely new situation," Newman said. "In a round-about way, we're a bunch of wolves as drivers. So, when she came to NASCAR she took a big step and I don't think she's tripped or fallen. I think she's had to lengthen her stride a few times but she's done a fair job in my opinion. "I've said before and I say again — and I don't mean this at all in a negative way — if she wasn't a 'she,' she wouldn't have had as many chances as she has. But I know she has plenty of talent. I've said from the very beginning — I think when I saw her save a race car in qualifying at Indy — she saved a race car when it got loose and most people can't do that, whether it's a he or a she. Reports are that Patrick, who began racing in the Izod IndyCar Series in 2005, also hopes to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and at least one open-wheel race to tune up for it in 2012. Competing for Andretti Autosport, Patrick has one victory in 109 career starts. She has led 10 of 11 IndyCar races this season but her best finish is a fifth at the Milwaukee Mile. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has high expectations at Pocono, hopes to end six-race skid Dale Earnhardt Jr. can look at recent history rather than his overall record at Pocono Raceway for a bit of confidence that he can stop his six-race slide this weekend. Earnhardt Jr., who has a career average finish of 17.3 at Pocono, finished sixth there in June – his last top-10 finish before a six-race skid that dropped him from third to 10th in the Sprint Cup standings, just 19 points ahead of 11th-place Denny Hamlin. “I had some good runs early [there in my career] and then we struggled for a long time, and then we had a decent finish this year,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I thought on that last run at Pocono we passed a bunch of cars and we were really competitive all the way to the end of the race. “I feel like we can go in there and try to improve. We know a few things we can do a little bit differently.” What’s different this year at Pocono is new gear rules that added an extra gear and make shifting important. For the previous six years, most drivers didn’t shift because the limits on the gears made shifting a disadvantage around the 2.5-mile triangle-shaped track. “You can work a lot with the new shifting rules, and everybody figured out in the race [that] you shift everywhere, not just in Turn 1, and now that really helps you all day long,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I thought you could get away with just shifting in Turn 1 for half the day and then kind of take it easy on yourself and take it easy on the car. To be competitive all day, you have to shift all day.” The Hendrick Motorsports driver said his car needs good balance for the track, which has three distinct corners. “You have to be fast in the first corner, and then you have to be good enough in one of the corners to make it your passing corner and not be bad enough in any of the corners to get passed,” said crew chief Steve Letarte. And then it will come down to strategy. Because drivers don’t usually lose a lap when pitting under green, the race could be much like last week’s Brickyard 400, where drivers pitted for the last time once they were inside their fuel window. “You don’t lose a lap during a pit stop, and it gets very confusing,” Letarte said. “It can get stressful calling a race there.” At least Letarte and Earnhardt Jr. should have a good feel for the track. They were there just eight weeks ago and will take the car that was strong at Michigan. Earnhardt Jr. was running in the top 10 at Michigan, but wound up 21st after late contact with teammate Mark Martin. “The big thing is that the second race is a little bit warmer and the track has a little less grip,” Letarte said. “It will be interesting to see how much less grip it has. The last race there was the first time in a few years that everyone was able to shift again. That is definitely going to affect it. “Now that we have a race under our belts we’ll be going back with things that we have changed. The No. 24 team [of teammate Jeff Gordon] won and he was fast and we were pretty fast. We have high expectations going back.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. seeking NASCAR rebound at Indianapolis Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent much of the first half of the Sprint Cup season on the cusp of ending a three-year winless streak. Now NASCAR's most popular driver is fighting to avoid a three-season skid of missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup. With five consecutive finishes of 19th or worse, Earnhardt, who hasn't made the Chase since 2008 and hasn't won in 112 races, has dropped from third to ninth in the standings with seven races remaining until NASCAR's 10-race title run. The No. 88 Chevrolet nearly won at Martinsville (second), Kansas (second) and Charlotte (seventh, after running out of fuel in the final turn while in the lead) while and has posted eight top 10s in the first 14 races. "I thought I was really seeing Junior getting prepared to go to victory lane," ESPN analyst Dale Jarrett says. "You get in slumps, and sometimes it's hard to get out. You're not exactly sure where to put your finger to try to turn things around." Steve Letarte, Earnhardt's crew chief, says the solution is simple: better qualifying and faster cars. Since winning the Daytona 500 pole, Earnhardt has qualified in the top 10 three times in 17 races. His cars are losing pace after the green flag. "Our team makeup is absolutely there. I don't think our cars are there," Letarte says. "We have proved this race team can do it, but we need better speed." Sunday's Brickyard 400 might not seem the most likely place for a turnaround. Earnhardt has two top-10 finishes in 11 starts at the 2.5-mile oval, but he has qualified well there (five starts of sixth or better) and has salvaged a Chase bid there. Earnhardt had slid from third to 11th in points heading into Indy in 2006, then had a career-best sixth at the track to move into the top 10 in the standings for the rest of the season. Letarte, who won the Brickyard as a crewmember for Jeff Gordon, is hoping to recapture that Indy magic: "When you win there or run well there, it can make your entire season." Qualifying crucial for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at tough Indy track Crew chief Steve Letarte knows that track position will once again be crucial this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And that means a good qualifying effort will be important for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the Hendrick Motorsports team. It’s one reason, Letarte said, that the team finds itself in a difficult position as it looks to stop a five-race slide that has seen Earnhardt Jr. fall from third to ninth in the points standings. While he remains inside the 10-team cutoff for the Chase For The Sprint Cup (based on those that will automatically qualify via their points position), only seven points separates Earnhardt Jr. and 10th-place Denny Hamlin and 11th-place Tony Stewart. A year ago, he was closing in on a potential top-10 finish inside the final 20 laps at Indy when he ran into Juan Pablo Montoya after the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver slapped the outside wall. “Dale runs well there [at Indy], but the big thing we need to do is qualify better,” Letarte said. “The track is very, very hard to pass at.” In 11 career starts at Indy, Earnhardt Jr. has two top-10 finishes with a best of sixth (2006) while his last four starts at the 2.5-mile track have produced three finishes of 27th or worse. His qualifying record includes two starts inside the top five since 2007, but his average starting position through this year’s first 19 stops is an anemic 21.3. Hence the concern by Letarte. “Hopefully the tire will hold on,” Letarte said. “Pit strategy will be important. “Indy is kind of like Daytona and Talladega. If you aren’t fast when you come off the truck, it’s very frustrating. It’s hard to find speed there. “So we are trying to find some speed and make sure we are fast. We need to qualify well and start towards the front of the pack.” The team will unload the same chassis Earnhardt Jr. ran earlier this season at Charlotte, where he limped home seventh after taking the lead on a final green-white-checkered restart before running out of fuel. The key to getting around the legendary track, Earnhardt Jr. said, hinges on the very first turn. “If you can roll down into that corner, there is a lot of speed to be gained there because as you go around the track each corner seems to be easier and freer to get through,” he said. “Turn 4 is the loosest corner. So just turning down in Turn 1 and getting the car turned and being able to carry speed into [Turn] 2 I think creates a good lap. “From there, you build on the momentum and speed from what you did in Turn 1.” His explanation for what it takes to be successful there isn’t nearly as detailed, but just as revealing. “Be leading,” he said. Dale Earnhardt Jr. hires Jimmie Johnson to drive for JR Motorsports Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports is planning on hiring Hendrick Motorsports teamamte Jimmie Johnson to drive its No. 7 Nationwide Series car for the Zippo 200 next month at Watkins Glen, a team spokesman confirmed. Johnson, who has not competed in a Nationwide event since October 2008, will use the race to get extra seat time on the road course. The Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen will be held the following day. JR Motorsports has three races left to fill in its driver lineup for the No. 7 car. Josh Wise will drive at least four more races (Indianapolis, Iowa, Bristol, Charlotte) and Danica Patrick will drive in six more events (Montreal, Richmond, Kansas, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead). Currently open are Atlanta, Chicagoland and Dover. The No. 7 team is 11th in the series owner standings. Country music star Martina McBride remembers good luck charm she gave Dale Earnhardt Country music superstar Martina McBride, who sang the national anthem before the 2011 Daytona 500, returned to Daytona International Speedway and performed a number of her hits at a concert on July 2 prior to the Coke Zero 400. Before the concert, McBride, 44, sat down with Sporting News NASCAR writer Reid Spencer. Sporting News: Why is there such synergy between country music and NASCAR racing? McBride: I think we have very similar relationships with our fans. One thing I've noticed in coming to these races is that the fans are really up-close, and I know that a lot of the drivers have really great relationships with their fans. SN: I heard there's a story about Dale Earnhardt Sr. asking you for an autograph. When and where was that? McBride: I did the national anthem for a race (at Talladega in 2000), and he came up and asked me for an autograph before the race. I saw an interview with him later – he won the race that day – and said that was his good luck charm. He had it in the car with him. SN: What's the fastest you've ever gone in a street car? McBride: When we were here last time (for the Daytona 500), we took a ride (in a pace car) – 120 maybe. It was fun, but it was scary. That was fast enough. I wouldn't want to go any faster than that, but it was exhilarating. SN: Did that give you an appreciation for what the Cup drivers do at 200 mph? McBride: Definitely – but once around was enough for me. SN: Is the national anthem one of the most difficult songs to sing? McBride: It is difficult. For me, the thing that makes me the most nervous is just remembering the words. We can all sing it backward and forward and in our sleep, but you get in front of all those people and the cameras, and you think, 'Oh, I hope I nail all the words.' For me, it's funny, because, after 9/11 – ever since 9/11 – I've had the opportunity to sing our national anthem many times, and I don't have that problem anymore. I think, for my generation, it took on such meaning after that. Danica Patrick still hot, Dale Earnhardt Jr. slipping in popularity Part-time NASCAR driver Danica Patrick ranks third on a list of favorite female sports stars while Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s popularity among sports fans appears to be slipping, according to a recent poll. Conducted last month, the poll by Harris Interactive surveyed 2,163 adults from June 13-20 and asked them to name their favorite male and female sports stars. For the second consecutive year, Patrick was third among female athletes, trailing only the tennis Williams sisters. Serena Williams was first while Venus Williams was second. The rest of the top-10 favorite female athletes include tennis star Maria Sharapova, soccer player Mia Hamm, former tennis star Anna Kournikova, tennis legend Martina Navratilova, WNBA star Sue Bird, beach volleyball player Kerry Walsh and golfer Michele Wie. Patrick, the only female driver to win a IndyCar Series race, was fifth in the poll in 2006, second in 2007 and first in 2008. She has ranked third the last three years. Patrick, 29, races full-time in the IndyCar Series while also driving a part-time Nationwide Series schedule the last two years for JR Motorsports. She is seriously considering a full-time move to NASCAR in 2012. She finished fourth in the Nationwide race at Las Vegas this year to post the highest finish for a woman in a NASCAR national touring series event. Patrick is doing much better than her JR Motorsports’ boss in popularity, according to the poll. Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR most popular driver, was 10th in last year’s poll among favorite male athletes but dropped out of the top 10 this year. Topping the list of favorite male athletes is New York Yankees star Derek Jeter followed by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, NBA star Kobe Bryant, NBA legend Michael Jordan and golfer Tiger Woods. Rounding out the top 10 among favorite male athletes is New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and “Dancing with the Stars” champion Hines Ward, Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Also dropping out of the top 10 with Earnhardt Jr. were former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, NBA star LeBron James and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Earnhardt Jr. looks to regroup Not too long ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked like a lock for a spot in the Chase. But after three less-than-stellar races dating back to a 41st-place finish at Sonoma, Earnhardt is now eighth in the standings with eight races left until the Chase cutoff at Richmond. Even before he slid his tires and blew out another one at Kentucky, Earnhardt -- then seventh in the standings -- was able to draw a stable analysis of where he was in the points. "I'd rather be third," Earnhardt said. "I hate what happened over the last couple of weeks and I look back with some regrets on how we finished our day in Sonoma and what we could have achieved if we had been more patient or tried to take better care of the car. "You could have done a million different things at Daytona and I try not to dwell on that, but it's hard. You know, you think about it -- but what's done is done. You've just kind of got to try to move forward and not let it really bother you too much and try to put together a good weekend -- maybe two or three or four good weekends in a row and try to change the picture of the points system for yourself, five weeks from now and hopefully a better spot." Earnhardt took full blame for the tire mishap at Kentucky and has a fairly decent outlook for New Hampshire. The biggest thing Earnhardt has going for him right now is confidence. "I think we can go everywhere and move forward," Earnhardt said. "I feel real good about how we ran this year and I think we've got opportunities any time we show up to put together a good weekend. So I don't have that kind of worry that I used to have in the past, where I was very inconsistent. We run good and we're fast so I feel like any weekend could be an opportunity for us to put some points together. "The other side of that, too, is I could as easily be looking at sitting 13th, 14th, 17th, 20th in points with a much tougher hill to climb. I feel fortunate to still be where I am in the points and still have opportunity to be in the Chase this year. I want to try to put together the best several weeks, the next eight or nine weeks I can to make sure that happens. I think we can do that. I think we are a good enough team to do that." You can thank Steve Letarte and his Hendrick Motorsports crew for that. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will try to stop four-race skid at tough New Hampshire track Dale Earnhardt Jr. looks to snap a four-race skid during which he has an average finish of 28th as the Sprint Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. While Earnhardt Jr. has never won on the flat 1.08-mile oval, he has six top-fives and 10 top-10s in 23 starts at the track. Even when he struggled last year, he had finishes of fourth and eighth at New Hampshire. The Hendrick Motorsports driver needs to have a good run. He has fallen from third to eighth in the standings in the past four races with finishes of 21st, 41st, 19th and 30th. He has a 21-point cushion on 11th place with eight races left before the Chase For The Sprint Cup field is determined. Earnhardt Jr. needs to stay in the top 10 to be guaranteed a spot in the Chase or likely would need to win a race or two to be eligible for one of the two wild-card positions. Despite his recent struggles, Earnhardt Jr. should feel good about New Hampshire, a flat, 1-mile track where he had two top-10s last year. “Just rolling through the center [of the corner] is the most challenging aspect [of New Hampshire],” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It sounds kind of simple, and we talk about it all the time, but just being fast there is about getting through the middle of the corner and getting the car to rotate, turn and go the other direction. “Basically [it’s] just like Martinsville in a way, where you have to roll the center really fast. Then you have to try to get your car to turn to go the other direction.” If he can get his car running like it did at Martinsville earlier this year, he would be in contention. Earnhardt Jr. finished second at Martinsville in April. His New Hampshire car will be the car that Jeff Gordon raced at Martinsville last October, finishing 20th. “New Hampshire is a very difficult track because it’s such a short race,” crew chief Steve Letarte said about the 301-mile event. “You have to really get your pit strategy right and the track is very hard to get a hold of. “The corners are very slick and have a small radius. To be good there you have to be able to be secure enough that you can arc the car out far enough to turn in the middle and that allows you to have a pretty good drive off. It’s really one of the toughest tracks to get a hold of the whole season.” Earnhardt, Johnson: no hard feelings after Daytona So much for any rift between the NASCAR crews of Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The Hendrick Motorsports teammates downplayed any potential fallout from the decision by Johnson’s team to abandon Earnhardt late in last week’s race at Daytona. Johnson and Earnhardt spent most of the night working as a two-car tandem before Johnson abruptly went to the pits for fuel just before the race went into overtime. Left to fend for himself, Earnhardt ended up 19th after getting caught in a wreck on the final lap, with Johnson finishing 20th. The decision by Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus sent some of the fans of NASCAR’s most popular driver flooding Johnson’s Twitter page to voice their disapproval. Earnhardt joked he later told Johnson that’s why he doesn’t tweet. Atlanta: Win autograph session with ticket For the first time ever, Atlanta Motor Speedway is providing fans the opportunity to win an autograph session with select Sprint Cup Series drivers with a ticket purchase to the AdvoCare 500 on Sept. 4. Fans that purchase tickets to the Cup Series race by July 31 will be entered into a drawing to win autographs from select drivers. The inaugural autograph session will be held at the speedway at 4 p.m. ET on Sept. 2. Six-hundred accounts will be selected during the week of Aug.1. Winning account holders will be notified in advance which drivers they have been randomly assigned. Drawing winners will gain the opportunity to meet and receive autographs from two of the following drivers: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Juan Montoya, Trevor Bayne, A.J. Allmendinger, Casey Mears, Travis Kvapil and Joe Nemechek. NASCAR night racing returns to Atlanta Motor Speedway this Labor Day weekend, Sept. 2-4. Tickets for the AdvoCare 500 start at $39 and $19 for students. Children 12 and under will be admitted free for the Great Clips 300 (Nationwide Series) and the Atlanta 200 (Camping World Truck Series) with an adult ticket. For more information, call the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office at (877) 9-AMS-TIX, (770) 946-4211 or visit www.atlantamotorspeedway.com. Earnhardt fans unhappy with Johnson's last-minute pit stop After Jimmie Johnson won at Talladega Superspeedway in April, crew chief Chad Knaus quickly singled out teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had pushed Johnson to the victory. "Dale, thank you, man," Knaus said on the team's shared radio channel. "That was awesome. Next one's on us, brother." Those words might have come back to haunt his driver in Saturday's Coke Zero 400. After working together throughout 400 miles at Daytona International Speedway— mostly with Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet pushing Earnhardt's No. 88 — Johnson separated from his drafting partner to duck into the pits for a stop on Lap 159 of a scheduled 160. Earnhardt stayed on the track (his crew chief, Steve Letarte, radioed he didn't agree with Knaus' decision to stop), and the Hendrick Motorsports duo wasn't able to hook up again in a race that went 10 laps into overtime. Earnhardt finished 19th after being caught in a 15-car crash while running in the top 10 in the final corner. Fans of NASCAR's most popular driver deluged Johnson with complaints on Twitter. The five-time champion responded : "I didn't leave Jr hanging, you people are crazy. When my crew tells me to pit, I pit. Steve and Chad sort out the details. And if you think either of us could have won from 25th, which is where we were at the caution, you're even more crazy. … Many thanks to the sane Jr nation and to all of my loyal 48 fans. #yourock." Earnhardt didn't take issue with the No. 48's decision afterward. "I'm driving my car, doing what I am told and they decided to do something different," he said. "I can't run the whole damn thing from the seat of the damn race car. I'm just doing what I'm told out there. I don't know how that affected us, if it did at all. It was just a foolish race." Once dominant with seven wins at Daytona and Talladega from 2001-04, Earnhardt hasn't triumphed in 27 restrictor-plate races (where plates are placed on the carburetors to choke airflow to the engine and reduce speeds). This year, a new form of two-car tandem racing has developed, which Earnhardt has referred to as "weird", "crap" and "totally unnatural." "I am really ticked off," he said Saturday. "What kind of move can you make in racing like this? There ain't no move you can make. You just hold it on the mat and try not to wreck." Earnhardt Jr. furious after frustration at Daytona Dale Earnhardt Jr. made it clear he’s no fan of the current style of restrictor plate racing before he even arrived at Daytona International Speedway. “I’m not looking forward to going to Daytona, not with the way the drafting is there,” he said a week before Saturday night’s race. “It’s really weird and kinda wrong on some levels to race that way,” he said the day the track opened. But if there was any doubt, he ended it after a frustrating 19th-place finish that had his passionate army of fans accusing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson of sabotaging Earnhardt’s chance to win. “I am really ticked off. It was a foolish … race. I don’t know what to tell you,” he fumed. “I don’t like this kind of racing and you know it.” Earnhardt didn’t appear to be “ticked off” at Johnson, the teammate he partnered with for the second consecutive plate race. He had pushed Johnson to the win at Talladega in April, and Johnson said all week he was willing to return the favor at Daytona. There once was a time when Earnhardt didn’t need help to win at Daytona, when he could just slice his way to the front and hold off a train of traffic in the closing laps. That’s how he did it 10 years ago, on his first visit to the track following his father’s fatal accident in the 2001 Daytona 500. And that’s how he did it 17 months ago, when he charged from 10th to second in the breathtaking final two laps of the season-opener. But the racing has changed dramatically since then, and drivers now need to create a two-car hookup to get around Daytona. They use one spotter, with the lead driver taking traffic signals, guiding the trailing driver, who is stuck in a perpetual blind spot as he’s glued to the rear bumper. The tandem racing debuted at the start of the season, was elevated to a more sophisticated level at Talladega, and led almost every driver to pick a partner and devise a strategy even before they got to Daytona. “I’d rather have control of my own destiny and be able to go out there and race and just do my own work and worry about my own self,” Earnhardt said on Thursday. “Been growing up all these years racin’ for No. 1, lookin’ out for No. 1, doing my job. This is what I need to do, I need to do this to get up through the pack. This is how my car drives. Now you are doing it so different. Your thought process and everything you think about during the race is nothing near that. “It is just different and weird.” Maybe Earnhardt would have felt differently had the outcome been a little better Saturday night. But as winner David Ragan made his move toward the front with teammate Matt Kenseth, the Earnhardt-Johnson duo found itself mired in traffic. Then they were separated when Johnson ducked onto pit road, but Earnhardt stayed on the track. It was obviously botched communications that sunk their chances at the win. “I’m driving my car, do what I’m told,” Earnhardt said. “They decided to do something different. I can’t run the whole damn thing from the seat of the damn race car. I’m just doing what I’m told out there. I don’t know how that affected us, if it did at all. It probably didn’t.” Johnson, apparently getting blasted on Twitter from angry JR Nation fans, posted on his page immediately after the race that he “didn’t leave Jr hanging” and crew chiefs Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus make the decisions. “You people are crazy,” he wrote on Twitter. “When my crew tells me to pit, I pit. Steve and Chad sort out the details.” But that wasn’t even what ruined Earnhardt’s race. It came later, on the final two-lap sprint, when he said Jamie McMurray drove into the side of his Chevrolet and turned him. “I had it saved, and then he came on and got him another shot,” Earnhardt said. “Brought the KO. punch the second time and spun us around.” The style of racing won’t change before NASCAR goes to Talladega in October, when drivers, maybe even Earnhardt, will be competing for the Sprint Cup championship. Each move will be critical, and every driver will be dependent on someone else. It’s not comfortable for Earnhardt, and he doesn’t think it’s suitable. He’s the most outspoken driver about the current state of plate racing, but he’s definitely not alone. “It’s so hard to see how many hours these (crew) guys put into these cars, to have it torn up in the blink of an eye like that,” Johnson said. “But it is what it is and we’ll just go on to the next one.” Junior's 2001 victory still resonates at Daytona Dale Earnhardt Jr. vividly remembers the moment he realized he had a legitimate shot at winning NASCAR’s first Cup race at Daytona International Speedway since his father’s death at the storied track. It was a head-spinning, stomach-turning, seat-squirming feeling at 200 mph, and it hit him right in the middle of the 2001 July race at Daytona. “We’d led a lot and we were really fast, and I said, ‘Man,”’ Junior recalled this week. “That was when it dawned on me that I might win, that I could win the race. Then I started getting nervous and anxiety about it. Anytime I get a glimpse of hope that something is going to go right, I start to freak out. But it all worked out.” Indeed, it was a storybook triumph—one that remains one of the sport’s most memorable moments. Some believe it was simply too good to be true. Junior led much of the night, but fell to seventh following a late caution flag. He took the green flag with six laps remaining, then regained the lead with moves that seemed more like a movie than real restrictor-plate racing. Darting in and out of the pack alone—racing without the drafting help that is vital at Daytona—it took Earnhardt only a lap and a half to pass everyone in front of him. That kind of dominance prompted skeptics to wonder if Earnhardt’s victory was somehow staged. “That’s a bunch of crap,” said veteran driver Elliott Sadler, who finished third that night. “Us in the sport are not that stupid. NASCAR has credibility and responsibility that they have to keep up with, and I promise you, you can ask anyone in this garage what we go through week in and week out to make sure our cars are right.” Earnhardt’s car was darn-near perfect. It was fast all weekend, especially when the green flag dropped. He led 116 of 160 laps, not a big surprise since he was equally quick five months earlier in the Daytona 500. He finished second to Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Michael Waltrip in the season-opening race, crossing the finish line as his father wrecked behind them. The tragedy changed the landscape of the sport, depriving stock-car racing of its biggest star and bringing safety issues to the forefront. It also focused much of the attention on Earnhardt Jr., who struggled to get comfortable in the role of fan favorite and patriarch. Junior’s victory in NASCAR’s return to Daytona vaulted him to superstardom. “It was one of my favorite wins,” he said. “Of course, it was at that moment I was in a really good place emotionally and personally. It had been a tough year and had been tough on a lot of people around me, a lot of my family, a lot of my close friends, a lot of my father’s close friends. “It was a very difficult time, and I didn’t daydream early. I didn’t daydream about coming in a winning that race. I just wanted to come here and race. I just wanted to race, do my job and go to the next race. I didn’t ever see what happened coming.” The celebration was equally surprising. Earnhardt Jr. spun doughnuts in the grass, then climbed out of his car and jumped into the waiting arms of his crew. He eventually joined Waltrip atop his Chevrolet and shared a hug that seemed to last as long as the fireworks and fanfare. “You can’t script sports,” Waltrip said. “We have 43 cars out there, and even if you wanted to script it, you couldn’t. Sometimes fate intervenes and you get a special moment in time. That night here, right over there, 10 years ago, was special. And this place wouldn’t be near as special if you didn’t hate it at times.” Although Steve Park gave DEI a win the week after Earnhardt’s death and Kevin Harvick provided Earnhardt’s longtime car owner, Richard Childress, a victory in Atlanta a month later, winning at Daytona rendered more closure for family members, friends and fans. “I don’t want to put my win on a pedestal among all the great things that a lot of people did that would have brought a little closure to the situation,” Junior said. “It definitely helped me. I think it helped some people in my family. My dad’s sisters and brothers had mentioned that it was a really neat moment for them. It is what it is. We had an awesome car and you couldn’t write a better story.” Another victory 10 years later might come close. But winning at Daytona in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 might be tougher than ever. The recently repaved track and the tandem racing it has created have changed the way cars circle NASCAR’s famed speedway. And Earnhardt has reluctantly embraced the new ways. “I’d rather have control of my own destiny and be able to go out there and race and just do my own work and worry about my own self,” he said. “It’s really weird and kind of wrong on some levels to race that way and to think like you think. You take care of somebody and you feel this obligation to take care of them and then worry about having them take care of you and how that makes them feel. “It is just different and weird. … If you had a car that (you could) drive up through there and you were smart about drafting and knew what you were doing, you could make some cool things happen.” Ten years ago ... an emotional win for Junior Before Dale Earnhardt Jr. could race again at Daytona International Speedway after his father died there 10 years ago, he had to check the place out, see if he'd be overwhelmed, see if his cold memories there would consume him. The week before NASCAR returned to Daytona for the first time after the 2001 Daytona 500, he took some friends there, in part to show them the place but also to see how he felt. Like a man going ice fishing who isn't sure if the ice is thick enough to hold him, he stepped gingerly onto the grounds. The ice didn't crack. He didn't sink. He felt good. He found he still liked the place. He didn't stay long. While he stopped by to see if he could handle being there, a security guard kicked him out. Ah, but he didn't care. He didn't need to hang out there, he needed to race there. A few days later, he did -- and nobody could catch him. After that humble return, he climbed into a blistering fast car and won the 2001 Pepsi 400. Ten years later, it remains one of the most emotionally satisfying wins in NASCAR history. No one could catch Junior "After Earnhardt lost his life, everybody was just completely crushed," said Rusty Wallace, who finished seventh in that July race. "And then when his own son went back and won there, it was the shot heard around the world and was just an amazing story." The story started in the days leading up to the race, as all eyes were on Junior and how he would react upon returning to NASCAR's most famous and important track. He tried to treat it like any other weekend, and that meant having a good time. "Back then, the schedule was different," he said. "We always had the week off before, which was awesome. Me and my friends would rent a house. We'd take as many people as we could, fill a Suburban, and just have a blast." Earnhardt and his buddies spent the week lounging on the beach during the day and hitting the clubs at night. When the time for the race came, he was ready. He had a fast car. He had his crew of friends and family. And he had a climb-in, drive-fast, let's-win-this-thing zest that endeared him to legions of fans. "I thought it was funny that I had a skull-and-crossbones sticker on the dashboard," Earnhardt said. "Budweiser got mad because it symbolizes poison, and it was sitting next to their logo. It was just a decal someone gave to me on pit road. I put it on there and took off before someone told me to take it off. Tony [Eury] Jr. [the team's car chief] came in halfway through the race and told me Budweiser wasn't happy with it. They wanted me to pull it off. I said, 'I can't reach it. It's way too far.' " Nobody in the race could reach him, either. He led 116 laps of 160; the only thing that threatened to keep him out of Victory Lane was a late caution. Several teams gambled and took two tires, which dropped Earnhardt from the lead to sixth with six laps left. "I hadn't been behind people, so I didn't know how my car would pass," he said. "I knew how it would lead. But I didn't know how quickly I could get back to the lead, if six laps would be enough. So I was in panic mode when the green came out, trying to make up those spots. The car did a lot of amazing things in those few laps, making passes and runs, everything just fell in place, like it was meant to be." Junior held the lead coming off of Turn 4 on the last lap. In today's NASCAR, because of the way the draft has changed, leading in Turn 4 would not guarantee a win. But teammate Michael Waltrip was in second place protecting him. And back then, the lead was the place to be coming off of Turn 4. His win set off a raucous celebration in the stands, in the infield and in Victory Lane, though the latter was delayed. "I wasn't in any big hurry to go to Victory Lane and do the hat dance," Earnhardt said. "So I pulled into the infield. I knew my team would run out there. Michael came down there, and his team came down there." 'It felt good to feel good' One of the enduring images from the night is Earnhardt and Waltrip standing on Waltrip's car. When the celebration moved to Victory Lane, Earnhardt was joined by his buddies and NASCAR officials, including NASCAR president Mike Helton, who five months earlier had announced the death of the father of the young man he now found himself celebrating beside. "It felt good," Helton said. "And it felt good to feel good." Ten years later, much of the Victory Lane celebration is a blur for Junior. His favorite part of the whole weekend came later that night ... or perhaps it was very early the next morning. "For whatever reason, we decided not to be in a hurry to get home," he said. "So after the race we were standing around in the bus lot, drinking beers. I wasn't really taking huge stock in everybody who was there. But I knew my friends were there, and there were a couple people from my team, and a couple random bus drivers and whatnot. I had been standing there 10 minutes and I look to my right, and right next to me was Dale Jarrett, drinking a beer. I looked over and said, 'What are you doing here?' "He said, 'I wouldn't miss this for the world, having a beer with you guys after that race.' "That was the best part of the whole deal. At that point, I was still real young. You don't know how people perceive you. You don't know what other drivers think about you. For him to join in on the tiny little celebration we had going there, meant a lot to me. It was a hell of a gesture. I really gained a ton of respect for him. I leaned on him a bunch after that the rest of my career. When I needed to know something, he's one of the guys I went to immediately." Meanwhile, fans poured out of the speedway, amazed at what they had just witnessed. "It was an incredible turn of events," said Brian France, who at the time was executive vice president of NASCAR and now is its chairman and CEO. "It actually felt like, even though it was impossible to get, a little bit of closure from the tragedy that had just happened. It gave everybody a great feeling, that's for sure. The emotions of the fans leaving that night was one for the ages." And it wasn't just fans. It is one of the few races in which other competitors have openly admitted they are glad someone else won. "I was invited on a trip with several owners, and we went on it right after that race, and that was all they talked about," Wallace said. "They were so excited that he had won that race on the track where his father lost his life." Ten years later Dale Earnhardt Jr. has changed tremendously since that race. He was a young man finding his way then, still reeling from the public death of his father. He's fully grown now, as a driver, personality and icon of the sport. That win helped him rise to become NASCAR's most popular driver, a title he has held despite titanic struggles in recent seasons. He nearly won the championship in 2004 but has not been a factor since. He joined Hendrick Motorsports before the 2008 season, but he has won only one points race driving the best cars in the industry, and a fuel-mileage one at that. He has morphed from a driver overflowing with climb-in, drive-fast, let's-win-this-thing zest to one numbed by climb-in, no-chance, this-thing's-slow uncertainty. But in recent weeks he has shown glimpses of that old Dale Jr. He has run up front, come close to winning a few races and is flashing confidence he hasn't shown in years. A win on Saturday night -- which would end a 109-race winless streak and is a real possibility -- would go a long way toward bringing the old Dale Jr. completely back, or at least as completely back as he's ever going to get. Dale Earnhardt Jr. to bring pole-winning car back to Daytona, plans to draft with teammate Jimmie Johnson again Dale Earnhardt Jr. will climb behind the wheel of a familiar car this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. Not only is it the car he used to push Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson to the win in April at Talladega, but the chassis is the one that he drove to the Daytona 500 pole in February. Earnhardt Jr. ended up not racing the car in February because of a wreck later in the week. Still, it is a car that he is familiar with and has confidence in when practice begins Thursday for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400. “We’ve got a fast car,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We sat on the pole there in February. We rebuilt that car and we’re taking it back. And I’m sure it’ll be great. I’m sure it will race really well.” Earnhardt Jr. plans to work with Johnson again in the two-car draft that has become prevalent in restrictor-plate races. While he pushed Johnson to the win at Talladega in April, Earnhardt Jr. ended up fourth in the three-wide battle to the finish line, which produced the closest finish since NASCAR implemented electronic timing and scoring. At least that was a better finish than at Daytona in February when he wrecked and finished 24th. Earnhardt Jr. led nine laps at Daytona and 11 laps at Talladega. “It looks like you’re just going to have to team up with a guy and work with him all day long and try to stay out of wrecks and push him to the lead or get pushed to the lead, you know?” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I don’t know. It’s all going to come down to circumstances.” Not a fan of the two-car draft, Earnhardt Jr. will just try to make the best of it. He has two career Cup wins at Daytona, including the emotional victory in July 2001 following the death of his father in the 2001 Daytona 500. This race will mark the 10-year anniversary since that win. “I have a lot of pride in this place,” said Earnhardt Jr., who also won the 2004 Daytona 500. “I have a lot of great memories here.” Earnhardt not sad to see Infineon behind him Dale Earnhardt Jr. is no fan of Infineon Raceway, and that didn't change Sunday after an early wreck ultimately ended his race. Earnhardt was collateral damage in a seven-car accident triggered when Tony Stewart moved Brian Vickers out of his way at the entrance to Turn 11. The damage included a hole in Earnhardt's radiator, and his engine eventually blew, leading to just his second DNF since 2009. "I'm not a big fan of the place, but maybe one of these days," Earnhardt said, noting the physical nature "is just the way the road courses are. That's the way the race has been here for a while, and you know what you sign up for when you show up on Friday." Next up is Daytona, where Earnhardt could snap his three-year losing streak. But he surprisingly wasn't looking forward to that race because of the changes in the drafting style. Long a fan of pack racing, Earnhardt doesn't enjoy the two-car tandems -- even though he pushed teammate Jimmie Johnson to a victory at Talladega in April. "I'm not looking forward to going to Daytona, not with the way the drafting is there," he said. "But we'll just have to see if we can get lucky out there. What's after Daytona? I'll be glad to go there." Dale Earnhardt Jr. plans to lean on Hendrick teammates as he seeks first top 10 at Infineon road course Dale Earnhardt Jr. heads to Infineon Raceway, and while he hopes to run well on the California road course, his expectations might not be as high as they have been at other tracks this year. Earnhardt Jr. has never finished in the top 10 on the 1.99-mile road course, but has 11th-place finishes in 2003, 2004 and 2010. He has led laps only once – nine laps in the 2004 race. He has done slightly better at Watkins Glen – NASCAR’s other road course – with two top-five and three top-10 finishes in 11 starts. He will drive a car at Infineon that Jeff Gordon wheeled to a 10th-place finish last year at Watkins Glen. The car is part of the stable for crew chief Steve Letarte, whose crew moved from working with Gordon last year to Earnhardt Jr. this year. The move has paid dividends as Earnhardt Jr. has three top-five and eight top-10 finishes this year and is third in the Cup standings after 15 races. Earnhardt Jr. has reason to be somewhat optimistic – he had only three top-20 finishes in his first seven starts at the Sonoma, Calif. track, but has three top-13 finishes in his last four starts there. “We ran really good there last year and finished 11th,” Earnhardt Jr. said in a news release. “I like Sonoma, but it's tough. [With] Steve and Jeff, there is a lot of talent there on road courses to lean on. “I’m pretty confident with the setup we’ve got for this weekend. I’ve got some of the best road-course racers as teammates, so we should be pretty good.” Infineon is the track where Earnhardt Jr. suffered severe burns while racing a Corvette in a road-racing event in July 2004. Spins, scrapes and struggles ... oh my! Hendrick Motorsports had a day at Michigan International Speedway that's hard to forget, for all the wrong reasons. Jimmie Johnson spun out eight laps into the race. Jeff Gordon struggled all day with an ill-handling car. And just to make sure everyone participated equally in the misery, Mark Martin collided with Dale Earnhardt Jr. with less than 15 laps remaining. "Tough day," Johnson said in an understatement. It wasn't a matter of what could possibly go wrong for a Hendrick car in Sunday's Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400. It was more of what could possibly happen next? "The defining moment probably was getting run into the wall by Mark," Junior said. "We had fixed the car, we were moving forward and we were doing pretty well at that point, but, you can't do nothing about getting run over or getting run into the wall." Already frustrated after bouncing off the wall near the end of a long green-flag run, Earnhardt was able to get the No. 88 Chevy repaired, thanks to a few swings of the sledgehammer on the left rear wheel well. However, the later incident with Martin eventually led to a cut tire, a 21st-place finish and some harsh words. "I got on the outside of Mark and he just came on up and drove us into the fence off the corner," Junior said. "I don't know if his spotter wasn't spotting good or whether he just couldn't see good or what, but [he] just ran us slap into the wall. I don't know how else to explain it other than that. "It blowed the right front tire out eventually. We had got the car pretty good at that point and were kind of moving forward. I don't know, man, you know? The car went away from us in the middle of the race. I guess we can try to get our stuff together and go back the next week and try to see what we can do." Earnhardt said he expected more awareness from a veteran driver like Martin. "I perceived that he didn't know I was on the outside [of him]," Earnhardt said. "He knew I was up there, but he was just running hard. If the tables were turned, I would have been smarter and given him plenty of room, [more] than he did me. "He is older than me, been racing forever and knows a lot more than I'll ever get, or he has forgotten more stuff than I'll never know. Still, I take better care of people than that." About 10 minutes later and after talking to Martin, Earnhardt got an explanation he could accept. "I want to finish where I'm supposed to finish, and that really didn't happen today, so I was real PO'd about it," Earnhardt said. "Mark came and gave me a good explanation and I believe it and it's the end of it. ... I got the air screwed up around him and he got real tight off of [Turn] 2 and pushed into the wall. "He was off the gas when we got together. There was nothing he could do." Martin accepted the blame for not realizing Earnhardt was that close. "I would have given him room if I'd known he was there," Martin said. "It was too late. I had my front wheels cut and I let off the gas and that's all I could do at that point. My mistake. My mistake. "I don't have a history of having problems. I don't think I have one now. ... I feel like I give everybody on the race track respect. I made a mistake." None of the four Hendrick cars qualified particularly well but had run near the top of the leaderboard in practice. But before the fans had even settled back into their seats after the start of the race, Johnson spun coming out of Turn 2. With a flat right-front tire, Johnson was able to limp back to the pits. But in doing so, he created another problem. "We got turned around early and ground the sway bar off the right front," Johnson said. The No. 48 team removed the damaged part and replaced the tire but not before the pace car passed by on the track, putting Johnson a lap down. A debris caution 20 laps later put Johnson in a position to get his lap back but crew chief Chad Knaus opted to replace the sway bar, an extensive process that left the No. 48 two laps behind the leaders. Johnson was competitive the rest of the way but with just five cautions in all, he wound up 27th. "We lost a couple laps from that and we were just kind of in a hole at that point and couldn't get caught back up," Johnson said. Gordon missed most of the fireworks but had his own issues, mainly a car that refused to handle. He started 31st and was mired in the back of the pack for much of the day. He eventually broke into the top 10 with 40 laps remaining, but couldn't maintain that position, sliding back to 17th at the conclusion of the event. Earnhardt back in Michigan, hoping for elusive win Dale Earnhardt Jr. tries not to worry about his winless stretch, which reached three years this week. Of course, now that he's back in Michigan, the site of his last victory, there's no avoiding the questions. "Would like to win a race," Earnhardt said. "We're trying to, but we don't want to get too careless about it and start taking too many chances that are foolish." The date was June 15, 2008. Earnhardt's fuel-mileage victory at Michigan International Speedway snapped a 76-race winless string shortly after he teamed up with Hendrick Motorsports. Since then, he's raced 107 times on the Sprint Cup circuit without finishing first. Despite all that, NASCAR's most popular driver is a lot more upbeat these days. Although he has yet to win, he has eight top-10 finishes in 14 races this season, equaling his total for all of 2010. He's third in the points standings entering Sunday's race. "I think I'm having one of the best years I've ever had," he said. The talk of his drought will persist until Earnhardt wins a race, but at least he's in contention now on a regular basis. Kevin Harvick passed him with four laps remaining to win at Martinsville Speedway in April. Earnhardt led on the final lap last month at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but settled for seventh after his gas tank ran dry. He finished second in Kansas and sixth at Pocono Raceway last weekend. Sure, it's frustrating for his many fans, but it beats being irrelevant. "I felt like last year and the year before that, I wasn't competitive enough to even worry about it," Earnhardt said. "Now this year, we're running good, and I can think about wins, I can think about missed opportunities that we've had a little bit more. But they don't bother me." And even if Earnhardt does win soon, he won't be satisfied. "One race doesn't make a season. One win really doesn't make a season," he said. "We would definitely like to win several races, and I would definitely feel like we're where we need to be, potential-wise. We're not now. We're getting there. We're doing good, but we still know we can do better." The improvement has been obvious, especially to Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon, who won at Pocono. "Those guys are having a spectacular season," Gordon said. "I've been in that situation before where we're having a great year, we're up there leading the points or battling for the championship and we hadn't won a race and that's where the focus was. That, to me, is not right. ... I think if they keep doing what they're doing, the win will come." It would be fitting if it comes this weekend at MIS, where Earnhardt has five top-10 finishes in his last nine Cup races. If not, he'll simply move on to the next race and try to keep putting himself in position to be a factor. He finished 21st in the standings last year and 25th in 2009, but those days feel like a distant memory now, and the support from his die-hard fans remained strong all along. "I know that you don't get a lot of second chances in this sport, and I could have easily been written off over the last couple years," he said. "I'm glad to have people that believe in me and stuck with me, and hopefully we can continue to make it pay off. We're just barely starting to turn the corner, I think." Now, Earnhardt feels like a threat to contend in pretty much every race, and he can start to anticipate what it will feel like to win again. "I've always felt like you celebrate every win like it could be your last. You never know what could happen in this sport. I always have tore down Victory Lane every time we've been there," he said. "We definitely have enjoyed it every time, and if we get the opportunity again this year, we'll do it." Three years removed from his last win, Dale Earnhardt Jr. expects good result at Michigan Dale Earnhardt Jr. has handled his trips to Michigan International Speedway well the last couple of years. He likes the track, but it’s also symbolic because the 2-mile track is the place where he last won a Sprint Cup race. The only victory for Earnhardt Jr. has earned as a Hendrick Motorsports driver came at Michigan in his first year driving for the team, and he has gone winless in 107 races since that June 2008 triumph. But this weekend should be easier to handle. At least his performance shows he can once again compete for victories in NASCAR's Cup Series. Earnhardt Jr. sits third in the points standings entering the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 this weekend at Michigan. “I’m really happy to be running well and being up front,” Earnhardt Jr. said after a sixth-place run last Sunday at Pocono, a place where he has struggled in recent years. “It’s surely a difference from the last couple of years, so I feel fortunate and feel lucky to be able to compete.” The difference in the last 14 races is not only in performance. He now works with the Steve Letarte-led crew and Earnhardt Jr. obviously is more upbeat after missing the Chase For The Sprint Cup in 2009 and 2010. “We changed everything,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’m in a new shop, new team, new crew chief. Everything has been changed. “I don’t know what else different I can do. That’s a lot. We’ve made a lot of changes.” The team will take a new chassis to Michigan, where Earnhardt Jr. has led at least one lap during his last 11 starts and has one career win, two poles and four top-five finishes. He won the 2007 race with the help of fuel mileage. “I feel like we’ve run pretty good the last several times we’ve raced there,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I really like the race track. It’s a real fun place to race. You’ve got to have a lot of motor and you can’t use a lot of gasoline. “When we put a lot of gas in these cars to go fast, you end up running short. A lot of times that is a fuel-mileage race. You do need a lot of motor though and we’re pretty good in that department.” Twice this season, fuel mileage has impacted the 36-year-old’s performance. He nearly won at Charlotte three weeks ago but ran out of fuel and then stretched his fuel for a second-place finish at Kansas. He can expect that he might need to stretch fuel again this weekend. “It’s just the fact that we don’t have a lot of cautions there,” crew chief Steve Letarte said. “A fuel run at Bristol is so long that a chance of having a caution within a fuel run is pretty high and Michigan you don’t. “You do a lot of green-flag stops at Michigan, and sometimes at the end, that’s how it comes down.” The wide race track makes it one of drivers’ favorites because they can search for a lane that works best. Earnhardt Jr. often likes the high side, and if he can make it work, he should contend for the win. “Michigan tends to get really slick on race day so you need a car that is still able to carry entry speed when the pace slows down and the cars want to come up out of the race track,” Letarte said. “It’s also important to have a car that can move from the top to the bottom so when you catch traffic, you can take a lane that they aren’t in. “It’s a multi-groove track, and it’s very, very wide. If you have a car that’s good enough to change grooves to pass somebody, then you’ll have good day.” Mall trip at Pocono indicative of Earnhardt's growing confidence Those looking for signs of newfound confidence in Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to go 10 miles east of Pocono Raceway to find it Saturday. Earnhardt turned a few heads with a surprise appearance at a large outlet mall in Tannersville, Pa., where he and crew chief Steve Letarte spent the afternoon shopping. Letarte reportedly turned down a chance to go fishing to spend time with his driver. Not surprisingly, one of the stops was at the adidas store, a brand Earnhardt endorses. The driver of the No. 88 car also made purchases at a variety of other outlets and stopped to chat briefly with Joey Logano's crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, who also was making the rounds. For Earnhardt fans, the surprise public appearance was a welcome signal -- a coming-out party of sorts -- and a symbol of the closeness and trust he has developed with Letarte, who moved from Jeff Gordon's No. 24 Chevy to Earnhardt's No. 88 during the offseason. As Earnhardt struggled during 2009 and 2010, he became more reclusive. Saturday's trip to the mall was a refreshing change. Interestingly, reporters who also were shopping at the mall (a popular stop on the Cup circuit) didn't see a single fan ask Earnhardt for an autograph, either out of respect for his privacy or -- more likely -- because they didn't recognize him in street clothes. Earnhardt finished sixth Sunday, his eighth top-10 of the year, which equals his total for the entire 2010 season. Keselowski still following Earnhardt's example Brad Keselowski's phone was vibrating, and he couldn't wait to find out who was calling. So he broke the rules. From the confines of a commercial airplane that had just landed but wasn't yet at its designated gate, Keselowski punched up the voice mail from Dale Earnhardt Jr. that would change his life. "I remember every bit of it," Keselowski said Friday from Pocono Raceway, where he was preparing for this Sunday's 5-Hour Energy 500. "I remember I was on a plane from Memphis and had to go through Atlanta. I got on the plane at Memphis and landed in Atlanta, and the [Sprint] Cup guys were in Loudon [N.H.]. I had a voice mail from Dale. "I can remember specifically trying to check it on the plane. You know how you turn on your phone right when you land? When you're not supposed to have it on, but you're trying to sneak and listen to messages? You know how the deal goes. I'm trying to do the secret lean-in and listen-to on a commercial plane -- and I remember hearing that message. He said, 'Hey, I'd like for you to drive my Nationwide [Series] car.' That was it. I was like, 'Yessss!' I just wanted to shout it out and pump my fist into the air." Earnhardt had left the message after watching Keselowski drive in the Truck Series for Germain Racing a day earlier in Memphis. Keselowski won the pole for that race and ended up finishing 16th. "I saw him run that truck and I said, 'The kid's got speed. I love the lineage, the racing family ... his father [Bob] and the history there.' I knew that he, having driven the 23 car in the Nationwide Series at the time, got some pretty good speed out of that car and appreciated what good equipment could do. I thought I might be able to help him," Earnhardt said. "I just felt like if we gave him a shot, it was going to work out. I thought he had the speed and he had the appreciation for the equipment, so he wouldn't go out there and tear up all our stuff -- because we were on a pretty tight budget on that deal. And he took care of our cars, and we eventually got the team where it needed to be." The rest, as they say, is history. Earnhardt wasn't pleased with how his No. 88 Chevrolet team was running in the Nationwide Series at the time, so he plucked Keselowski, then only 23, from obscurity and put him in the car for the final 14 races of the 2007 season. The team and the driver benefited mutually from the association. Keselowski won two races in 2008 and four more in 2009, finishing third in points both seasons. "When he first got in there, we were maybe a 13th-place team every week," Earnhardt said. "He gave us the ability to start getting the team where it needed to be -- just because he was such a quick study and such a good, fast driver. He gave us the stability to be able to find the other flaws in the race team, rather than wondering if it was just the driver. I don't know. I just figured he'd probably work out." They split ways after the 2009 season, when Keselowski had the opportunity to drive full time in both Nationwide and Cup for Penske Racing. He won six races and the Nationwide championship last year in his first year with Penske -- and last Sunday at Kansas Speedway, Keselowski held off Earnhardt to win his first Cup race of this season and only the second of his brief career. Keselowski ended a 75-race winless Cup streak in doing so, but prevented Earnhardt from breaking his own winless drought, which is now up to 106 races. Keselowski said he didn't feel the least bit guilty about it, either. "You don't feel guilty about wins," Keselowski said. "I felt like we executed on what was a good weekend, and I felt good about that." Yet Keselowski knows he learned a bunch from driving the No. 88 Nationwide car for JR Motorsports. "It's still tough for me to this day to kind of manage our relationship that we have as friends -- because you always do look at him as the boss," Keselowski said. "So for me, it was tough to be with him where you one day you would kind of hang out and do some cool stuff, and then the next day you'd be doing something else and he'd be in the boss role. So it was always tough for me to balance those two deals. "But for the most part, he did a good job of always telling me the good news. And there was a lot of good news when I was with him." Basically, Earnhardt did a good job of letting Keselowski be Keselowski. There were plenty of times then -- and have been plenty more since -- when the brash, young driver has angered some of the older veterans in the sport. But Earnhardt said he felt he had to let Keselowski learn for himself what flies and doesn't fly in the sport. "Well, I told him I'd rather not have him running over people. He ran into the back of a few people," Earnhardt said. "But it wasn't my job to be a father [figure] to him; it wasn't my job to father him in that way. He's going to be whatever style of race car driver he wants to be. I felt like he was a little rough at times, but we were still winning races and still having success. I might not always agree with what he was doing on the race track, but he was his own man and I figured I would let him go down the road and learn his own lessons from it. And it seems like he has. "I don't know if he regrets much. He probably wouldn't change much about it. But I think he makes better decisions now, based on that experience." Earnhardt said it just wasn't his style to tell Keselowski what to do or how to act all the time. "You can sit there and tell somebody, 'Look, man don't do this. This is the way you ought to do it. Do it just like this.' But in the end, they've got to go through that process themselves, make some mistakes on their own and learn from them," Earnhardt said. "I don't like being the guy standing there preaching to you about how to race, how to run, what you need to be doing like I'm some kind of damn know-it-all, because I'm not." Keselowski said he has carried what Earnhardt taught him in terms of patience with a young driver to his own new role as an owner in the Truck Series. Parker Kligerman currently sits eighth in the Truck standings as the driver for Brad Keselowski Racing. "There are probably things I do to this day that Dale doesn't agree with," Keselowski said. "But that's what life is -- it's making your own mistakes and learning from them, and all that stuff. You have to make a lot of mistakes on your own. "I've got Parker Kligerman driving for me in the Truck Series, and there are many, many times where I would like to sit down and just grab him and say, 'What are you doing, man? You need to do this and you need to do that.' But at the end of the day, you know he has to learn that stuff on his own." Just as his boss, once the mere young employee, eventually did. Earnhardt back in the high life again Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes his first win in three years is on the way. He’s just not ready to predict where he’ll celebrate in Victory Lane. Earnhardt was in a jovial mood Friday at Pocono Raceway, and with good reason. He’s coming off a second-place finish, is third in points and has been enjoying his finest season since his move to Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt still hasn’t won in 106 races, but he’s getting close. And he says that beats running 25th every week. He finished 21st in the standings last year and 25th in 2009, yet he’s maintained his grip as NASCAR’s most popular driver. He’s not satisfied, though. Earnhardt knows he has to win a race for fans and critics to believe he’s really a contender. Dale Earnhardt Jr. looks to snap winless streak at Pocono, where he's never won Dale Earnhardt Jr. appears on the verge of snapping his 106-race winless streak, but if he does so this weekend, he will have to win for the first time in 23 Cup starts at Pocono Raceway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver, coming off a second-place finish at Kansas, sits third in the points standings and has been in contention to win the last two weeks. He will take the car that finished 12th at Dover last month to Pocono, a place where he has one pole, two runnerup and six top-10 finishes. While he hasn’t won at Pocono, Earnhardt Jr. says he is enjoying coming to the race track more than the last two years when he has struggled. “I’ve run some really good cars and I’ve had some real good times racing and being in those cars,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I just enjoy competing where I feel like I should be able to compete. I have an opinion ... about what kind of talent I’ve got and where I should be running in the races. “When I’m close to that or doing that or matching that then I get happy and I feel content and satisfied and obviously this year has been a better year for me. It could be even better and hopefully we’ll get to that next level.” Pocono is known for its triangular shape with three distinct turns. “I think you have to be decent in all of them,” said crew chief Steve Letarte. “I think everyone that says you have to have one really good one, that’s kind of a farce. I think you have to be good in all of them. You can’t afford to give up a corner. “I think that the driver can help you the most in Turn 1, so that’s probably the one we will focus on the least. I think you have to have a really good car to get through turns 2 and 3. It’s hard to go up there with a game plan.” Letarte is in his first year of working with Earnhardt Jr., and while they have obviously clicked – Earnhardt Jr. failed to make the Chase For The Sprint Cup in 2009 and 2010 – Letarte still needs to learn what his driver likes at each track they visit for the first time. “We are going to go up there with what we ran with Jeff [Gordon] last fall,” Letarte said. “That car was really fast through the tunnel turn [Turn 2] and Turn 3, and hopefully Dale can get it through Turn 1." Earnhardt Jr. should be able to handle that, and if not, he has confidence in Letarte to get it right. “He's real smart with the cars,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “He's not afraid to try what he sees other people doing. And he's just sharp. We all could do better and be better at our job, but right now it's working out. “We're getting along great. We're running good. Hopefully we can keep it up. It's going along good. I'm not going to do anything to mess it up. I'm going to try hard to stay on the positive side and work hard right along with him, give him everything he needs.” Earnhardt pre-emptively apologetic for second place, focuses on starting spots For the second week in a row, fuel mileage bit Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the last lap of a Sprint Cup Series race. But the best news for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, who moved into third in the championship battle with his runner-up finish in Sunday's STP 400 at Kansas Speedway, was that his No. 88 Chevrolet's tank ran dry at the start/finish line and not halfway through the last, 1.5-mile lap. So amazingly enough, Earnhardt came to the infield media center -- hot, sweaty and grimy -- apologetic, of all things, for his performance. He softened up when he was asked why he didn't sound happier about his comeback from nearly spinning out once. "You're right -- and when I get home by myself that's how I'll feel about it. But in the grand scheme of things I've got a lot of people that are...there's a lot of people who will remind you throughout this sport of how fortunate you were and how lucky you were and all those things. "So I like to beat them to the punch and let them know I realize how fortunate I was [Sunday] to get second place. Track position [was my biggest obstacle]. I had a good car, just started way back there in the back, man -- and it's so hard to pass here. And so starting where we did, it just wasn't easy. We need to fix that, somehow." Actually, he felt worse about the fact he'd brought out the race's penultimate caution, at lap 154, when he performed a smoky half-spin that ended up inside Turn 4. "I spun out up there tryin' to find a little more speed on the top," Earnhardt said. "Just real loose, which I liked. It was hot and slick and that is the way I like it. Just trying to get a little too much there and lost track position. "We had a good car, though. It was fast all day. We shouldn't have run second again. We've got to fix some things. We've got fast cars so we can be fast." And actually that, more than anything else, was truly the most pleasant aspect of Sunday. Because when Earnhardt raced for a number of laps, all-out trying to catch and then successfully pass Denny Hamlin to the inside for second on lap 257, both men thought victory was at stake. And for Earnhardt and Hamlin -- perhaps more than any other drivers in the Cup garage -- a victory any time soon would be terrifically significant. Earnhardt's longest losing streak of his career reached 106 races Sunday; Hamlin, after finishing second in the Chase last season, is yet to win this year. "It was fun racing Denny, I don't get to race him too much," Earnhardt said, brightening considerably when it was pointed out he'd actually out-raced someone with as much at stake as he had, in the big picture. "Yes, that's a good point. I was told that that was the race for the win. And I genuinely believed what Steve [Letarte, crew chief] was telling me, because I didn't think the 2 would make it. But he saved a lot of gas. He did a great job. "[But] I was faster than Denny the last 100 laps of the race. There was a stretch where I could tell I was running him down. I would see more and more of them as the run went on, so we had a great car." That's what will make for a lot more pleasant day for Earnhardt and Hendrick fans as the summer continues. Where that comes from gives you the tiniest glimpse into the depths of the guy who just wants to race, and race well, before he's allowed to retreat into his own space for a few precious hours. That's what he was looking forward to Monday. "It'll probably be tomorrow [before he recovers from the day racing in the heat]," Earnhardt said. "I want to lay by the pool and drink some vodka or whatever. I'll probably chug a lot of water [Sunday] night so I'm hydrated for [Monday]." Other than his rehabilitation program, probably the coolest thing is that Junior's heading toward his first Chase in three years on merit, pure and simple. And when he and his team do win -- and that day is coming soon -- it will be a bonus not only to Junior, Hendrick and their thousands of fans -- but to all of NASCAR. But that qualifying performance has got to change, and Earnhardt knows it. Outside of Daytona, where he won the pole, and Talladega, the 88 has only qualified better than 22nd once -- a third at Dover. "That's terrible," Earnhardt said. "Terrible. But everything's out of control when I go drive it. When I race, I'm fine. We just gotta figure out what we need to do. It can't be that hard. We need to start in the top 10 so we ain't gotta work the first three quarters of the race trying to get within sight of it, that's about it." The way this season's gone so far, the bet is that'll come a little sooner than later. Otherwise, Earnhardt's already proven good at apologizing. "I don't know, man," Earnhardt said. "Every time I always thought I could do better or the problem was me, we'll go down the road somewhere, flip the switch on the car, do something to the car that gives you what you need, and you're like 'damn, it wasn't me.' "But I qualified good last year some, which we've been terrible this year." But his racing's made up for it, even if circumstance like fuel mileage gambles haven't. That's OK with him. "No, I can wait [for a non-fuel-mileage victory]," Earnhardt said. "I might." Forbes Says Schumacher Highest-Earning Driver He may not have reprised his earlier successes since returning, but Michael Schumacher is still the highest-earning driver in Formula One. That is the finding of business magazine Forbes, according to its latest annual ranking of the world's 50 highest paid athletes. German Schumacher, 42, appears at No. 9 on the list with a reported US $34 million in earnings. The number takes into consideration not only his Mercedes retainer but, according to Forbes, an athletes' "bonuses, prize money, appearance fees, licensing and endorsement income." Schumacher is therefore two places higher than Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, with $32 million. Lewis Hamilton ranks 15th with his $30 million, two places behind MotoGP's Valentino Rossi, with $31m. NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson also appear in the top 50, with Earnhardt ranked highest of the trio at 17th. Forbes said the world's highest earning athlete is golfer Tiger Woods ($75m), with the average earnings of the top 50 being $28m — 11 percent down on 2010. Dale Earnhardt Jr. expects team to rebound from Charlotte disappointment, optimistic about Kansas race Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t expect his Hendrick Motorsports team to carry the disappointment of nearly winning the Coca-Cola 600 to Kansas Speedway this weekend. Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas while leading on the final lap Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway and saw his winless streak extended to 105 races. But the strength of his car and solid performance before the final lap was enough for him to be optimistic going into Kansas, a track where he hasn’t had the best results. Earnhardt Jr. led just two laps at Charlotte but ran in the top 10 all night before finishing seventh. “These guys just have to lift their heads up, man, because we are doing a good thing,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We're building a good team and building good chemistry and if they keep their heads up, we'll keep improving. “That's what is important. If we let this bother us too much, we won't improve as much as we should. So, we want to win races and we are getting close enough that a couple of them are about to fall in our lap and when we get that little extra stint, we'll be in business." Fourth in the Cup standings, Earnhardt Jr. will drive the same car in the STP 400 this weekend that he finished 14th with at Darlington Raceway earlier this year. “Kansas is the first of the lower-banked, mile-and-a-half tracks,” crew chief Steve Letarte said. “Kansas is hard to prepare for based on anywhere we’ve run so far this year. It’s a little like Vegas. It’s a little like Texas. It’s a little like California. “It’s not completely like any of the three. Kansas will prepare you for Michigan and Chicago. It’s not really like anywhere we’ve been so far, but I think you will find that the cars that were fast at Charlotte and Texas will be fast there.” That means Earnhardt Jr. should be fast at a track where he has struggled to find speed, where he has a best finish of sixth and four top-10s in 10 starts. His average finish at Kansas is 19th. “Kansas is a tough track, but I enjoy running there,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It is getting slick down in (turns) 3 and 4 and off of Turn 2. “Just trying to get good forward bite out of the corner without getting the car too tight in the middle, that’s the key.” Letarte believes they can get that done as Earnhardt Jr. has been willing to try new things to make his car go fast. “Dale has brought a fresh breath, a fresh voice, a fresh approach to our race team,” said Letarte, who had been crew chief for Jeff Gordon until an offseason swap of Hendrick crew chiefs. “There was nothing wrong with Jeff Gordon. Sometimes change is necessary, and I think Dale Jr. has brought that change to this race team. “We are starting to approach tracks a little more open minded, a little more flexible than what we planned on running. Honestly, his driving style is more similar to Jimmie [Johnson’s] than Jeff’s and we’ve been able to lean on the [Johnson] team more. Their notebook is a very good one to dig through, and that has probably helped us the most this year.” For Earnhardt, real progress behind the skid It was all right there before him, a race track as wide as a rural Interstate highway, and one of NASCAR's grandest trophies just waiting to be claimed. Vehicles stacked up on the final restart, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. vaulted into the lead as if slung from a catapult. As the No. 88 car passed under the white flag, the crowd at Charlotte Motor Speedway united in a roar that muffled even 850-horsepower engines, all in anticipation of a 104-race winless streak ending in dramatic fashion on one of the sport's biggest stages. Everyone was celebrating -- except the driver inside the red, white and blue car. Earnhardt knew better. "I never thought I was going to make it," he said, after he ran out of gas to finish seventh in the Coca-Cola 600. "I'm sitting there going, I'm standing in the throttle, and whatever happens, happens. I never really knew or felt like, 'Oh, I've got this in the bag.' We're supposed to be out of gas. [Crew chief] Steve [Letarte] said we should be out of gas while we were riding around in the caution there before the green-white-checkered. So I was like, we definitely ain't going to make these two green flag laps if that's the case." And he didn't, running dry on the backstretch, but carrying enough momentum through Charlotte's high-banked corners that it wasn't until he slowed off Turn 4 that reality set in for those in the grandstands. Other contenders zipped by, eventual race winner Kevin Harvick among them, relegating Earnhardt and his legion of supporters to another agonizing close call, and adding another agonizing week to those since his last Sprint Cup victory, now nearly three years ago. He won that one, at Michigan, on fuel mileage. Sunday, he had victory snatched away for the same reason. For all those with 88s stuck to their car bumpers or tattooed on their arms, it had to be a crushing night, especially given how well Earnhardt had run for the duration of NASCAR's longest event. And yet, standing in the garage and surrounded by cameras and microphones, Earnhardt hardly seemed devastated. No, chances to win races clearly don't come around that often for a driver with a winless streak that's stretched into triple digits. But all the hand-wringing over that breakthrough victory, and the unending focus on when it might come, obscures the real progress being made. No, Earnhardt didn't win the Coca-Cola 600. But on the same track where his car had been garbage the week before, he was in the mix from Thursday's opening practice session until the checkered flag fell on Sunday night. This on a track where he admittedly hasn't been very good in recent years, in a marathon event of the ilk Earnhardt very well may have grown tired and frustrated and cranky in not too long ago. This was real growth, of the kind that Earnhardt needs to make the Chase and return to championship relevance, and it was there whether he wound up in Victory Lane or not. "To be honest, I know there's disappointment about coming so close , but our fans should be real happy about how we're performing, how we're showing up at the race track, how we've adapted," said Earnhardt, who remained fourth in points. "We've definitely improved things, and we want to keep getting better and better and better. ... We're definitely going in the right direction. I felt like a true frontrunner tonight. I've felt like that sometimes this season. But the 600 is a true test. Charlotte is a true test of a team, and we performed well all night long." Particularly when you look at where they were just a week ago, when Earnhardt was voted into the Sprint All-Star Race by the fans, and yet finished a distant 14th. "I think we were embarrassed, I know I was, with how we ran last week," Letarte said. "The fans voted us into the All-Star Race and we couldn't make any ground. That's just not really acceptable. We worked hard this week, and we brought a car that could compete, and we're proud of it." They came back to Charlotte with a newer car, and a setup approach they had used at intermediate tracks earlier in the year. The moves paid off, as Earnhardt overcame a poor qualifying spot and within 60 laps had cracked the top 10. But repeated cautions toward the end knocked teams off their fuel strategy, and Earnhardt was one of 10 drivers who decided to stay out of the pits and make a dash for it. One of those was Harvick, the winner. Another was Kasey Kahne, who restarted in the lead with Earnhardt on his inside, but ran out of gas as the field approached the first turn. Kahne's car wiggled as it was struck by the onrushing vehicle of Brad Keselowski, and two cars spun in the choked-up aftermath, but in NASCAR's eyes the field righted itself quickly enough and kept rolling, so the caution flag stayed furled. "There were spins and stuff," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition, "but they all got rolling, so it was OK." For Earnhardt and Letarte, staying out was the only option. "I just do whatever my dang crew chief says, but I believe that was the right call," Earnhardt said. "Because if we'd have pitted, I don't know where we would have finished. We'd have finished wherever David Ragan finished. That was probably in front of us. But think about it, man. Winning the 600, that would be awesome. I had to try. Had to try." Ragan finished second, but unlike Earnhardt, didn't have a real shot of winning the race. "The guys had it figured perfect," Letarte said. "They said, you're going to run out somewhere on the backstretch, and it ran out going into [Turn] 3. It's still a very calculated risk. I think it was worth taking. The winner took it, so why not." Even so, it was heartbreaking to watch, even for the competition. "I feel so stinkin' bad for them," Harvick said. "I know how bad he wants it. But it will happen. They keep running like that, it will happen." At some point, of course, that albatross of a winless skid is going to have to be unloosed from around Earnhardt's neck. The way he's run for much of this year -- he also had a real chance at Martinsville -- you have to think it's coming at some point. But this is a sport that is built on consistency, and a program that had to be rebuilt from the cars all the way to the driver's confidence. A sole focus on getting one win obscures a movement toward a time when it won't seem like a surprise anymore when Earnhardt is up front. He may not ever get back to his glory days with Dale Earnhardt Inc., when he dominated restrictor-plate tracks and won six times in a single season. But this is also a team and a driver worlds removed from the ones that finished 25th and 21st the past two seasons, win or lose in one single event in Charlotte. "I know we're doing a good job, I know we're unloading good cars," Earnhardt said. "The car we unloaded in the [All-Star Race], I didn't get into the meeting about what the plan was, and it wasn't a good car. Tonight we had a good car, and we showed it. I'm real happy with our effort. These guys got to lift their heads up, man, because we're doing a good thing. We're building a good team and a good chemistry. They keep their heads up, we'll keep on improving, and that's what's important. We let this bother us too much, and we won't improve as much as we can. We want to win races. We're getting close enough to where a couple of them are about to fall in our lap. We get that extra step, we'll be in business." Like the cars, the driver is a work in progress. "Next time I come here, I'll feel more confident when I show up," he said. "I wasn't confident this week even though the lap times were great in practice and the car was ... really good. I've got to get more confidence. Even though this weekend we showed up and were really fast in practice, I thought, 'Yeah, yeah, I've seen this before. The race starts and let's see what happens.' It was great." He felt that way even though he didn't win, even though his National Guard-backed car lost on the final lap just as its counterpart in the Indianapolis 500 had done earlier in the day. Yes, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s winless skid continued on Sunday. But so did his unquestioned growth toward something bigger, even if sometimes it's difficult to see. Dale Jr. looks at the bright side of rough finish Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fast enough in practices leading up to the Coca-Cola 600 that he should have thought of himself as a contender. His results over the last three years made that impossible. “I wasn’t confident this weekend,” Earnhardt said. “Even though the lap times were great and the car was really good, I was thinking, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen this before. We’ll see what really happens.”’ It was under that thinking that left Earnhardt relaxed and even cracking a smile or two after running out of gas on the final lap while holding the lead Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It turned a victory into a seventh place finish and extended his winless streak to 105 races. “I almost won this race,” a sweaty Earnhardt said next to his car in the garage moments after the stunning finish. “Next time I come back here I’ll be more confident when I show up.” Earnhardt insisted he wasn’t crushed by the finish and Kevin Harvick’s surprising victory. He said he knew he didn’t have enough gas to finish the race, and actually ran out on the backstretch. His car didn’t slow until the final turn. The closest he’s come to a victory since winning at Michigan in 2008 didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of his supporters, who burst into cheers when he appeared for an interview on the giant video screen after the race. “What can you do?” he said. “We came close. I hate it for our fans. All the people who come out here and support us. They put so much into it and we were trying so hard to win a race and give themselves something to cheer about. We’re going to keep working.” NATIONAL GUARD’S BAD LUCK: There were plenty of similarities to the end of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600. JR Hildebrand wrecked in the final turn to give up the lead at Indy and Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas on the final lap at Charlotte to lose the lead. The other thing that ties them together: They’re both sponsored by the National Guard. “It’s tough, two races today for National Guard,” Earnhardt said. “I hope they don’t feel too slighted by the fortunes we had.” While Earnhardt shook off his heartbreaking loss by saying he knew he was going to run out of gas, he seemed more distress with Hildebrand’s mistake that cost the 23-year-old rookie the win at the Brickyard. “That kid did a lot this morning in the Indy race,” Earnhardt said. “They should be real proud of their efforts and how close they came. It’s just an unfortunate situation for him passing the lapped car there. “But when he goes back he’ll have the confidence that he didn’t have when he showed up. Me, too.” Harvick wins 600 when Earnhardt runs dry Dale Earnhardt Jr. was within a half-mile of breaking a 104-race drought. But Kevin Harvick came up a winner when Earnhardt's gas tank ran dry on the final lap of a green-white-checkered-flag finish in Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Harvick powered past Earnhardt off Turn 4 and took the checkered flag for his Sprint Cup Series-leading third victory of the season and his first points victory at the 1.5-mile track. David Ragan ran second followed by Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and A.J. Allmendinger. Earnhardt coasted across the finish line in seventh place behind Marcos Ambrose in sixth. The Roush Fenway cars dominated the first half of the race, with Carl Edwards leading early and Matt Kenseth the second 100 laps. All told, Kenseth had led 101 laps before coming to the pits under caution on Lap 233. Divergent pit strategies under that yellow scrambled the field and mired Kenseth and Edwards in traffic for a restart on Lap 245. Kyle Busch cleared Ambrose for the lead moments after that restart and retained it -- save for a cycle of green-flag pit stops -- until Landon Cassill's wild slide through the frontstretch grass caused the 10th caution of the race on Lap 295. Busch led the field to a restart on Lap 302, but he chose to pit under caution on Lap 307 -- along with Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -- after a three-car wreck in Turn 3 off the restart lap, involving Mark Martin, David Gilliland and Ryan Newman, slowed the race for the 11th time. Restarting deep in the field on Lap 311, Busch made little progress. Ultimately, he caused the 12th and 13th cautions of the race, first sliding through the grass in the tri-oval on Lap 318, and then spinning off Turn 2 on Lap 343. Jeff Gordon had the lead when the field came to green on Lap 349, but Greg Biffle grabbed the top spot one lap later and stayed there until caution for Jimmie Johnson's blown engine brought out the 14th caution on Lap 396. Biffle was forced to pit for fuel under yellow on Lap 399 and handed the lead to Kasey Kahne when he came down pit road. Kahne ran out of fuel just after the restart, opening the door for Earnhardt. But Earnhardt didn't have enough fuel to complete the extra two laps. NASCAR drivers don't defend speeder Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he sped but was 'lucky not to get caught' Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he has sped a time or two on a public highway, but was “just lucky enough not to get caught.” Fellow Sprint Cup driver Kyle Busch wasn’t as fortunate as he was ticketed May 24 after being clocked at 128 mph in a 45-mph zone in a residential neighborhood in Iredell County (N.C.) “I’ve been guilty of the same thing myself, I guess, ... I don’t know if I was going that fast,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “I didn’t know we had enough straight road in North Carolina to get going that quick. “Apparently, there’s a piece somewhere.” Busch’s speeding incident was the topic of conversation Thursday as drivers began preparations for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Many were asked about Busch’s speeding incident and its impact on the sport, as well as whether he should face penalties from NASCAR. “Honestly guys, it’s none of my business,” Nationwide Series points leader Elliott Sadler said when queried about the incident. “It’s not right, but it’s none of my business. That’s something he and [Joe Gibbs Racing team owner] Joe Gibbs and the police [will decide]. I don’t think NASCAR will step in and do anything about it. It’s more about ... whatever county he was in when it happened and [between] police and him.” Busch publicly apologized for his actions and what he described as a “lack of judgment” Thursday during a scheduled press conference at CMS. “This is something that I can take and learn from and hopefully move forward and not let happen again,” he said. Kevin Harvick, who is on probation for an altercation with Busch at Darlington last month, said he isn’t allowed to drive on the highway “because I [only] drive 5 mph over the speed limit and it tends to take us longer to get to places.” Asked about Busch, Harvick said he felt “some people are their own worst enemy when it comes to being responsible as a person or as a business person or anything that comes with life’s responsibilities. “It could put a lot of people in a bad situation.” Should NASCAR officials react to the incident? Busch is currently on probation for the incident with Harvick, but most drivers said there’s a difference between policing what occurs at the track and what takes place away from it. “If you don’t have to have a driver’s license to compete in the series, then what happens on the street has no effect on what happens on the track, in my opinion,” driver Ryan Newman said. “That’s what you hold a driver’s license for. If he’s charged criminally, then that’s a different situation.” Drivers do not have to have a valid driver’s license to compete in NASCAR and NASCAR officials have said they do not plan to suspend or penalize Busch for the incident. “It’s a judgment situation where I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer in multiple people’s eyes,” Newman said. “Is Joe Gibbs going to react to it the same way that [sponsors] M&M’s or Interstate [Batteries] or anybody else does? I don’t know. That’s not for me to judge. “I believe he made a big mistake; he ultimately admitted he made a big mistake, from what I read .... We’re supposed to be professional race car drivers and by being professional race car drivers, we don’t make stupid mistakes like that on the road. That’s the way I look at it.” Kurt Busch, the 2004 Cup champion and older brother of Kyle Busch, said drivers “have a responsibility as role models to what we can teach our youth on the roadways. “There are posted speed limits and rules and laws; that’s what we have to do,” Kurt said. “Whatever comes of it, he has his court date and things will be ironed out. He’ll learn from the situation and be a better person from it. I think I was 26-years old when I got put through my big episode and it definitely changes the way that you look at things.” The older Busch was charged with reckless driving by Phoenix police in November of 2005. The incident eventually led to his suspension by Roush Racing for the final two races of the season. Hendrick not done betting on Earnhardt's future Dale Earnhardt Jr. insisted Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway that he did not believe he was a lock to win the fan vote if he needed it to get into the Sprint All-Star Race. "Generally, anytime there is a contest and they don't announce the winner, there are no guarantees. I see it a whole lot different, I think, from my side of the fence. So I didn't take it for granted," Earnhardt said. Then again, it appears he never takes anything for granted. That goes for his future at Hendrick Motorsports as well. After it was announced that Earnhardt had indeed captured the fan vote to earn entry into his 12th consecutive All-Star event, Earnhardt confirmed that an earlier report stating he is close to agreeing to a multi-year contract extension at Hendrick Motorsports is correct. Told team owner Rick Hendrick had said as much prior to the All-Star Race, Earnhardt was asked if he could comment on it. He quickly made it clear that signing an extension would make him a very happy man. "We've been talking on the phone a little bit, just kind of saying what we think," Earnhardt said. "I'm excited to be where I am. From my heart, it's an amazing organization -- and there are some great, great people there. I've learned a lot being around there, and it's made me a better person. "We've still got a lot of things I'd like to accomplish on the race track. If I get the opportunity to stick around, I'm definitely excited about that. We've been talking about it, and hopefully we won't have any trouble with that." Hendrick's view It seems remarkable that Earnhardt already is in the fourth year of the five-year deal he signed with Hendrick prior to the 2008 season. Time has indeed flown faster than his No. 88 Chevrolet. Even though Earnhardt and Hendrick had mutual higher expectations -- they both said at the time that Darrell Waltrip's prediction of six race wins in his first season at HMS "sounded about right" -- he's won only one points race during their tenure together. That was at Michigan in June of 2008, and that was 105 points races ago. Earnhardt will turn 37 in October. Why sign him to a three- to five-year extension now on a deal that is set to expire at the end of the 2012 season? Hendrick revealed much about why he thinks it is exactly the right thing to do during a recent chat with the media at a charity event. Hendrick talked expansively about how pleased he is with how Earnhardt's team has performed this season, the first in which the driver has been paired with crew chief Steve Letarte. Heading into this Sunday's next points race, the Coca-Cola 600 at CMS, Earnhardt sits fourth in the point standings. Hendrick insisted there is "magic" in the chemistry being forged between Earnhardt and Letarte. "You know how Dale feels about Stevie. He's said it. I don't think you guys have seen Dale walking on his toes like this in a long time," Hendrick said. He talked about how Earnhardt is more into everything that is going on at Hendrick these days, including critical post-practice and post-race team debriefings. Earnhardt has admitted he used to oversleep for some of them, but said he now not only stays awake for them, but hangs on every word. Hendrick said he sees and hears Earnhardt contributing more and more to the valuable conversations between his four drivers and their crew chiefs. The top two drivers at Hendrick, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, have won a total of nine Cup championships between them. "Those [conversations and debriefings] are critical and I think he wanted to contribute [earlier] and didn't think he was, or could. And he is now contributing a lot now," Hendrick said. "You can see the difference when he walks in that trailer [at a race track] and he's got the fastest car -- and they're asking him, instead of them asking Jimmie or whatever." Saturday night fever That brings us back to Saturday night at Charlotte. For the first time in a decade, Earnhardt was not guaranteed a spot in the All-Star Race -- wink, wink. His 10-year entry exemption for winning the event in 2000 was up, and he hadn't won a race in the previous year so that meant he had to compete in the preliminary Sprint Showdown. Most progressive thinkers figured he was in all along, even if he wasn't one of the top two finishers in the Showdown. That's because there always was the fan vote to fall back on, and no one has more fans -- or more fervent fans -- than Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt admitted he had at least an inkling that he might get in via that route, which proved necessary when he finished sixth in the Showdown. "I kept up with the temperature of it on the Internet. They worked pretty hard and were committed, so I appreciate the help," Earnhardt said. "I knew my fans would do a great job. They've voted me the Most Popular Driver award [eight years running]. They support us so much and really believe in what we're trying to accomplish. It makes you want to get out there and work harder and harder to try to be successful and get to where you want to be as a competitor, when you've got that many people behind you." Junior Nation got him in, but he didn't have the car to finish the job in the race for the $1 million prize that went to the All-Star winner. Earnhardt finished 14th while Carl Edwards won. The consolation is that these days, Earnhardt knows he has fans -- and a car owner -- who love him unconditionally and are committed to a long-term relationship. Hendrick doesn't care what the critics might say. Why believe in Junior? Is it merely a business move to ensure that all the sponsorship dollars Earnhardt guarantees to bring in won't leak out elsewhere in the coming years? Nope. Hendrick obviously thinks Earnhardt's best HMS days are ahead of him. "He appreciates what's he's got, and he loves that team," Hendrick said. "He's really focused and he's really trying hard, and he's really put all of the effort he can muster into it. And it's paying off." It will need to, because Hendrick's bet on it is about to get a whole lot bigger. Popular Earnhardt close to contract extension Dale Earnhardt Jr. remains as popular as ever in the stands. Car owner Rick Hendrick remains a fan, too. Minutes after a popular vote gave him the last spot in Saturday night’s NASCAR All-Star race, Earnhardt acknowledged he’s had discussions with Hendrick Motorsports about extending his contract past 2012. “We’ve been talking on the phone a little bit, seeing what we think, and I am excited to be where I am,” Earnhardt said. “From my heart, it’s an amazing organization and just great, great people.” Earnhardt has just one victory, in 2008, since teaming with Hendrick. That’s also the only year he’s made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in the No. 88 Chevrolet. But a crew chief change following a miserable 21st-place finish in the standings last year has changed Earnhardt’s fortunes some. While Earnhardt’s winless streak is at 104 races, he’s currently fourth in the Sprint Cup standings. “We’ve still got a lot of things that we’d really like to accomplish on the race track,” Earnhardt said. “If I get the opportunity to stick around, I’m definitely excited about that. We’ve just been talking about it, hopefully, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble working things out.” Earnhardt’s 10-year exemption into the All-Star field for winning the non-points event in 2000 ended this year. He raced in the preliminary Sprint Showdown, where the top two finishers qualified for the big race, but finished sixth. It didn’t matter, as a majority of the record 2.4 million votes gave Earnhardt the final spot in the 21-car field. “I know my fans worked pretty hard, and it meant a lot to them,” Earnhardt said. “I appreciate the help.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. seeking changes for All-Star format Dale Earnhardt Jr. joked to ESPN.com last week that if he didn't make the Sprint All-Star Race, he'd crack open a beer and watch the event on his couch. In all likelihood, that's not going to happen. But if he were a fan, Earnhardt bent Charlotte Motor Speedway president Marcus Smith's ear during Thursday night's Sprint Pit Crew Challenge about improving the format of the all-star event. "I was like, 'Man you know, from a fan's standpoint I think the first segment is too long,' " Earnhardt said. "I really like the '87 All-Star race, the way that race was structured I don't remember exactly what the lap numbers were, but I was thinking something like 25-, 10(-lap) was a good lap structure. Make the event a little shorter and make it a little more about the fireworks that the drivers provide in the event. "Pack it into a smaller, neater structure and if you need more racing, more action, if you're trying to make the day and the event (longer) for the fans, bring in other attractions. Maybe something to do with the Nationwide Series or whatever to give the fans some more racing for their buck. But try to take the All-Star race and make it a little bit more a stick of dynamite than a whole long row of 180s." The format of Saturday's event, which hasn't changed since last year, splits the race into four segments. The first is 50 laps and includes a mandatory, four-tire stop under green. The second is 20 laps and ends with an optional pit stop. The third is 20 laps and ends with teams being allowed to add fuel and make adjustments. Prior to the start of the final 10-lap segment, cars line up single file in the finishing order of the third segment. On the second lap, a four-tire stop is mandatory, and then the green falls for the final 10 laps on the order that teams left pit road. Earnhardt, who won the all-star race as a rookie in 2000, said "it's a really great show and this format surely appeals to a lot of people. I look at this event, and I think it should be a celebration of the sport and a celebration of what the sport is about. Bring in all the guys that made it what it is, celebrate what they did and what they accomplished. You look at the NFL and Major League Baseball, they have their All-Star events and they obviously enjoy those events and when you watch them you see everybody there really taking it in and glad to be there, enjoying it. The players enjoy it. It's a fun atmosphere for everybody and it's relaxed. "Racing will never be like that, if we're going to have an event like this, it's never going to be relaxed, and there's going to be some tension and some battles, but I like to see the sport get its due and the people that made it what it is get their due. When I was a kid it just seemed like it was a little more of a circus than a celebration and a fun time and now that I'm in the event and trying to win it, it's a lot more pressure, a lot more intense but maybe it's still fun from the other side of the fence to experience." Earnhardt's memory is hazy on the memorable 1987 event, which was dubbed "The Pass in the Grass" because his father won after sliding his Chevrolet through the grass in the trioval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The third edition of the race, which was then known as The Winston, was contested over 135 laps. Mark Martin, who will start his 22nd consecutive all-star race Saturday (dating to 1990), says the current format works well. "It's been so long that it was dramatically different, that pretty much what I remember is the 10-lap thing," he said. "Back in the day, I wanted the best car to be able to win the race. And this format's not about that, and it shouldn't be. Because if you want to stir it up for the fans, and you want to make it crazy and exciting and sparks to fly and everything else, this is the format for that. "That's why there's a million-dollar check out there is because it's for the doggone fans. It's not for us. It's not for the guy with the fastest car. It's about a loud and crazy shootout. And I think it's a great format for that." Earnhardt also is looking forward to running for $1 million and clarified his postrace remarks from Dover in which he seemed to indicate the event meant little. "I did probably not word that correctly and gave people the wrong impression, I guess," he said. "I do care about being here. I care about being involved this weekend, being a part of the program." Because his 10-year exemption as a past winner of the event expired, Earnhardt isn't locked into Saturday's main event. But there are two ways for him to make the field: Either by finishing first or second in the Sprint Showdown warmup race (he'll start 13th; David Ragan is on the pole) or by being voted in by fans. The eight-time consecutive Most Popular Driver would seem a lock for the latter, but Earnhardt isn't counting on it. "The fan vote is a tricky subject," he said. "You just never know what is going to happen, so I'm not taking anything for granted." Dale Earnhardt Jr. insists he wants to race his way into Sprint All-Star race, not assuming he will win fan vote Dale Earnhardt Jr. swears he cares about making and running the Sprint All-Star Race this weekend, he just isn’t going to assume he’ll be in the non-points event Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Earnhardt Jr., who must race his way into the all-star race through the Sprint Showdown or get in via fan vote, has said in the last couple of weeks that it wouldn’t be a big deal if he misses the all-star race. He said this week, “I don’t care to run the all-star race one way or the other. If I’m in it, I’m in it. If not, I’ll go home and drink some beer and be fine.” But he clarified that Friday, saying that he simply wasn’t assuming that he would get in through the fan vote if he doesn’t finish in the top two spots in the Sprint Showdown qualifying race. “I’m unassuming about my role and accept my fate, whatever it might be,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday prior to practice. “I’m going to go out there and try to run hard and see what happens. The fan vote thing for me is a tricky subject, having been the most popular driver, several people are assuming it’s a lock for us. “You never know what’s going to happen. … I was trying to help people understand that I wasn’t taking it for granted that I won the fan vote, I was locked in and there was nothing to worry about.” For the first time in his Cup career, Earnhardt Jr. did not get an automatic spot in the all-star race. His 10-year exemption for winning the 2000 event expired last year, and he hasn’t won a race in 2010 or 2011. Many believe that Earnhardt Jr., winner of the last eight most popular driver awards, will get in through the fan vote if he doesn’t finish in the top two in the Showdown. But a driver must finish on the lead lap in the Showdown and have a car capable of racing to get the fan vote spot. The Hendrick Motorsports driver stressed that he wants to have fun this weekend and run well. “There’s no points; there’s no pressure,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I didn’t want to give anybody the impression that I didn’t give a damn whether I was in the race or if I was here to run the car because I love driving race cars and I’m excited to show up somewhere and do that.” Earnhardt Jr., who is fourth in the Cup standings, said his comments about the all-star race came from the same attitude that led him to say a few weeks ago that he didn’t think a win is close even though his team has been running well this year. “I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Yeah, guys I think a win is two weeks away,’ or ‘I should win next week.’ I’m just not going to be that arrogant about it and just say, ‘Look, that if we keep running good, hopefully that will happen,’” Earnhardt Jr. said. While he would like to make the all-star race, Earnhardt Jr. is looking to learn some things to help him for the Coca-Cola 600 next week at Charlotte. “It gives us a good opportunity to find some things and work on the car and try to give ourselves the best opportunity to maximize our performance next week,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Hopefully we’ll hit on some things that will work and give us a successful weekend this weekend, too. “We don’t have the ability to do a ton of testing, … so these opportunities, you really have to snatch them up and try to run through some things, ideas that have been on your mind.” For the weekend, Earnhardt Jr.’s foundation is showcasing the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. “I’m a huge music fan and thought this would be a neat opportunity for me to learn more about what VH1 has been trying to accomplish the last several years,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “You hear about it and see it, and it’s a good way to know more and find out more and it’s a good way to give them a platform that maybe they didn’t even consider.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. among hopefuls for Sprint All-Star race, says 'it ain't going to break my heart' if he doesn't get in Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte have 21 career wins apiece in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 18. And yet the three are among more than two dozen drivers that will have to race their way into this year’s Sprint All-Star race by finishing either first or second in the Sprint Showdown, or by earning a spot through the fan vote. “It’s disappointing and embarrassing not to be in the All-Star race,” Burton said. “I’ve won over 20 races and to not capitalize on a lot of opportunities last year to win races certainly has its consequences, and this is one of them.” Earnhardt Jr. is clearly having the better season of those slated to run in the 40-lap preliminary. Fourth in points, he is a former winner of the all-star race (2000). But a winless streak of 104 races, and not having won the non-points event within the 10-year window allowed, the Hendrick Motorsports driver will have to race his way in – or secure the fan vote – to earn one of the three transfer spots. “I’d rather be in ... than go through the qualifying deal,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’m not talking sour grapes. That qualifying [race] is a mess for the all-star race. It’s not much fun as a driver. “We’ve got practice and run that race, two 20-lappers and we’ll have a good time doing it. It’s no pressure. I don’t care to run the all-star race one way or the other. If I’m in it, I’m in it. If not, I’ll go home and drink some beer and be fine.” While he acknowledges that an appearance in the all-star race would be a plus for his team’s sponsors and his fans, Earnhardt Jr. noted that the event doesn’t award points. “If I get in there, I’m going to race hard,” he said. “If I don’t, it ain’t going to break my heart.” Earnhardt more Stroker Ace than Ricky Bobby Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, answers this week's six questions. 1. If you could watch one movie on the new big screen at Charlotte Motor Speedway -- now the world's largest High Definition television -- which would it be? Earnhardt: If I could watch one movie? I don't know, it would probably be Stroker Ace. 2. No Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell as Ricky Bobby? Earnhardt: You need to go watch Stroker Ace. That'll answer that question for you. 3. For the first time in a decade, you are not guaranteed a spot in Saturday's All-Star Race. You figure the fans will vote you in -- like everyone else is figuring? Earnhardt: I'm not too worried about not being in the All-Star Race. I'm looking forward to showing up and getting our practice on and seeing what happens. It's a fun deal. I've never been part of the Open or the Select or whatever it is they call it (the preliminary event, from which the top-two finishers advance to the All-Star Race, currently is called the Sprint Showdown). So it will be a good experience for me to be a part of that. I'm sure the intensity is really high in that event as well, yet different from the actual All-Star Race. It'll be a good experience for me, so I'm looking forward to going through that process. 4. What did you think of the penalties handed down by NASCAR for the recent Kyle Busch-Kevin Harvick dustup at Darlington (each driver was fined $25,000 and placed on probation until June 15)? Earnhardt: I think NASCAR has to make themselves visible and tangible as the governing body. If they just kind of step back and let the idiots run the asylum, that's not going to work out too well. So any time we get out of hand, they need to step in and do whatever they think they need to do, whatever that penalty is. I'm just glad they didn't set a precedent by taking away points. We don't know a lot about the new point system and how it's going to shake out, so I was a little worried to see if they did take points away from those guys -- and I was glad they didn't touch that, because that's kind of a commodity at this point that we're all trying to understand. I don't know if even they understand the true value of a single point yet, so I'm glad they didn't go in that direction. 5. Do you think NASCAR enjoyed the attention that altercation brought to the sport? Earnhardt: I think there is a definite value to that type of drama in the sport. I think it will resonate with the fans -- and even if they don't like it, it will spark conversation. ... Nothing really happened except two guys having a little disagreement. That happens every race. It's just that some of them spill over a little more than most. I don't like getting in the middle of those deals myself. I like getting up front and being in the news for running well. I'm not really confrontational when it comes right down to it -- but when a guy pushes your buttons, you've got to push back. And that's what all that was about the other night. Both of them probably felt like they were in the right, and NASCAR handled it however they felt they had to handle it. But as drivers, we're all going to have those moments. I think it's part of the sport. 6. Do you think it's over between those two? Earnhardt: I don't know. I think they got a lot out of their system [at Darlington]. It looked like they got a lot done. Dale Earnhardt Jr. to make first appearance in Showdown after failing to qualify for Sprint All-Star race For the first time since, well, he’s been a Sprint Cup driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not in the Sprint All-Star Race. As a rookie in 2000, he qualified with a win at Texas Motor Speedway in April, just over a month before the all-star race. Then he won the all-star race – the first rookie to win it – to give him a 10-year exemption into the annual event. Now those 10 years are up and without a win in 2010 or 2011, Earnhardt Jr. must run the Sprint Showdown qualifying race that precedes the main event Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The top two finishers in the Showdown qualify for the all-star race as well as the top vote-getter in a fan vote, provided that the driver finishes on the lead lap and has a drivable car following the Showdown. As the sport’s most popular driver, Earnhardt Jr. appears the most likely winner of the fan vote. “I’m not too worried about not being in the all-star race,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I ain’t worried about that. However that all works out it works out. “I’m looking forward to showing up and getting my practice on and seeing how fast we can go and seeing what happens all night long.” Nineteen drivers are currently eligible for the 2011 all-star race (drivers that have won since the start of the 2010 season or previous all-star or Sprint Cup champions). They are Trevor Bayne, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, David Reutimann, Regan Smith and Tony Stewart. The main event is 100 laps comprised of segments of 50, 20, 20 and 10 laps. The Showdown is 40 laps. “It’s a fun event,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s a fun deal. I’ve never been in the open or the select or whatever in the world they call it [the Showdown] but it will be a good experience for me to go through that and know what that’s like and what being part of that show is like. “I’m sure the intensity is high in that event as well but different and unique form the all-star race and it will be a good experience for me. I’m looking forward to going through that process.” Earnhardt has 1 last chance to make All-Star race Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s losing streak has reached 103 races—long enough that he’s no longer guaranteed an automatic berth in the upcoming $1 million All-Star event. His last shot to qualify ahead of the May 21 race comes Sunday at Dover International Speedway, where a victory would be his first since 2008 and earn him a coveted spot in the Sprint All-Star race. But Earnhardt doesn’t see a win in his near future despite steady improvement through the first 10 races of this season. “I don’t feel a win is close,” Earnhardt said this week as he promoted the new HD video screen at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “But they’ll come if you continue to run competitive. I don’t know where the win is going to come or if and when it will come, but we’re just going to keep working really hard and putting ourselves in position, those opportunities should be there.” Earnhardt is still approaching the next few weeks as if he needs a victory. He still has two shots at making the All-Star race even if he doesn’t win at Dover: Earnhardt can move into the main event with a victory in the 40-lap Sprint Showdown, the last-chance race held right before the main event. And if he falls short there, the eight-time winner of NASCAR’s most popular driver award will most certainly pick up the final All-Star race berth, reserved for the winner of the fan vote. But Earnhardt refuses to operate as if the fan vote is a given—even though his inclusion in the field is the likely reason the pace is well on track to break the record of 1.5 million votes cast last year. “I don’t take it for granted that we’ll get the fan vote. Anything can happen,” he said. “The most important thing is just focusing on the points races, the races that matter toward the championship. When we get to All-Star weekend, however things are lined up is how things are lined up. It will be interesting being on the other side of the fence, trying to find a way into the race and going through that experience myself personally, to have an appreciation for what that is like versus just showing up and being locked in. “It could be interesting and good for me to have that experience as well.” Earnhardt goes to Dover confident he and his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports are over last weekend’s pit-road mistake at Darlington. Earnhardt received a pass-through penalty for hitting the cone at the edge of the pit road commitment line, and he called a team meeting immediately after the race to talk about his mistake with his crew. The penalty ruined what could have been a top-10 finish, but Earnhardt did rally to finish 14th. “I wanted to tell those guys that my focus was strong. (The mistake) wasn’t because of a lack of focus or a lack of concentration,” he said. “I was just trying to get a little bit too much and I’ll try to minimize mistakes going forward.” Earnhardt said he didn’t wait until this week, or until he got to Dover, to address the issue with his team because he wanted to show right away how much he cared about the error. “That way nobody goes home wondering how anyone is thinking. They know how I feel, and I know how they feel,” he said. “It was just a good way to put it behind us as quick as we could.” Earnhardt also praised crew chief Steve Letarte and his team for their energy and focus, and for building him cars that have helped him to his fourth-place position in the Sprint Cup standings. He’s had two top-five finishes, and five top-10s through 10 races. But he knows once the schedule runs through Charlotte next week—the All-Star race is followed by the Coca-Cola 600—Earnhardt has a hard stretch ahead. He’ll go to Pocono and the road course in Sonoma, where he has a shaky history, as well as a stop at Michigan, site of his last Cup win. He’s already admitted the summer stretch will be a test for his team. “It’s always really tough because it’s hot and there are some tracks in there that I’m inconsistent at,” he said. “It’s already a high-pressure situation just being in the sport alone.” He won’t freak out, though, if his performance drops a bit. “If we struggle a little bit going to Pocono the first round, I won’t be too worried,” he said. “It may take a year for me and (Letarte) to start to really hit it at a few race tracks. We’ve been to every track this year and been a top-10 car and that might not happen. I feel like it will over time.” Rick Hendrick says crew swap working, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 'happiest I've ever seen him' Team owner Rick Hendrick is elated with the performance of Dale Earnhardt Jr. with new crew chief Steve Letarte and more than satisfied with the total results of the offseason crew-chief swap at Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt Jr., who finished 21st in the Sprint Cup standings last year, sits in fourth just 10 races into 2011. But the two other Hendrick drivers who swapped crews aren’t higher in points – Mark Martin (13th last year) is 14th and Jeff Gordon (ninth last year) is 17th. Hendrick likes what he sees in having Letarte, the former Gordon crew chief, now in charge of Earnhardt Jr.’s car, former Martin crew chief Alan Gustafson guiding Gordon’s team and former Earnhardt Jr. crew chief Lance McGrew now calling the shots for Martin. “I’m more than happy there [with the swaps],” Hendrick said Wednesday following an appearance to promote Tony Stewart’s Prelude To The Dream charity event. “I was sweating that because you never know how it’s going to go. “I’ll say one thing about our guys: Once we make up our mind that we’re going to do something, they all jump in and they make it work. Jeff is real happy with Alan. You know how Dale feels about Stevie – he’s said it, I don’t think you guys have seen Dale walking on his toes like that in a long time – and Mark and Lance like each other and Mark brags on Lance.” Earnhardt Jr. is off to one of his best starts since arriving at Hendrick in 2008. Letarte is his third crew chief in four years. Earnhardt Jr. has two top-five and five top-10 finishes in the first 10 races, including a runnerup finish at Martinsville, compared to just one top-five and three top-10s at this point last season. “There’s a tremendous confidence level. … He and Stevie, it’s just that magic right now,” Hendrick said. “They have confidence in each other. They like each other. So much of this thing is confidence, and getting the right guys to communicate. “The team believes in him. He believes in them. I’m excited about it.” Hendrick said Earnhardt Jr.’s apology to his team after hitting the commitment cone entering pit road at Darlington – which drew a pass-thru penalty – was a key move for Earnahrdt Jr., who was critical of a pit call by Letarte that backfired at Richmond. “I never saw Dale do that [type of apology to the team],” Hendrick said. “He’d go to his coach. … He thought Stevie didn’t make the right call at Richmond that cost them eight or nine spots and he said something about it. “To say, ‘If I made a mistake, I’m going to raise my hand. I said you guys made a mistake,’ [that shows] he loves that team.” The team is led by Letarte, a more upbeat crew chief than Earnhardt Jr. had been used to in the past. “Stevie will not let you be down when you’re around him,” Hendrick said. “He’s perfect for Dale. They like each other. Dale has got confidence he has a team behind him that believes in him and the chemistry there and he’s got something he wants to prove. “I’m really excited for him. He’s the happiest that I’ve ever seen him.” Earnhardt Jr. left the team founded by his father and run by his stepmother to join Hendrick in 2008 with an eye on winning a championship. Not winning and not making the Chase For The Sprint Cup the last two years have weighed on everyone involved. That’s why everyone is so optimistic about Earnhardt Jr.’s start even though he hasn’t won this year. “It’s a big relief to me,” Hendrick said. “I took on a big challenge, and felt like I failed. It’s amazing when you think all the equipment is the same. So what’s the big difference? The big difference is communication and confidence. “You can’t just tell somebody that. They’ve got to feel it and believe it. I’m looking for a great finish and I think they’re going to get better and better every week.” The Hendrick teams will need to improve to challenge for the title. Gordon and five-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson (second in the standings) each have one win this season while Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t won in nearly three years and Martin hasn’t won in more than a year since his five-win season in 2009 with Hendrick. “We’ve had a great year,” Hendrick said. “We’re getting better on all fronts. You’d like to have them all in the top four or five, but in this day and time, it’s just so competitive. “The cars run up front, we’re not just lost and getting lapped in 20 or 30 laps. The way they’re working together, we’ll get stronger as the year goes on.” Hendrick believes his organization can win a sixth consecutive Cup title. “We’re in the hunt,” Hendrick said. “There’s nobody that’s clearly dominating the thing. There are a lot of guys running well, but I think we’re in good shape to challenge for the championship again. That’s all I can ask for.” Hendrick is happy to see everyone working together. He admits he had reservations about his decision to swap crews when he announced it a week after the 2010 season ended. “From a standpoint of chemistry and working together, it’s much better than I thought it would be,” Hendrick said. “I think it is because the guys knew each other and it wasn’t like they were strangers. “You bring somebody in from the outside, you don’t know how he’s going to mesh and whether he’s going to use the tools that are there. So far, I have not had one complaint from any of the guys involved in the swap. I give them the credit because they had to make it work.” 'Unique' Earnhardt remains focused on positives As if there wasn't already ample evidence piling up that this year may very well be different for Dale Earnhardt Jr., there was last Saturday's Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Oh, part of what transpired was a rerun of similar Earnhardt implosions in recent years. But what happened in the immediate aftermath of a costly Earnhardt mistake getting onto pit road late in the race was different indeed. After running over the cone that signified the entrance to pit road, Earnhardt knew what was coming next. He said he fully expected and understood NASCAR's pass-through penalty, which put him a lap down with only 38 laps remaining in the scheduled 367-lap race (which ended up going 370 because of a green-white-checkered finish). "I knew when I touched the cone that you're not supposed to touch the cone. I knew what was getting ready to happen to me," Earnhardt said. "I was upset about it -- because we had worked so hard to get to where we were. I hated to give it up." He also hated what he had just done to his No. 88 team. After staring a possible top-five finish down, he eventually had to settle for 14th. So Earnhardt told his team on the radio that he wanted to meet with them immediately after the race, to accept full responsibility for the error before they all headed to Dover for this weekend's next Sprint Cup race. "I thought it was a good thing to do, especially immediately after the event like that, to clear the air," Earnhardt said. "That way, nobody goes home wondering what everyone else is thinking. They know how I feel and I know how they feel. It was just a good way to put it behind us as quick as we could. "One good thing we have going for us right now is that we do have good speed, and we're finding more and more speed each and every week. We're running competitively. We've been a top-10 race car at every race we've showed up to. I'm really, really proud of that and I want to keep that momentum going. So the sooner we can put the mistake that I made Saturday behind us, the better." It was an act of maturity that did not go unnoticed by his boss at Hendrick Motorsports, team owner Rick Hendrick. "He appreciates what he's got, and he loves the team. He thought [crew chief] Stevie [Letarte] didn't make the right call at Richmond, and it cost 'em eight or nine spots -- and he said something about it. So [at Darlington] it was just him saying, 'If I make a mistake, I'm going to raise my hand.' I think it was a smart thing to do," Hendrick said. Earnhardt said Letarte and the rest of the team was receptive to his apology. "[They told me] not to worry about it, that they were fine, that they feel the same way I do -- that they feel focused and excited and energized," Earnhardt said. "We hold team meetings every day in the hauler and before the race, and Steve does all the talking and I really don't talk that much. So I felt like it was important that I needed to be vocal right there, right then when I made that mistake. I just wanted to tell the guys that my focus was strong ... that I was just trying to get a little bit too much, and that I will try to minimize my mistakes moving forward. I told them to just keep loading up great race cars and taking them to the race track, and we'll be fine." Hendrick said he is pleased with how Earnhardt's team has performed this season, the first in which the driver has been paired with Letarte. Heading into Dover, Earnhardt sits fourth in the point standings despite having not won a race since June of 2008 at Michigan -- 104 races ago. "He loves that team," Hendrick said. "You go in the garage now, and he's in that hauler. All of the drivers stay in their buses these days. You walk through the garage any more and you don't see the drivers until it's time to practice. Well, he's in the hauler with the guys -- and he's talking about the car. He's giving input on what he thinks the car needs. "It's just that chemistry. Stevie will not let you be down when you're around him. He's just perfect for Dale, and they like each other. And Dale, I think, has confidence that he has a team behind him that believes in him. The chemistry is there, and he's got something he wants to prove. So I'm really excited for him -- and he's the happiest I've ever seen him. He's happy and he's motivated right now." He also obviously wanted to make it clear to his teammates that one bad mistake at Darlington is not going to change that. Hendrick said he took that as a positive. While the No. 88 team hasn't had the results he or Earnhardt envisioned when Earnhardt first signed on with Hendrick Motorsports prior to the 2008 season, Hendrick said he thinks he sees them coming. "I think with Dale, it takes time. He's got to do it on his timetable," Hendrick said. "He's a unique guy -- but he cares more about people than most people realize. He cares about what the other drivers think about him, and the fans, and his crew." Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopes apology puts pit-road mistake behind him, Hendrick team heading into Dover Dale Earnhardt Jr. called a team meeting after Saturday night’s Showtime Southern 500 because he wanted to be clear about his pit-road penalty. Earnhardt Jr. was given a pass-through penalty for hitting the cone on the edge of the commitment line, and he didn’t want his team to misinterpret his action. “I wanted to tell those guys that my focus was strong,” Earnhardt Jr. said Tuesday during at appearance at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “It wasn’t because of a lack of focus or a lack of concentration. “I was just trying to get a little bit too much and I’ll try to minimize mistakes going forward and [want them] to continue working hard and loading up great race cars to take to the race track and we’ll be fine.” With his focus having been questioned in the past, Earnhardt Jr. didn’t want to wait for a team meeting later in the week or at Dover this weekend for the opportunity to talk to crew chief Steve Letarte and the Hendrick Motorsports crew. “That way nobody goes home wondering how anyone is thinking – they know how I feel, and I know how they feel,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It was just a good way to put it behind us as quick as we could. … [They told me] not to worry about that they were fine and they understood and they feel the same way. “They feel focused and excited and energized. We hold team meetings every day in the hauler and before the race and Steve does all the talking and I really don’t talk that much so I felt like I needed to get vocal right there for a second. I made a mistake in that race trying to get on pit road.” Earnhardt Jr. rallied to finish 14th at Darlington and remained fourth in the Sprint Cup standings. “I was so upset about it because we had worked so hard to get where we were,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I knew when I did it. … You’re just trying to get all you can get. I came onto pit road under green-flag stops earlier in the race without any problems and I tried to step it up a little bit and I just bit off more than I can chew. “And I should have been more patient and not try to get greedy trying to get on pit road and trying to gain some time.” With two top-fives and five top-10s in 10 races, Earnhardt Jr. has solidified himself in the top 10 by not having bad finishes. “I feel like we’re running well and I had enough confidence to say at the end of that race, ‘Look, I made a mistake there, if we keep our focus, we’ll rebound from that rather quickly,’” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We’ve been a top-10 car every week. We need to keep that kind of progress going forward so we can give ourselves opportunities to win some races.” Earnhardt Jr. said he was “real thrilled” and he’s “gaining tons of confidence” while he doesn’t feel as if snapping his 103-race winless streak is imminent. “I don’t feel a win is close,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “But they’ll come if you continue to run competitive. “I don’t know where the win is going to come or if and when it will come, but we’re just going to keep working really hard and putting ourselves in position, those opportunities should be there.” With Dover, Pocono and Infineon among the next six points races, Earnhardt Jr. knows the upcoming weeks won’t be the easiest for him. He admits he is heading into a tough stretch at tracks where he’s been inconsistent. Without much recent success at Dover, it’s likely he and Letarte will lean on teammate Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus for help. “[The summer] will be a test, but it’s always really tough because it’s hot and there are some tracks in there that I’m inconsistent at,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s already a high-pressure situation just being in the sport alone. “If we struggle a little bit going to Pocono the first round, I won’t be too worried. It may take a year for me and [Letarte] to start to really hit it at a few race tracks. We’ve been to every track this year and been a top-10 car and that might not happen. I feel like it will over time.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. says probation won't change Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch; Hendrick team hasn't run well enough to spark a feud Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t believe Kevin Harvick or Kyle Busch will change the way they race just because they were placed on probation for the next five weeks. Busch and Harvick were penalized for their postrace altercation on pit road at Darlington Raceway, where Harvick attempted to punch Busch and Busch drove into Harvick’s unmanned car, spinning it into the pit wall. “Probation doesn’t change the way you drive because you are still going to drive hard and still going to race as hard as you can,” Earnhardt Jr. said Tuesday during an appearance to debut the new video screen at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Probation just means – it’s obvious when things are intentional and things aren’t. … Say they get in the same situation that happened before the checkered flag, I don’t think anything would happen to them. “But if they go out of the box and do things that are detrimental, then probation becomes a problem and, as a driver, you’re cognizant of that. You can still race hard and get in your fair share of scrape-ups on the race tracks and you’re racing. That’s part of the race in between the flags. “It’s the kind of things that happen after the race that they don’t like." The drivers will take care of the on-track issues, Earnhardt Jr. said. “They’re not going to come in and do a judgment call on what happens on the race track because there’s just too many variables involved,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “The drivers are there to police themselves during that period.” Earnhardt Jr. said he hasn’t had run-ins with many drivers recently because he hasn’t been good enough to get mad over the way other drivers race him. “If I was as competitive as those guys have been over the last several years, I definitely would be a lot more aggressive about it,” he said. “If I ran up front all the time, I’d be in my share of those mix-ups. “But it’s hard to start a fight when you’re on the defense all the time and when your car ain’t running good enough. You look like an idiot running over people. … I’ve been in my fair share of arguments with people, but I’ve been needing to get my ass in gear and get my car running better here lately.” Earnhardt Jr. said it isn’t in his nature to be confrontational. “I’m not confrontational when it comes down to it but when a guy pushes your buttons, you’ve got to push back and that’s what all that was about the other night,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Both of them probably felt like they were in the right and NASCAR will handle it however they feel like they’ve got to handle it. The drivers are going to do what the drivers are going to do. We’re all going to have those moments. It’s part of the sport.” As far as the Busch-Harvick feud escalating and impacting his race, Earnhardt Jr. said he didn’t think that would happen. “They got a lot out of their system,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “From the looks of it, I think they got a lot done. … That incident to me was no different than anything we’ve seen in the last 20 years. It didn’t stand out to me. It was just two guys having a disagreement. “If they drag it on, they drag it on. If they don’t, they don’t. I don’t know what they’ll do. Whatever they want to do, they’ll do it. Everybody else will do what they do. I don’t think much about it.” The probation and $25,000 fines to each driver were appropriate, Earnhardt Jr. said. He said he didn’t think NASCAR officials were upset over it because it sparked conversation and was a way to connect with fans. “NASCAR has to make themselves visible and tangible as some kind of ruling body,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “If they kind of step back and let the idiots run the asylum, that’s not going to work out too well. “Anytime we get out of hand, they need to step in. … I was just glad they didn’t set a precedent by taking away points. With the new points system, we don’t know a lot about the points system and how it’s going to shake out and I was a little worried to see if they were going to take away points from those guys. … I don’t know if they truly understand the value of a single point, so I’m glad they didn’t go in that direction.” So would Earnhardt pick Harvick or Busch in a fight? “I don’t know,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Both are pretty tough.” Earnhardt helps debut Charlotte's record screen Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the world's largest high definition television for a spin Tuesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway by taking virtual laps around the legendary 1.5-mile track using an iRacing simulation. Marcus Smith, president and general manager of CMS, invited Earnhardt Jr., an avid video gamer, to show off his skills on the giant HDTV. For its operational debut, Smith and Earnhardt Jr. used an oversized remote to power on the 200 foot-wide, 80 foot-tall HDTV, created by Panasonic, to reveal a highlight video of past racing action at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Charlotte sets the standard for the rest of the tracks," Earnhardt Jr. said. "They always do things first and do things the biggest and look, here we are today with another first from them. Charlotte holds a special place in a lot of drivers' hearts, mine included, and the big TV makes this place even more special. "The Coca-Cola 600 is one of the best events we have all year long. Now fans can get a ticket to the race and have the experience of the live event with the comfort of their own TV at home with this big TV. This place just keeps getting better." "This giant Panasonic HDTV will be a game changer for our fans on race day," Smith said. "It will give them a whole new way to experience a NASCAR event at Charlotte Motor Speedway." The event signaled the completion of the Panasonic HDTV project, which took up to 57 workers a day, working more than 11,000 man hours, more than four months to construct. The 332-and-a-half-ton structure is the largest HDTV in the world. The 158 panels that make up the face of the television's screen will be illuminated by nine million LED lamps during select events at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Sam Bass, the official artist of Charlotte Motor Speedway, was also on hand to unveil the souvenir race program covers for the 27th running of the Sprint All-Star Race and 52nd running of the Coca-Cola 600 on the gigantic screen. The public debut of the world's largest HDTV will take place May 21 under the lights during the All-Star Race. The screen is centered along the backstretch between Turns 2 and 3, across from the start/finish line. Fans seated throughout the frontstretch from Turn 4 to Turn 1 will have clear viewing angles of instant replays, leaderboard updates and interactive entertainment displayed in clear 720p high-definition visuals. Frontstretch tickets with the best views of the world's largest HDTV start at just $49 for the All-Star Race. Fans can also purchase two frontstretch tickets for just $99 to the Coca-Cola 600 on May 29. Tickets for all May races at Charlotte Motor Speedway can be purchased online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267). Penalty denies Earnhardt strong Darlington finish Dale Earnhardt Jr. has always had something of a difficult relationship with Darlington Raceway, a track he's warmed to mildly with the benefits of time and experience. He once joked in an interview that the old, abrasive surface that existed before the facility's 2008 repaving was made of crushed seashells, and would cut your hand if you brushed against it. NASCAR's most popular driver came to the aged facility this weekend without a top-10 finish here since 2008. "This place is pretty intimidating," he said prior to Saturday night's event, "and you don't ever take it for granted that you're going to run well." And yet, that's exactly what Earnhardt did for much of the Showtime Southern 500, when he ran among the leaders in the latter stages of the event, and seemed poised for a strong finish -- until he hit not another car, but an orange cone. Often overlooked when discussing Darlington's degree of difficulty is its pit road entrance, which forces drivers to make an abrupt left on a track that's faster than most others of its size. And Saturday, it wasn't Darlington's narrow straightaways that got Earnhardt, or its corners where drivers run right up near the wall. It was that pit entrance which befuddled a number of drivers, including Earnhardt with 38 laps remaining when he turned down too late and ran over the orange commitment cone. The penalty was a pass-through, which knocked Earnhardt from sixth place to a lap down, and sent him to an eventual 14th-place finish. Like the week prior at Richmond, when a backfiring pit decision led to a 19th-place result, it was another effort where the No. 88 car was fast enough to finish in the top 10, but wasn't able to stay there. "I made a mistake getting onto pit road, and just choked trying to make that last pit stop, and that cost us about eight spots, probably," Earnhardt said. "We did run a good race and worked really hard to get up to inside the top 10. It was another week where we've been able to put the car inside the top 10, and we just need to start capitalizing like we were at the very start of the season, on getting the finishes we deserve and stop making so many mistakes. I think we can do that. I think the confidence is coming more and more each week about the speed we've had." Earnhardt wasn't the only driver to have trouble with the pit road entrance. A few missed it, and Matt Kenseth also incurred a pass-through penalty for entering above the commitment line. Earnhardt almost made it, striking the cone with the front end of his Chevrolet. "I pitted earlier and had no problem," he said, "and I was just trying to get a little too much there. I barely hit that cone, and that's all it took." Other teams had their pit issues at Darlington as well. Paul Menard nearly ran over one of his crewmen, lurching forward and then jerking to a stop while a member of his over-the-wall team was servicing the front grille. Jimmie Johnson, who wound up 15th, had to make an unscheduled stop after lug nuts were left loose late in the race. A vibration from a loose wheel forced Kyle Busch to make an extra stop that put him a lap down -- he recovered to run as high as seventh before a late run-in with Kevin Harvick left him 11th. Kurt Busch was penalized a lap for pulling up to pit, or passing the pace car while trying to enter pit road. It was part of a frustrating weekend for the elder Busch, who ripped into his team during last week's event at Richmond, but this week turned the radio off to vent to himself. A wreck in practice Friday forced him to a backup, he scratched up his No. 22 car early in the race, and finished a season-worst 31st. "We may have sealed our fate when we cut a tire in practice and put our primary car in the Turn 1 wall," Kurt said. "We were super tight with the back-up car to start the race, and we never could loosen the car up. We threw everything at it -- track bar, wedge, shims, you name it, [crew chief] Steve [Addington] tried it. This place is tough enough with a good race car. When your setup is off, it's just a nightmare." Earnhardt's car was much more competitive, and before the penalty seemed bound for his best Darlington finish in years. The solace is that he remained a solid fourth in points heading into next week's event at Dover. "We were about a sixth-place car, and I think a legitimate contender there for that position, and it would have been nice to have gotten that position," Earnhardt said. "We gave up 10 points [Saturday night], so it was kind of tough." Dale Earnhardt Jr. makes costly mistake entering pit road, finishes 14th Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on his way to turning another poor qualifying effort into a top-10 and possibly a top-five finish when he made a mistake in the Showtime Southern 500 Saturday night at Darlington Raceway. Coming in on his final pit stop on lap 329 of the scheduled 367-lap event, Earnhardt Jr.’s car struck the cone on the outside of the commitment line entering pit road – and the Hendrick Motorsports driver was hit with an automatic pass-through penalty. He wound up getting back on the lead lap and finishing 14th, but it wasn’t the finish he was hoping for as he had worked his way up from the 30th starting spot into the top five during the event. “I was lucky to finish 14th,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I made a mistake getting onto pit road and just choked trying to make that last pit stop and that cost us about eight spots, probably. We did run a good race and worked really hard to get up to inside the top 10. “It was another week where we’ve been able to put the car inside the top 10, and we just need to start capitalizing like we were at the very start of the season on getting the finishes we deserve and stop making so many mistakes. I think we can do that. I think the confidence is coming more and more each week about the speed we’ve had.” Earnhardt Jr. said there was no reason for the mistake other than he was just trying to get on pit road as quickly as he could. “I pitted earlier [throughout the race] and had no problem and I was just trying to get a little too much there,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I barely hit that cone and that’s all it took.” After the race, Earnhardt Jr. apologized to his crew. He remained fourth in points, 47 points out of the lead and with a 44-point cushion on 11th. “We were about a sixth place car and I think a legitimate contender there for that position, and it would have been nice to have gotten that position,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We gave up 10 points tonight, so it was kind of tough.” Earnhardt Jr. was happy to see his former crew chief, Pete Rondeau, reach victory lane as crew chief for Regan Smith, who captured his first Cup victory with the win. “I was really proud to hear that they won,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Pete has done a great job with that team to find the speed that that car has and to make them as competitive. “I think a lot of credit goes to Pete. Obviously they’ve got a great young talent in their driver and he is going to get some good credit too for being able to hold off [Carl Edwards] there at the end. Pete deserves this and I guess Regan deserves it just as much. It’s great to see. It’s a good story.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopes to tame slick track, stay out of the wall at Darlington Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he knows how to tame Darlington Raceway, it’s just a matter of doing it. With three career top-five finishes and seven career top-10s on the 1.336-mile track, Earnhardt Jr. enters the Showtime Southern 500 knowing that he needs to avoid hitting the wall, whether it’s just a hard scrape or crashing into it. “Darlington is a slick track,” Earnhardt Jr. said in a news release. “It is a difficult track to drive around. It is real smooth, and you have to find that edge. There is a lot of load change like driving into Turn 1 and then the load comes out of the car through the center and then the load increases on the exit of Turn 2. “The car just really changes a lot as you are going around the corner, and it can just snap on you.” Earnhardt Jr. has done a good job of keeping his car under him this year. While coming off a disappointing 19th-place finish at Richmond International Raceway, Earnhardt Jr. is fourth in the standings, 34 points behind leader Carl Edwards with a 38-point cushion on 11th. For a driver who has failed to make the Chase For The Sprint Cup in the last two years and has a 102-race winless streak, Earnhardt Jr. can consider 2011 a solid season so far. But after a rough race at Richmond, Earnhardt Jr. needs to rebound at Darlington and run well. Running well at Darlington used to require tire management but that isn’t necessarily the case anymore. “The key to success at Darlington is to take care of your equipment,” Earnhardt Jr. crew chief Steve Letarte said. “The track will lull you into complacency. You go there with heightened senses because you know it tears up a lot of right sides. Over a couple of days you get more relaxed and the risks become normal.” The risk is not letting the two different turns fool you. “In Turns 1 and 2, you are right against the wall and not many people make a lot of mistakes down there because there is a lot of room,” Letarte said. “Turns 3 and 4 are just the opposite. You drive in really straight, and you have to make the car turn right up against the wall. To be good all day long at Darlington, you have to stay out of that Turn 3 and 4 wall.” Earnhardt not feeling All-Star pressure If Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't win one of the next three Sprint Cup races, he'll get to see how the other half lives -- and he's intrigued by the prospect. It has been 11 years since Earnhardt won the All-Star Race. With the winners from the past 10 years guaranteed starting spots in the annual non-points exhibition race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Earnhardt has lost his automatic eligibility. Earnhardt has three avenues into the race: 1) he can win one of three events before the Sprint All-Star Race (Richmond, Darlington or Dover) and qualify as a race winner from the previous or current year; 2) he can win or finish second in the Sprint Showdown, the qualifying race that precedes the main event; or, 3) he can win the fan vote. Earnhardt said Friday at Richmond International Raceway he's not particularly concerned about winning a race between now and then. "We're just going to go and enjoy that weekend," Earnhardt told Sporting News. "That weekend's pretty fun. Personally, I'd rather make it through the fan vote, because the qualifying procedure is a little bit of a pain in the tail, from a driver's standpoint anyway -- I'm sure that's not everybody's opinion. "The most important thing is just focusing on the points races, the races that matter toward the championship. When we get to the All-Star weekend, however things are lined up is how things are lined up. It's a fun weekend regardless. It'll be interesting to be on the other side of the fence, trying to find a way into the race and going through that experience, myself personally, to have appreciation for what that is like versus just showing up and being locked in. "It could be interesting and good for me to have that experience." Earnhardt has won the Cup Series' most popular driver award for eight consecutive years. Nevertheless, he says there's no guarantee of a victory in the fan vote. "I don't take it for granted that we'll get the fan vote -- anything can happen," Earnhardt said. Yes, hell could freeze over, and it could rain green tea in the Gobi Desert. Barring that, Earnhardt is a lock if the fans have to get him into the race. "I'd say his odds are pretty good of it happening, or he's already got it locked up," said Kasey Kahne, who won the 2008 race after being voted into the field. "He always wins the fan stuff. He's looking good for that -- he'll be in the All-Star Race." Engagement via email paying off for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kelley Earnhardt once joked her younger brother would be content living in a tent with a computer and a T1 line connecting him to the world of online racing. So perhaps the notion of Dale Earnhardt Jr. pounding away on a laptop until the wee hours of the morning isn't so stunning. Five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, though, has been witness to another side of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate's technophile tendencies this season. "I up Monday morning, and I had three emails from him explaining different scenarios about what he thought went on with the car and how to make our stuff better," Johnson said. "And then I looked at who he had sent it to, and it was the engineers, the crew chiefs, and myself. "I don't know what he was like before, but he, like he has always been, (is) committed to his team and is doing his best job." One of the early storyline of the 2011 season is the turnaround of Earnhardt, who is third in points entering Saturday's Matthew and Daniel Hansen at Richmond International Raceway after missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup the past two seasons. Earnhardt, 36, says his methods are the same as when he started with Dale Earnhardt Inc. 12 years ago, but he has gotten "better at being plugged in" since joining Hendrick three years ago. "I got better at my communication because how they do things is different than what I've done in the past at DEI," he said. "The team meetings after the practices, the team meetings during the week prior to the races, and the communication between the driver and the crew chief being more on a daily basis. "All those things are opportunities for an idea to pop up or for you to just be continuously giving the crew chief and the team your information and your thoughts and vice-versa. We never really did much of that at DEI. We just kind of showed up and went to the track and if (crew chief Tony Eury) needed to know something, he'd call and ask me, you know? We just didn't do those things, which a lot of teams didn't at the time. "But at Hendrick, they just do it differently. So I think I've gotten better at utilizing their approach and utilizing their ideas on what communication is. And that's helped me a lot." Another big factor is his relationship with crew chief Steve Letarte, who has guided Earnhardt to five top 10s in their first eight races. The radio chatter has become more measured and informative from Earnhardt, who had been known for meltdowns inside the cockpit of his No. 88 Chevrolet. "The confidence that I see in Dale Jr. today is the chemistry between he and Steve," Johnson says. "This sport is about people. We always say it. We preach about it in the No. 48 car and why it's had the success that it's had. It really boils down to people and the relationships those people have." Though he is known for wearing his emotions on his sleeve, no one has seemed less impressed with his hot start than Earnhardt. "It's because I am the only one under the pressure to keep it up," NASCAR's most popular driver said. "I don't have the time to be worried about anything else other than just trying to keep going. It's a lot of pressure to try to keep up the expectations that everybody has for you. So when we accomplish certain goals like when we win a race or a couple of races, or make the Chase, or win a race in the Chase or battle for the championship, those are the kinds of things that I can excited about and be happy with, and I will enjoy those moments." Dale Earnhardt Jr. comfortable returning to Richmond, looking for fourth career win there After nearly three years of struggles prior to this season – and with a new crew chief and crew – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is trying to recapture his comfort level at many tracks. Richmond International Raceway is not one of them. If there’s any track where Earnhardt Jr. still feels good and looks forward to returning to, it’s Richmond, where he has three career victories, which matches Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart for most among active drivers. Earnhardt Jr. scored his first Sprint Cup win at Richmond as a rookie in 2000. He won again in 2004 and again in 2006 – with all three coming in the spring event. He was on his way to a fourth win at Richmond in 2008 – his first year with Hendrick – when Kyle Busch took him out late in the race, opening the door for Clint Bowyer to win. Like many drivers, Earnhardt Jr. compares the 0.75-mile oval to many of the short tracks he grew up on. " I used to race at Myrtle Beach [S.C.], which is real similar to Richmond,” he said. “The line there and the track are kind of similar. It reminds me a lot of Myrtle Beach, so I was pretty comfortable as soon as I got there, as soon as I started running laps there. Earnhardt Jr., who has climbed to third in points with five top-10 finishes, has made 23 career starts at Richmond. He has eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes there and has completed 99 percent of the laps. So what’s the key to getting around the wide short track? "Just rolling the center,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “The last couple times I've been there we've struggled turning in the middle. The car has to turn and cut in the center of the corner and have good drive off, especially in Turn 4. You can spin your tires real bad coming off of [Turn] 4 if you aren’t careful." Like Earnhardt Jr., crew chief Steve Letarte is used to preparing cars for tracks like Richmond. “I grew up in the Northeast, and in the Northeast a half-mile was a big race track,” Letarte said. “Richmond is the kind of short track like I grew up racing on. It’s two-groove racing. It’s just a blast. “It’s a two-day show. You show up Friday and get it all knocked up and come back Saturday and race under the lights. It’s one of the few tracks that gives you goose bumps. It is a blast.” While racing under the lights on Saturday night adds an extra element of excitement, it also presents an added challenge. “The funny thing about Richmond,” Letarte said, “is that you race under the lights, and that is the only time you’ll be on the track under the lights. It’s difficult. You practice in the middle of the day on Friday. The track couldn’t be any more different. “That track schedule has been consistent for years so our notebook is very thick. If you run a setup in the middle of the day on Friday, you had better make some changes for Saturday night. We have a pretty good confidence on what we have to do, and they seem to work good.” Johnson, Earnhardt partnership pays dividends First they started sharing the shop at the Hendrick Motorsports complex in Concord, N.C. Next thing you know, they're sharing the checkered flag at Talladega and so darn gracious toward one another that the actual race winner of Sunday's Aaron's 499 was offering his teammate the trophy and possible future benefits as well. It appears this decision to move the No. 88 team of Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the shop with the No. 48 team of five-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson already is paying huge dividends, with the chance for more payouts and reciprocation in the immediate and long-term future. Johnson won his first race of the season and the 54th of his 10-year Sprint Cup career by the slimmest of margins Sunday -- .002 seconds. That tied the record for the closest margin of victory since electronic scoring was introduced into the sport, and Johnson knew it could not have been accomplished without the pushing assistance provided for him all day long by Earnhardt in the two-car draft that now seems here to stay in restrictor-plate races at both Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway. So Johnson drove up alongside Earnhardt afterward and made him an offer he ultimately couldn't refuse. He gave Earnhardt the checkered flag, which usually is reserved only for handling by the race winner. "Man, I don't want that," Earnhardt said at first. "Well, I have to give you something for the push and for working with me," Johnson replied. "No, that's what teammates do," Earnhardt said. Johnson would not be denied in his attempt at showing his appreciation. He smiled and insisted, "Take the damn flag. I'll give you the trophy, too." Being the good teammate he is, Earnhardt finally relented. But he did put a cap on Johnson's generosity. "No, I don't want the trophy. I'll take the flag, though," he finally said. Teammates within the team Keep in mind that Earnhardt has not won his own Cup race since June of 2008 at Michigan. He doesn't need reminding that was 101 races ago. And the plan going into Talladega wasn't for Earnhardt to push Johnson to the win at the end. The plan simply was for them to work together and try to get one of the Hendrick cars to Victory Lane. The other two Hendrick teammates, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin, arrived with identical intentions. "We pretty much just had the philosophy coming in this weekend, you know, don't leave your wingman," Gordon told reporters after the race. And the four Hendrick cars didn't. Gordon and Martin worked in tandem throughout the day, as did Johnson and Earnhardt. Remember, it was only last year that the teams of Gordon and Johnson were housed together in the same building at the sprawling Hendrick complex, while the teams of Martin and Earnhardt were in the other. Shortly after the end of Johnson's unprecedented fifth consecutive title run last November, team owner Rick Hendrick orchestrated a swap of three of the four crew chiefs of the teams involved. But there was more to it than simply that. Steve Letarte, who had been Gordon's crew chief, stayed put in the building where he had worked for so long alongside Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief. But now Letarte was Earnhardt's crew chief and the team under him worked for the No. 88 Chevy as well. Lance McGrew, who had been Earnhardt's crew chief operating out of the other building, didn't have to move his office, either. He stayed put but became Martin's crew chief on the No. 5 car, and Alan Gustafson, who had been working in that same building as Martin's previous crew chief, jumped over to Gordon's No. 24 team. Essentially, what had been the 88-5 shop became the 24-5 building, and what had been the 24-48 building became the 48-88 shop. The four Hendrick Cup teams will all tell you they operate as one. But the four teams are split between two buildings side-by-side at the Hendrick complex, and they also would admit that they operate most closely on a daily basis with the one team housed under the same roof as them and therefore that bond within the Hendrick bond is closer. Knaus said he thought the new alliances started to show huge promise right off the bat this season, when Earnhardt won the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500. "We have a collective group of guys at Hendrick Motorsports who work on our superpeedway program and they do a fantastic job of putting a very good product out there," Knaus said. "I think that definitely started to shine in Daytona when we were able to qualify with the 88 car on the pole and then we were able to bring some of that momentum back here for qualifying at Talladega." It shone again when the Hendrick teams were the top four in qualifying for last Sunday's race, led by Gordon on the pole. But Knaus said it really paid off during the race when the four drivers were able to split into pairs and work so strongly together. "You know, we have been working a while to try to get to where we could get the drivers to really commit to one another and work together, and I think it was really nice to see the 5 and 24 work together the way they did [Sunday]," Knaus said. "I thought it was nice to see the 48 and 88 work together. It made it a lot easier on Steve Letarte and myself to call the race when you have that kind of strategy going on. "I think it was a good race for Jimmie and Dale to get a lot of experience working together and learning how the draft works and hopefully we can apply some of that to the race when we come back here in the fall. So it was a very collective effort on a lot of people's parts and it was really nice to see." But first ... Shortly after Sunday's race concluded, Knaus was overheard on the radio telling Earnhardt, "The next one is on us, brother." Well, of course, the next restrictor-plate race is Daytona in July, not Talladega in the fall. And of course, you can never predict how these races are going to play out with any kind of real precision. Maybe Johnson will be in position to help Junior in Daytona, and maybe not. And maybe Johnson will be as helpful and as selfless -- and, well, maybe not. That indeed may be the true definition of a real teammate. Last Sunday at Talladega, Earnhardt came over the radio earlier in the race and admitted that the 48-88 two-car tandem seemed to run faster whenever Johnson was in front, being pushed by Earnhardt -- and not the other way around. That is sometimes a difficult concept for a driver to grasp, let alone admit and commit to in the middle of a frenzied race such as one at Talladega. "I was more comfortable pushing Jimmie and I think we were the faster combination pushing that way," Earnhardt said after the race. "For some reason when I was leading I would drive off his nose and even running quarter throttle I would just get away from him and we couldn't stay together." Johnson added: "He was committed, as was I, and it showed. Neither one of us was selfish and we worked as a group. And at the end, he felt like the 48 car leading was faster. We agreed." These guys were so committed that at least once Earnhardt slowed down on pit road to make certain he could get hooked up with Johnson again. In this day and age where supposedly every second on pit road counts, it seemed bizarre. It was, Johnson said later, a learning process. "We had a plan coming into the race, and stuck to it and learned a lot as the event went on, really Junior and I did, on how we would communicate, on what runs we could make, how we could set them up, how we could pass, how to have the guy push and could cool his car," Johnson said. "Really there was a lot of learning that went on through all of the laps throughout the race. "I'm so very proud of Chad and Stevie, and the growth of the 48-88 shop, and the way Junior and I worked together." But next time, will it really be Earnhardt's turn to celebrate in Victory Lane, as Knaus promised? "I think we take the exact same approach and see how it shakes out the end," Knaus said. "You have to be aware as to which situation is faster, and definitely [at Talladega] we would have been pushing the 88 car if Dale had not come on the radio and said, 'Hey, guys, I don't think we are fast enough the way we are right now; we need the 48 in front.' If we get to Daytona and the roles are reversed, that will be it. We will follow him across the line with sparks and fire a-blazing." Dale Earnhardt Jr. can't hook up with teammate Aric Almirola on final restart, winds up eighth in Nationwide race at Talladega Dale Earnhardt Jr. tried to draft with Aric Almirola to win the Aaron’s 312, but with Almirola in the outside lane and Earnhardt Jr. on the inside for what would be the final green-white-checkered restart, Earnhardt Jr. never got hooked up with his JR Motorsports teammate the way he wanted Saturday afternoon. Earnhardt Jr. ended up pushing Justin Allgaier, who had restarted in front of him, at the end and Allgaier wound up seventh and Earnhardt Jr. was eighth in the Nationwide race at Talladega Superspeedway. Almirola finished 10th. “I pushed the 31 [of Allgaier] around the top of [turns] 1 and 2 and we caught somebody and couldn’t go anywhere and that was that,” said Earnhardt Jr., who led five times for 16 laps but never led over the final 21 laps. Driving one of his JR Motorsports cars, Earnhardt Jr. said most of the race he was able to get hooked up with Almirola easily but just couldn’t get there following the final restart. “It was not real difficult,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It was actually easier than I thought [before then].” What wasn’t easy for Earnhardt Jr. was what he has complained about all weekend – the two-car draft. “What was difficult was seeing when you are in second – you couldn’t see at all,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “That’s not good. I don’t like driving a car blind at 185 miles an hour.” Earnhardt Jr. led four laps early in the race but then from about lap 40-70 stayed near the tail of the field. With about 50 laps to go in the 117-lap race, Earnhardt Jr. told Almirola it was “time to go.” That might seem strange for him to make that statement, but Earnhardt Jr. had good reason to make it. “We were losing a little bit of the lead draft,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I didn’t want to get back too far and I knew they were going to start wrecking. I just didn’t want to tear my car up.” Junior hoping two-car draft is just a passing phase Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a big fan of Talladega Superspeedway. He's just not a big fan of two-car bump drafting. "I'm hoping this kind of racing goes away fast so we don't have to talk about this no more," Earnhardt said Saturday before going out to qualify for Sunday's Aaron's 499. "This is a mess. This is a bunch of crap. Y'all don't look at it and think it's strange? "Watch how fast these Cup cars qualify. We'll be lucky to break 180 [mph]." Earnhardt's qualifying lap was 177.765 mph, more than 35 miles an hour slower than Bill Elliott's 1987 record. Jeff Gordon's pole-winning lap of 178.248 mph was easily the slowest pole run in more than 40 years of Cup races on the 2.66-mile oval. Of Earnhardt's 18 Cup victories, five have come at the Cup Series' longest track. He first came here with his father in the early '90s, wrecked a couple of times in his first few races and admitted it took him "about six races before I figured out what not to do." But "just finding somebody to push and just push them" isn't the way Junior likes to race at Talladega. He'd like to see two-car packs wind up being a fad like Pet Rocks and mood rings. "I think everybody thinks it's cool now because it's new and it's neat," Earnhardt said. "Everybody's getting a big kick out of it. But over the long haul, man, it's not the best. It's not as good as 40 dudes in one pack, racing like hell, trying to get to the front. It's nowhere near as good as that. "Give me that any day over this. Over the long haul, people will realize that. Once the newness of this wears off, how interesting this is and how unique it is, I think people will start to see." No matter what type of strategy will come into play Sunday, Earnhardt said the winner will be a deserving one. "Look at the guys who's won here in the last couple of trips," Earnhardt said. "They're good. They're talented. They won because they're talented. Nine times out of 10, that's going to be the case. Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500. He's got enough talent to do it. He was smart and used his head and did what he needed to do." "Anybody who wins, you've got to do something right to make it happen. It's not just a buffoon riding around there. You can't discredit what anybody's ever done to win a race, no matter what track it is or where it's at." According to Earnhardt, just because two-car packs work doesn't mean it's interesting for the fans. And considering the sea of green shirts that will fill the majority of seats on Sunday, Junior's pull with the fanbase is significant. "You remember when we would go out to practice? Even the few fans that were here on Thursday and Friday, that's pretty interesting to them, to watch guys out there practicing," Earnhardt said. "And how interesting was practice [Friday]? "I think NASCAR's doing what they think is right, and I don't want to say what they're doing is wrong, because I don't know. I don't know whether I'm right or wrong. I just know what I prefer and what I like. It's my opinion. I'm entitled to one. Everybody's got one. I don't know what's right or wrong." When it comes to being able to switch radio frequencies during the race, Earnhardt wishes that technology was available in the past. "I don't have a problem working with anybody or talking to anybody," Earnhardt said. "I think it's easier to do it that way. For years, when we've been racing and you always needed somebody to help you draft, it would have been great to have been able to communicate with that person while you were racing. We just never really went out of our way to do it." When asked to give his 2011 season a grade, Earnhardt chose one just slightly better than average. "I'd give it about a C-plus or a B-minus," he said. "We're doing better than we were last year. We've got a couple more gains to make on our finishing position. I think across the board, we could do just a little bit better, performance-wise, and we're working hard, trying to keep up our momentum and improve. I think we've got all the pieces of the puzzle and getting them in the right place." Earnhardt gets plenty of mileage out of snake prank Even a commercial shoot for a sponsor can benefit from some levity, as Dale Earnhardt Jr. demonstrated recently during a studio session for Suave, his Nationwide Series sponsor for Saturday's Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway. Earnhardt took a break from filming to play a prank on some of his JR Motorsports colleagues, among them crew chiefs Tony Eury Jr. and Tony Eury Sr. and driver Aric Almirola. The ploy? A lifelike snake -- looking something like a coiled python -- in a cooler. Victims of the joke were directed to get bottled water from the cooler. Their reactions to finding the snake were recorded on a video that has garnered more than 45,000 views on YouTube. "My property manager Sonny [Lunsford] has been doing that to everybody he can at the Charlotte Auto Fair for the last several years -- putting a 'Free Drinks' sign on that cooler and setting it out near where he parks," Earnhardt said after qualifying third in Friday's Nationwide time trials. "We were doing a quick shoot with Suave, and we were trying to figure out something fun to do with our employees at JR Motorsports. That was one of the ideas that I came up with. We had a lot of fun, just pretending we were going to interview 'em and bringing them in there and somehow figuring out how to get them into that cooler." Dale Jr. winless streak reaches 100 races The winless streak for Dale Earnhardt Jr. has reached 100 races. A week after a runner-up finish at Martinsville, where he led until being passed by Kevin Harvick with four laps to go, Earnhardt had another strong run. But he finished ninth at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Earnhardt last won in June 2008 at Michigan, his only win so far in 115 starts for Rick Hendrick. That win in his first season with Hendrick ended a 76-race winless streak. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson has won three consecutive Sprint Cup season championships since Earnhardt’s last victory. Still, there are several much longer winless streaks for drivers who also ran Saturday night. Bobby Labonte has started 259 races since his last victory in 2003, while Robby Gordon has made 255 starts since also winning that year. Dave Blaney has never won in 369 races since his 1992 Cup debut. Runner-up finish enough to stoke Earnhardt fever Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, it felt like the old days again. The group of media members began gathering behind the No. 88 hauler more than 20 minutes before Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s scheduled media availability, all the better to grab a front-row position next to the mirrored sliding doors. By the time the session finally began, the crush of humanity was so great that some reporters struggled to keep their balance, and everyone risked getting bopped in the head by telescoping microphone booms being maneuvered overhead. If there were any doubts that NASCAR's most popular driver has returned to relevance, they were squashed by the kind of every-man-for-himself press gaggle that was a weekly occurrence back when Earnhardt was winning races in the No. 8 car. There were a few differences, of course -- he's driving for a different team than he was back then, he's competing in different colors (as evidenced by the strategically placed fridge of Amp), and Friday's scrum was sparked not by a race victory, but a second-place finish last weekend at Martinsville. In a Chase era where the spotlight focuses almost solely on the dozen drivers in the championship hunt, Earnhardt's struggles of the past two years have left him somewhat marginalized. He still collects most popular driver trophies by the armful, still spurs the legions in their No. 88 gear to come out to the race track or tune in the television every weekend, still remains a ubiquitous presence because of his commercial viability. But from a competitive standpoint, he's been overshadowed by the likes of Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, and in the process we've all forgotten the seismic impact Earnhardt can have on NASCAR when he is consistently contending at the front. It's been a long time -- early 2008, to be exact -- since we've seen that Dale Earnhardt Jr., the one not only capable of moving the needle, but making it jump like those on a soundboard during an Iron Maiden concert. He still hasn't won in nearly three years, a drought that will stretch to an even 100 race weekends if he doesn't reach Victory Lane on Saturday night at Texas. And yet there is such a yearning within the fan base to see Earnhardt succeed, and such an obligation within the media to feed the beast, that these days a runner-up finish is enough to spark a weeklong Juniorpalooza that can make even the man himself feel sheepish. "I know that the fans don't really like having a lot of Dale Jr. stories out there," said Earnhardt, well aware of how polarizing the attention he receives can be. "But after this past week, there has probably been far too much commenting and discussion in the media about the finish. I feel like we've got more to do, and we need to do better. I can't really control what happens other than that, other than what I'm doing in the race car. The media attention and focus that we've had this week has been great for our sponsors and great for Hendrick Motorsports and great for our relationships, and it's great for me, too. I'm a little bit unassuming, I guess. It was a lot of exposure just to run second somewhere. Hopefully we can validate all that with a win soon." Give the man some credit -- no one is more aware of his place in the sport, and no one is more guarded over the progress the No. 88 team has made since crew chief Steve Letarte came aboard and Earnhardt was paired with five-time champion Johnson in Hendrick's new 48/88 shop. Some people are ready to do cartwheels over the fact that Earnhardt is competitive again, over the fact that he's eighth in points, over the fact that he led in the final laps at Martinsville. Earnhardt, though, is a realist. He knows there's some work still to do before he snaps a winless streak that dates to Michigan in the summer of 2008. He knows he probably over-drove the corner at Martinsville where eventual winner Kevin Harvick squeezed by. He knows he's shown early flashes before and then faded into the background. He knows he has shortcomings even at places like Texas and Talladega, tracks that have been good to him in the past. "We haven't run that great here at Texas the last couple of years. We've run inside the top 10 in some of those races, and we did take the lead a little bit in those races," said Earnhardt, who earned his first victory at NASCAR's top level here in 2000, and led 46 laps in a ninth-place result here a year ago. Then there's next week at big, bad Talladega Superspeedway, where he's won five times but cracked the top 10 just twice in his past seven starts. "Hopefully, we will do what we need to do in that race to try to be toward the front near the end," he said. "I haven't really finished well there in the last several trips. I'll probably try to take care of my car a little better during the race. It is a very long race. [I'll] try to make better decisions, better judgment calls to have my car there at the end when I need to be able to be around to get a good finish. I haven't been able to do that in the last several trips there." That pragmatic approach tempers the rampant enthusiasm felt by many in Junior Nation who eagerly await that breakthrough victory. Sometimes, those citizens can get a little too enthusiastic -- as evidenced by the clamoring this past week that Earnhardt should have just taken out Harvick at Martinsville to win the race. You could almost hear the cry: Just rattle his cage, like daddy did to Terry Labonte at Bristol! As if Earnhardt would choose to snap a seemingly endless winless streak under such controversial circumstances. "I don't think that would have been the right thing to do," Earnhardt said. "I wouldn't want anyone to do that to me, to take me completely out of the race under any circumstances. I don't have a history of doing that. It's real easy to say that on the Internet. Really, on the Internet, it's easy to say a lot of things. Everyone knows how I race. I try to race respectful and want the same in return. If it's near the end of the race, I expect to run hard and be aggressive, and I expect the guys to race me hard and be aggressive. And I kind of think that's what went down this past weekend." Earnhardt said he did get to Harvick once, and tried to get into him a little bit, but the back bumper on the No. 29 was so worn down the contact felt like a pillow fight. But he wasn't going to wreck his opponent to win. "I didn't want to take him out under any circumstances," Earnhardt said. "I don't take out drivers or wreck people on purpose. I wanted to race him hard." Finishing second, though, doesn't detract from the obvious progress Earnhardt has made to this point. In the offseason team owner Rick Hendrick not only paired Earnhardt with Letarte, but also moved the driver of the No. 88 car into the same building as the No. 48, where Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have engineered five consecutive title runs. The hope was that some of that championship mojo, that swagger Johnson's team carries with it, would rub off. From Johnson's perspective, it's not too early to think the combination is paying dividends for his new stable mate. "I think if we had major issues, they would have shown up already," Johnson said. "I feel the way both teams are running -- granted, we don't have the consistent weekend that we want really for all four cars -- but we're all getting good finishes, we're all running well, we're all producing. I think in tough times like we've been going through, to have the results shows that we all work very well together. The change, with Jeff going to the Alan Gustafson crew and Junior coming to the Steve Letarte crew, that's all worked very well .... I think you can read into it. I think things have been going very well." That much seemed evident by the crowd that swelled around Earnhardt's hauler on Friday, indicative of a sport that longs to see its most popular figure return to the top of the standings to stay. All it took was one runner-up finish to stoke the fever, to provide a glimpse of the craziness that used to surround Earnhardt when he was winning races and appearing on magazine covers and popping up on awards shows. Times have changed and Earnhardt is older now, but still -- the unmatched potential in a combination of popularity and performance remains. That monster has been lying there, slumbering, for years now. Everything changes when it finally awakes. With Texas, Talladega on tap, Junior sees remedy for slump Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one race from hitting the century mark since his last Sprint Cup victory, but the schedule offers hope for the skid not extending past 100. Saturday night's Samsung Mobile 500 is at Texas Motor Speedway, the site of his first Cup victory 11 years ago. Next week, the circuit will travel to Talladega Superspeedway, where he has scored five of his 18 career wins (more than any other track). "For the first time in a long time," says Larry McReynolds, analyst for Fox and Speed, "I can say I am confident his winless streak will come to an end in the near future." The Hendrick Motorsports driver nearly snapped it last week at Martinsville Speedway, taking the lead with 21 laps left before getting yielding 17 laps later to winner Kevin Harvick. The runner-up finish was Earnhardt's best since a second in the 2010 Daytona 500, but the outcome still stung. "I'll probably think about it a million times what I probably could have done differently" said Earnhardt, whose last win was June 2008 at Michigan International Speedway. "If I know what's best for me, I should probably have a good attitude about what happened and probably go into the next race and use it as momentum and confidence, like any other good driver would do, instead of worrying about, how close we came." That's the attitude likely being preached this week by crew chief Steve Letarte, who took over calling the shots for the No. 88 Chevrolet this season. Letarte, who led Jeff Gordon's team to the Chase for the Sprint Cup the past five seasons, instituted a more regimented at-track schedule for Earnhardt and also has coaxed more professional chatter on the radio. It's helped Earnhardt improve his car during races such as Martinsville instead of fading, which had become a recurring problem in recent seasons. The goofiness that made Earnhardt's channel a favorite for fan eavesdropping still is permitted (Letarte told Earnhardt to "start thinking of good stuff to say!" before a Fox interview during a red flag at Martinsville; the driver responded by saying hi to his "mama, mama, mama"). Earnhardt, though, is providing a more business-like recitation of feedback on his car's performance — not unlike the detailed information that helps teammate and five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson make improvements to the handling of his Impala. Though Letarte is among NASCAR's most personable and articulate crew chiefs, he balances an easygoing style in interviews with a fastidious approach to work not unlike Ray Evernham (whom Letarte worked for on Gordon's crew after joining Hendrick 16 years ago). "I think Steve has rubbed off on (Earnhardt)," McReynolds said. "There was a time Sunday when they had a (slow) pit stop, but he was cheering on the team and giving them a pep talk. I see a totally different Dale Jr. this year across the board." While admitting his driver's confidence had been shaken, Letarte said this week that Martinsville proved Earnhardt hadn't lost the desire or ability to win. He has three top 10s in six races (after 13 in the previous 72). NASCAR's most popular driver, though, isn't ready to proclaim his three-year slump over. "Well, I ain't really proved it to myself yet," he said. "I'll let you know." For Earnhardt, closing out a win can't be easy It’s easy to sit on the couch and list all the things you would have done if you’d been driving Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car over the final few laps at Martinsville Speedway. Of course, most of us don’t have the slightest idea how to drive a race car, let alone maneuver it around a tricky paperclip-shaped short track with Kevin Harvick bearing down on the bumper. And nobody has any idea what it’s like to be Earnhardt, who must balance the life of luxury he’s created as NASCAR’s most popular driver with the burden of being the son of a seven-time champion. Toss in his failure to win a championship, a losing streak that’s closing in on three years and constant questions about his ability, confidence and desire, and, well, it becomes pretty difficult to figure out just what Earnhardt should have done Sunday at Martinsville. The fact it, he’s probably a little rusty when it comes to closing out victories. His last one at the Sprint Cup level was at Michigan in June, 2008, and although he flirted with the win in the closing laps of last year’s Daytona 500, he was chasing someone else for the trophy. It’s been a long time, though, since he’s had to do any defensive driving. Nobody is saying he’s forgotten how to protect a lead late in a race, but it’s never as easy as it looks on TV, and it certainly wasn’t for Earnhardt on Sunday. Stuck in a 98-race losing streak, in a car that was probably only good for a top-10 finish, he suddenly found himself in position to race for the win. Crew chief Steve Letarte’s strategy and some lucky breaks put him right behind Kyle Busch racing for the win late in Sunday’s race. Nobody would have been surprised if Earnhardt had run Busch over to knock him out of his way. After all, Busch has had the last laugh in 16 visits to Victory Lane since Rick Hendrick fired him to make room for Earnhardt at Hendrick Motorsports. All those Busch wins have had to embarrass Earnhardt just a little as he floated around the middle of the pack each week. But Earnhardt didn’t wreck him. He instead patiently worked his way onto Busch’s rear bumper, and gave him a little nudge when it was time to take the lead. Was it out of bounds? Absolutely not, and Busch said so himself. “I was holding him up, so it was good for him,” Busch said. “He took the lead. No harm, no foul.” Only Earnhardt knows what was going through his mind with that long-overdue victory finally in sight. All he’s heard for three years is how NASCAR’s success depends on him, and if Earnhardt was winning again, then just maybe the television ratings and attendance problems would be solved. And that rabid fan base, so passionate in its support of the prodigal son, has literally been starving for just a smidgen of success. Alas, there was lapped traffic out his front windshield, and Harvick closing quickly in his rearview mirror. His car, remember, was never considered a contender for this win, and holding off Harvick was going to be an unbelievable challenge. Maybe he should have forced Harvick to move him out of the way. But he didn’t, and Harvick, with a faster car, earned it with a solid pass. Then he got back on Harvick’s bumper for one last shot at it, and maybe he should have wrecked Harvick to take back the win. He didn’t, though, and his crew chief said that was the right thing to do. “You can’t bump a guy who just ran you down from straightaway back and passed you,” Letarte said Monday. “We took it on the chin and understood we were probably a third- or fourth-place car that came home second. And that was all Dale Jr. at the end. I think a lot of people in the sport kind of wrote him off. He hasn’t forgotten how to drive, he hasn’t lost the desire.” Now Earnhardt will move on this week to Texas, site of his first career win 11 years ago, and where if he doesn’t win Saturday night, his losing streak will hit 100 races. But he’s got plenty to feel good about right now - he’s obviously faster this year, he’s eighth in the standings and his 11.2 average finish right now is up from the last two seasons. And maybe he learned on Sunday that he can get to the front again, and wins might not be that far away. As he reflected, though, on what might have been, he couldn’t help but wonder what he could have done differently. Knowing that there was possibly something that he did that cost him that victory forced him to temper his excitement with the reality. “Well, I ain’t really proved it to myself yet,” Earnhardt said when asked if “he’s back.” “I’ll let you know when I feel like I’m back, personally. We got some work to do still, and you know, we are faster, we are more competitive than last year. But we still got a little ways to go.” Earnhardt looking for bright side of second place Even Kevin Harvick was aware of Junior Fever swirling Sunday in the exhaust-choked air at Martinsville Speedway, and Harvick was cooped up inside his race car. As he came barreling toward the car being driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his No. 29 Chevrolet during the closing laps of the Goody's Fast Relief 500, Harvick said he sensed the crowd on its feet. He didn't sense that they were pulling for him to pass Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevy for the lead. "I could see the people just going crazy coming off of Turn 2 when he took the lead from Kyle [Busch] -- and as I was catching him, I'm like, 'Man, I'm gonna be the bad guy here. But I gotta do what I gotta do,'" Harvick said. So he passed Earnhardt, much more easily than the way Earnhardt had whipped the crowd into a frenzy only 17 laps earlier by nudging Busch out of the way for the lead on Lap 480 of the 500-lap race. And in that instant, arguably Earnhardt's best chance at a win in his past 99 Sprint Cup races evaporated in the wake of the No. 29 car's fumes. But for 16 glorious laps, from Lap 480 until Harvick seized the lead for good with three to go, Junior Nation stood poised to celebrate Earnhardt's first victory since June of 2008 at Michigan. Inside the car, Earnhardt simply was trying to hold on -- knowing deep down that Harvick's car was faster and that Harvick had the time and skill to run him down. "I was thinking at the end that I was meant to win the damn race ... I knew the 29 was fast. We all watched him come up through the pack there," Earnhardt said. "So I knew he had the speed. But he did have a car in front of him [in Busch, for a while] and I was trying to make it difficult for him to get by." The silver lining In the end, he didn't have enough car to hold off Harvick. But new crew chief Steve Letarte was determined as soon as Earnhardt climbed out of the car afterward not to let his driver dwell on this as one that had slipped away. He wanted Earnhardt to focus instead on the bigger, brighter picture. "He did a great job all day long. He kept the brakes on it, kept the tires on it, kept the fenders on it, and gave us a shot to win at the end. That was great," Letarte said. "The most important thing is when you're that close, you know you can win races. And that's the whole idea. We need to know we're that good. This is one of his better tracks and [Sunday] we were good. We weren't quite good enough, but we were good -- and it feels good to be that way." In finishing second, Earnhardt jumped four spots in the point standings to eighth. He trails points leader Kyle Busch by 20 and appears to be gathering momentum as he heads into another track he likes in Texas Motor Speedway next weekend. He has finished in the top 10 in half of his six starts this season, giving this season a totally different feel than Earnhardt's team had most of last season -- despite finishing second in the 2010 Daytona 500. "I'm just happy we're getting results for the hard work," said Letarte, who replaced Lance McGrew as team owner Rick Hendrick shuffled around the crew chiefs on three of his four Sprint Cup teams last offseason. "The engineers are working tremendously. I've asked the shop to jump through hoops to build new cars. This is a brand-new race car here; that was a brand-new car last week [at Auto Club Speedway in California, where Earnhardt finished 12th]. We'll have another brand-new car in a couple of weeks. "This right here is a group very committed to running well -- and that group starts at that basic guy sweeping floors in the shop and goes all the way up to the driver and the owner. I'm just glad the driver is seeing results for his extra effort." Bottom line Earnhardt often seems to see the negative in something before he can mine out the positive, but Letarte, the ultimate cheerleader, seems to be working on changing that attitude all the time. And it appears to be having the desired effect. But man, sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's really, really hard. "I felt like for the most part of the day, I didn't run up to my standard," Earnhardt said. "I feel like my standard here is a third- through fifth-place run. We all know Denny [Hamlin] and the 48 [of Jimmie Johnson] have been winning all the races here recently. But I feel like I'm right there behind them in how we performed here over the last 10 years." So in the end, Earnhardt said, he was "happy we were able to steal a few spots at the end of the race." He tried to focus on the positives of finishing second -- his highest finish since that aforementioned second-place effort in the 2010 Daytona 500 -- rather than the fact that he came within three circuits of the .526-mile paper clip of Martinsville of finally getting back to Victory Lane. Asked what it was going to take to prove to his critics that he's back to the form that enabled him to win a total of 18 Cup races between 2000 and 2008, the bearded Earnhardt grimaced and replied: "Well, I ain't really proved it to myself yet. I'll let you know when I feel like I'm back, personally." But then his mixed emotions spilled over and he added: "Honestly, the way I feel is I feel fortunate to finish second in a race where we should have finished 10th or ninth or eighth. ... I'm really thrilled. I know it don't look like it, but I know I've got such a hell of an opportunity here. This is such a great group to be around, and I'm having fun with it. "I'm racing cars. It's all I've ever wanted to do. I want to run like this. I want to finish like this or even run a little better than this every weekend, and we are right on the outside of that. It was frustrating to be that close [to winning]. It was frustrating to be leading the race inside 10 laps to go and be passed. "But there is definitely a brighter side to what's going on, too, and I won't forget to notice that." To be sure, neither will his many fans. Harvick edges past Earnhardt for Martinsville win Kevin Harvick won his second consecutive race -- and in the process may have become the most unpopular man in Virginia. Harvick passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the lead on Lap 496 of 500 and pulled away to win the Goody's Fast Relief 500 Sprint Cup race Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. Earnhardt ran second, extending his winless streak to 99 races. The victory was Harvick's second of the season and his first at Martinsville. Harvick has 16 victories in the Cup Series. Earnhardt had muscled past third-place finisher Kyle Busch on Lap 479 and held the lead until Harvick made the winning pass in Turn 2. "I hate to be the bad guy here, but we're in it to win it," Harvick said. Busch opened a lead of almost five seconds during an exchange of green-flag stops that began with Denny Hamlin's appearance on pit road on Lap 320 and ended when Harvick pitted from the lead on Lap 337. But a caution on Lap 351 -- when Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne cut a tire and couldn't get down from the high groove -- bunched the field for a restart on Lap 360. Five laps later Jeff Gordon passed Busch for the lead and held it until Busch surged back to the inside on Lap 392. When Jimmie Johnson passed Gordon for second on Lap 434, Busch's advantage was 2.1 seconds. The race was red-flagged for 24 minutes, 55 seconds to repair the Turn 3 wall after Martin Truex Jr. rammed the SAFER barrier. The throttle on Truex's No. 56 Toyota stuck wide open, and Truex T-boned fellow Toyota driver Kasey Kahne before slamming the wall. Paul Menard's streak of five consecutive career-best finishes ended when he failed to better his previous best at Martinsville: 13th. Contact from Brad Keselowski's Dodge spun Menard's Chevy in Turn 1 on Lap 241, and Menard never recovered. Ultimately, he retired to the garage after 261 laps, in 38th place. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will have to rally again as he starts 26th at Martinsville Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s quest to qualify better to give himself better track position didn’t produce results Saturday afternoon. He pretty much knew that was the way it was going to be before he even went out to qualify. Earnhardt Jr., who had averaged a starting spot of 30th in the four races after winning the pole for the Daytona 500, will start 26th in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. Speaking to the media prior to qualifying, Earnhardt Jr. said he wasn’t all that fast in qualifying trim during practice Friday. So the Hendrick Motorsports driver, who is 12th in the standings, will have to do what he’s done the last month – improve throughout the race. He thinks he can do that again. “I felt pretty decent about my car in race trim,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It drives, I feel, as competitive as I’ve been here in the past. But we didn’t find the kind of speed we were looking for in qualifying.” Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin have won the last nine races at Martinsville, so it would seem that Earnhardt Jr. should be able to get some good help from his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Johnson. This year, after an offseason crew swap among three Hendrick drivers, Earnhardt Jr. now works with a crew housed in the same building as Johnson. “He helped me just as much in the last several years,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We knew what their setup was and we’ve run pretty good here. He was a big help over the last several years just being in the same camp as him as they were doing really well here and trying to see what they were doing. “But, everybody has a little bit different setup here. When you come to this track, you like a little bit different feel. Jimmie’s probably going to have a great race. Hopefully this package we have in our car is good.” Statsitically, Martinsville is one of Earnhardt Jr.’s best tracks as he has eight top-fives and 11 top-10s in 22 starts. He has led 848 laps at the track. “I look forward to coming here,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I really enjoy the racing here and the race track itself and the fact that it’s close to home. “So I do look forward to coming here. It’s a fun place to race, it really is. And the races are always good. They always come down to exciting finishes and they’re fun to be a part of.” Earnhardt Jr. struggled in three of his first four Cup races at Martinsville but starting in 2002, he had a string of five consecutive top-five runs on the 0.526-mile oval. “I like the track because I run good here,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It is hard to tell which one came first.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. likes 'roughness' of racing at Martinsville, hopes to duplicate last year's strong run Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows what it’s like to finish in the top five at Martinsville Speedway. He just doesn’t know what it’s like to win a Sprint Cup race there. With eight top-five finishes in 22 career starts on the smallest track on the Cup circuit, Earnhardt Jr. will look for his first career win there and try to snap a 98-race overall winless streak this weekend in the Goody’s Pain Relief 500. Then again, he also could just use a top-five finish. That would help him in the points standings, where he is 12th but just one point behind a group of three drivers tied for 12th. “I like Martinsville a lot,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “There’s something about trying to get around the corner of that place that’s a lot of fun, and it’s just an interesting race track. … Martinsville is a good short track, and there is a little bit of roughness to it.” One of Earnhardt Jr.’s best Martinsville races came in October when he led 90 laps and finished seventh in the Chase race at the half-mile track. The key for Earnhardt Jr. will be qualifying. With the exception of winning the pole at Daytona, he is averaging a starting spot of 30th this season. Qualifying for the race will be Saturday and there will be no practice after qualifying for teams to make adjustments. Earnhardt Jr. said he needs to qualify well for all races to avoid poor track position to start. His crew chief, Steve Letarte, said qualifying is important just so a driver knows the car has speed at Martinsville. “You qualify well and [then] you don’t panic when you aren’t in the front,” Letarte said. “There’s a lot of pit strategy that goes into Martinsville – you can take two tires, four tires or stay out. There are a lot of options there. The driver has to have a lot of trust in his crew chief and what he is telling him. “It’s a hard track. It’s bumper to bumper all the way around. It’s hard for a driver to realize if he is on pace or where the leaders are. It is very important for Dale to trust me and what I’m asking of him. If he has confidence to do that then hopefully we can have something at the end.” Earnhardt Jr. will not have his first-string rear-tire changer for the race. Joe Slingerland suffered a pulled right hamstring in the first pit stop last week at California and was replaced by Cam Waugh. Waugh, a backup for the Jimmie Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. teams at Hendrick, will be the rear-tire changer at Martinsville. Earnhardt credits car, communication for fast start There was a time not too long ago Dale Earnhardt Jr. would have considered a top-10 a victory. The past two seasons, top-10 finishes were few and far between for NASCAR's most popular driver. But with three consecutive finishes of 11th or better, Earnhardt comes into the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway with a different mindset than his past few visits to the 2-mile track located near the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. "We've done a pretty good job of working well in practice and starting the race with some decent cars," Earnhardt said. "And I'm really happy with the way that things have [gone] during the [past three] races and how the car has gotten better during the races. That's a really good thing. "We're capable of [top-10s]; we're good enough for that. You should come to the race track and expect to run around the guys that are in that position. I feel like we're a legitimate [top-10 team]." If Earnhardt is going to score his third top-10 of the season, he is going to have to earn it. The No. 88 qualified 30th Friday but rebounded during practice on Saturday. In the first practice Saturday, Earnhardt was 13th with a lap of 179.417 mph. In final practice, he slipped a little to 18th with a fast lap of 178.967 mph. Earnhardt had the fastest 10-lap average in the first practice at 177.941 and backed that up with the fourth-best 10-lap average in final practice at 177.348. David Ragan paced final practice with a lap of 180.973 mph. Tony Stewart was second-fastest at 180.800 mph followed by Carl Edwards and Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon. The good news for Earnhardt is he has already proven he can come from the rear and post a strong finish. Last week at Bristol, Earnhardt was too fast on pit road with 67 laps to go. Instead of calling it a day and riding to the finish, Earnhardt battled back and finished 11th. "I want to finish good and tried to do whatever I could to finish good," Earnhardt said about last week's race at Bristol. "And I gave [crew chief] Steve [Letarte] the benefit of the doubt that we would improve the car and we did. And it was a pretty decent day. We should have finished higher. I screwed up speeding on pit road and that cost us a lot of spots there. But I'm just trying to do the best I can each week." Earnhardt credits part of his recent success to feeling more comfortable in the car. In the past, Earnhardt wasn't sure what would happen if he got aggressive on the track. This year, he feels like he can take more risks, and it's paying off at the finish. "We ran competitive in a couple races last year and showed some speed. For some reason this year, we've been able to improve a little bit better throughout the race and have been able to race in traffic a little bit better," Earnhardt said. "... I can definitely see a difference in how I can be more aggressive in the race with the car. Everything in practice and everything about the team, I don't feel like we're a ton different than last year. But when I get in the car in the race, I just feel like I've got a little bit more grip and a little bit more ability to be aggressive and challenge people. And at least that's how it's been for three weeks. "There's just something about the car to be able to race a little bit more and race around guys. Normally, you're just hanging on to your car and just trying to keep your car underneath you and you're not really able to race other guys. You can't really even consider racing another competitor [because] you're so consumed with trying to control your own car. But this year that seems to be a little bit different where we've been able to go, 'All right, the car is kind of under us. Let's just race this guy real hard and take some risks and makes some passes and see what we can do.' " Earnhardt hasn't posted a top-10 at Fontana since 2007. He is winless at the track and his career average finish of 22.3 is the third-worst of all tracks currently on the Cup schedule. But this is Earnhardt's first trip to Southern California with Letarte as his crew chief. Four weeks into their new partnership, Earnhardt and Letarte have proven that together, they can make things happen. At this point last year, Earnhardt was 13th in points with one top-10. This season, Earnhardt comes into the fifth race of the season ranked ninth with two top-10s. Earnhardt credits the improvement to an open dialogue between driver and crew chief. "We just have a lot in common and our personalities make it where it seems like it's easy for us to have a conversation," Earnhardt said. "I've been spending a ton of time around the hauler all day long during each day on Friday and Saturday and when you're sitting there you just never know when that idea or that thought is going to come into your head or come into [Letarte's] head about what might really be able to help the car. "And if you just sit around long enough, eventually it's going to pop up and I want to be there for that conversation; I don't want him texting me on the phone while I'm in the bus going, 'Hey, I think I know what we can do.' I want to be there so that I can understand and talk about it. I think that's helping us." Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs better result at California track to stay in top 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ninth in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series points standings, and if he hopes to remain inside the top 10, he knows he’ll need a good run at Auto Club Speedway this weekend. But that’s easier said than done, according to the 36-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver. “California is a track I need to run better at,” he said, and a look at his record on the 2-mile oval does nothing to refute that. It’s been more than three years since he last registered a top-10 run at California, and he’s managed only four in 18 career starts. In fact, he’s fallen out more times (five) than he’s finished in the top 10. While the reasons for that are numerous, Earnhardt Jr. says one of the bigger issues for him has been that the track “is flat, and doesn’t have a ton of grip. “Basically, you have to keep a really good aero platform and keep the car from getting too free off the corners,” he said. “That’s been one of our challenges in the past.” ACS provides a unique challenge in that teams have to find the perfect balance between grip and aero (downforce). “It’s probably the hardest track there is to balance aero versus mechanical grip,” crew chief Steve Letarte said. And seams in the pavement in turns 1 and 2 “are a major issue,” according to Letarte. “If you have an ill-handling car or a car that needs to use a couple lanes, it’s very hard to cross over the paving seams,” he said. Through this season’s first four races, Earnhardt Jr. and his No. 88 team have shown steady progress, rebounding from an accident in the season-opening Daytona 500 to post a pair of top-10s before last week’s 11th-place finish at Bristol. It’s been solid enough to carry him from 22nd in points into the top 10, but Letarte said his team isn’t resting on how well it’s done thus far. Every race, he said, is a new beginning for the team that has ideas of returning to the winner’s circle. “We are really going to every track like it’s the first time we’ve been there,” Letarte said. “We didn’t try to raise the excitement or expectations at Bristol, we are going to do the same thing for California.” And that begins with qualifying. After winning the pole at Daytona, Earnhardt Jr. has started no better than 22nd in the past three races. Still, he’s managed to race his way into the top 10, for the most part. “I would consider qualifying in the top 20 as decent and top 15 as a more realistic goal,” Letarte said. “I would be happy with a top-15 qualifying effort.” On that front, it seems the team still has a ways to go. But in race trim, the improvement, while gradual, has been hard to miss. “There is no reason you should ever run outside the top 15 with a car that doesn’t have any mechanical problems,” Letarte said. “Tenth to 15th is where you should get with a car that you aren’t too happy with. You should get in the top 10 with a chassis that’s good, and if you really hit the chassis setup then you need to come in with a top-five finish. “That’s been our goal outside of Daytona, and that will be our goal at Fontana.” Junior Holds on Dale Earnhardt Jr. was flagged for speeding on pit road Sunday and it likely cost him a top-10 finish. He instead finished 11th — coming back from one lap down — and moved up one spot in the standings to ninth. Not too shabby considering he didn't like the changes his Hendrick Motorsports crew made to his Chevrolet after Saturday's practice. "The car just didn't work off the corner very good and drove the left front across the race track," he said. "We just made a good day out of nothing, really." Earnhardt once again praised crew chief Steve Letarte, who was put in charge of Earnhardt's team in the offseason and is steadily making gains with NASCAR's most popular driver through four races this season. "Steve has done amazing," Earnhardt Jr. said. "Every week, we've gotten better during the race. I can't ask for any more than that and I hope he keeps it up." He also once again kept Earnhardt levelheaded during the race, particularly after the speeding penalty. "He just does a good job of keeping me calm and keeping me focused on trying to do good," Earnhardt said. "I have such a temper, man, in that car. It is hard to maintain it. We keep getting good finishes, we'll be all right." Dale Earnhardt Jr. pleased with third-place Nationwide result at Bristol It wasn’t a win, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored a strong third-place finish in the Scotts EZ Seed 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Earnhardt Jr. (JR Motorsports) qualified 11th, dropped a lap down but got his lap back when the caution came out on lap 235 for an accident involving Trevor Bayne and Michael Annett in Turn 2. He was able to race his way back into the top 10, and in the closing laps, battled Kasey Kahne (Turner Motorsports), Kevin Harvick (Kevin Harvick Inc.) and Elliott Sadler (KHI) for position. “We had a lot of fun,” said Earnhardt Jr., who led just three of 300 laps in the race won by Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing). “We really didn’t adjust on the car much. I’m pretty happy but we just didn’t have enough for the front two there at the end.” It was Earnhardt Jr.’s second Nationwide Series race of the season – he finished fourth at Daytona – and he worked with crew chief Chris Heroy for the first time. Heroy, an engineer with Mark Martin’s Sprint Cup team, served as Earnhardt Jr.’s engineer on the Cup side last year. Earnhardt Jr. said he sought Heroy out for the role this weekend at BMS. “He’s a really good guy and a lot of fun to be around,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I just felt like we were going to have to run three cars at a couple races this year, and instead of having someone sort of paired with me automatically, I went sought out Chris to see if he’d have any interest in it. “He’s obviously got an interest in moving up into the crew chief level at some point in his career, and this is just giving him some experience to know what to expect. “He’s done a great job; he’s a smart guy, plenty capable – maybe even overqualified for what he’s doing today.” Earnhardt Jr. said he also benefited from the help of the Hendrick Motorsports research and development program in picking up his eighth top-10 finish in 10 Nationwide Series starts at Bristol. Dale Earnhardt Jr. trying to temper expectations, maintain positive attitude after strong start Dale Earnhardt Jr. carries some momentum into the Jeff Byrd 500 this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, but he warned Friday against his team getting too excited over just three races. Sitting 10th in points, Earnhardt Jr.’s strong start coincides with him having a new crew chief this season in Steve Letarte, Jeff Gordon’s former crew chief. Lance McGrew, who was Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief last year, is now the crew chief for Mark Martin. The Earnhardt Jr.-Letarte relationship seems to have blossomed quickly. “The challenge [is] me and him maintaining our positive attitude, maintaining the communication and the consistency of how it’s working right now,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at Bristol. “That is going to be the part that is the hardest, that will determine whether we will succeed or not is whether we can keep that going over an entire season. “The season is long. You get pissed off. Things don’t go right. You get pissed off. You have to get through those points. They happen, whether it be in a practice or whatever – the littlest thing, you’ve got to be able to manage it. I have a hard time not letting certain things just ruin my day and getting pissed off at everything around me. I’ve always had that problem.” Letarte’s calming influence has kept Earnhardt Jr. from getting too angry during a race weekend. In his last two years missing the Chase, Earnhardt Jr. has seemed to have trouble getting his car better throughout a race. “When you get yourself in a hole or the car isn’t quite going like you want it to go or the car is not responding like you think it should, he gives you the impression that you’re going to fix it before the end of the day,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “As long as he doesn’t fool me too many times – he does a great job of keeping you in the game, that you’re part of the puzzle and everybody needs to be pulling in the same direction.” While the Letarte-Earnhardt Jr. pairing seems to have clicked, Earnhardt Jr. said he doesn’t feel it is a reflection on McGrew, with whom Earnhardt Jr. had some good runs but never could put together a string of consistently strong finishes. “Me and Lance had some times where we did have good chemistry and we did run some good races,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’m real excited about what’s happening right now, real positive about it. I think it’s realistic to be patient about your expectations. “My expectations are the same, but it’s just early in the season. We’ve got a long, long way to go and a lot of tracks to go race at and a lot of different setups to be working on and ideas to come and go. It’s just a long, long season.” McGrew replaced Tony Eury Jr., Earnhardt Jr.’s cousin, as crew chief in May 2009. Eury Jr. moved to Hendrick Motorsports with Earnhardt Jr. from Dale Earnhardt Inc. following the 2007 season. “Lance was put in a very challenging and tough position and he did a really good job, being put in that position and how he handled it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We got along good. Me and him did as good as we could under the circumstances. “I wish we would have done better. I know he wished we would have done better. But the clean slate and the different personalities – it was such a clean state starting for this season, it allowed me to reboot a little bit and me and Steve are getting along really good.” Eury Jr., now a crew chief and co-owner with Earnhardt Jr. at JR Motorsports, is having fun watching Earnhardt Jr. run well again. After a wreck relegated Earnhardt Jr. to a 24th-place finish at Daytona, Earnhardt Jr. posted back-to-back top-10 finishes at Phoenix and Las Vegas. “I’ve talked to Steve over the winter and tried to give him my little tips of what I know about Junior to try to make that team better,” Eury Jr. said. “He’s definitely running better than he did last year, it’s just a matter of they have got to put the puzzle together. It’s just [after] race three, so I think there are big things for that team coming up at Bristol. Every race that Dale Jr. runs top 10 is going to get his confidence more and more, and that’s what he needs right now.” Earnhardt Jr. said his goal at Bristol is trying to consistently improve throughout the weekend. “I feel that we’ve made some steps that have helped us,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We’ve got a long ways to go, though. We’ve got to temper our expectations and just try to maintain our focus on what that job is that day, that moment, and just do what we need to do and do it as good as we can.” Earnhardt intent on making 2011 a success Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s view is matter-of-fact when it comes to the task ahead: He must get his career back on track. NASCAR’s most popular driver saw his losing streak hit 96 races at Las Vegas, but his eighth-place finish Sunday was encouraging enough to make Earnhardt believe he is finally making strides toward Victory Lane after three rocky years at Hendrick Motorsports. It was the second consecutive top-10 finish for Earnhardt, who had not strung together two solid runs since New Hampshire-Daytona last summer. It also moved him to 10th in the points, the first time he’s been inside the top 10 since the ninth race of last season. The finish was a testament to his budding relationship with Steve Letarte, his third crew chief since joining HMS in 2008. After qualifying 35th at Las Vegas and struggling through the first day of practice, the duo worked together to find more speed on the Chevrolet. “It’s obvious that it is working, when you really look at it,” Earnhardt said. “I was sitting there in the middle of the race saying, ‘You know, this really ain’t a fluke. This is how it’s supposed to go and how it should go and how it went in the past when things were good.’ “ But it’s been a long time since things were good, and team owner Rick Hendrick has so far failed to figure out how to fix the problem. He’s characterized every move he’s made with Earnhardt as one that won’t fail, only to see the struggles continue. So he blew up his organization during the offseason, shuffling the driver-crew chief lineup for three of his four teams. The move paid off in just the second week of the season, when Jeff Gordon snapped his 66-race winless streak with new crew chief Alan Gustafson. Now Earnhardt hopes to end his long drought with Letarte, who has proven to be the in-race cheerleader that Earnhardt needs. His confidence admittedly shaken at times during the long losing stretch, he’s often spoken of an inability to weather another rough season. When he reported to testing at Daytona International Speedway in January, he seemed determined to make this year different. “I’ll stick around until I get it right,” he vowed. “It’s just eventually going to have to happen.” That’s the motto he’s apparently carried with him in the two months since, and reiterated Sunday that it’s way past the time to get things going in the right direction. “Failure at this point is completely unacceptable, and I’ve got to put it all out on the line, do everything I can to make this work,” he said. And if he doesn’t? “If it don’t work with (Letarte), I’ve got nowhere else to go,” he continued. “I’ve got no other options really other than race myself into oblivion with my own team. But I want this to work. “I want to be successful and so I’m just trying to work hard, man.” Earnhardt indicated before the season that Letarte would make demands on his time like nothing the driver had seen before. Letarte wants the car to be the priority, and all the other demands on Earnhardt’s time are secondary. But Letarte insisted it wasn’t because he’d heard Earnhardt was lazy or not always engaged. It’s just how he runs things and what he expects from a driver. “I don’t know what his other routine was, I didn’t really care what his other routine was,” Letarte said. “I know how I like to see things done on the team side and the car side, what I’m responsible for. He has requests on the driver’s side that he’s responsible for. “I think we’ve laid those out. I know what is of value and what is important to him, so I can make his job as bearable at times as it needs to be, and he does the same for me.” If Earnhardt wasn’t sold on Letarte’s approach immediately, Sunday had to have sealed the deal. The improvement from Friday’s practice to Sunday’s race— in which Earnhardt ran as high as fourth and might have finished better than eighth if not for a late call for four tires—came from two days of discussions between driver and crew chief. “It’s fun in this hauler, man,” Earnhardt said. “When you’re running good, everything is easier to do. But I really enjoy brainstorming with Steve, and I think it makes me smarter working with him. I become better at helping him and just in a short period of time. “It’s obvious that if a driver puts all that time in, there’s got to be gains made and that would be a plus. He’s just fun to brainstorm and work with and I just want to do good.” Dale Earnhardt Jr., crew chief Steve Letarte having fun, forming fast friendship in first few races together Dale Earnhardt Jr. sounds like he is having a lot of fun three races into the 2011 season, in part because of good runs and in part because of new crew chief Steve Letarte. Letarte will take no credit, though, in the fun department. He isn’t looking to just have fun. “My goal is not [about wanting] to have fun,” Letarte said in a phone interview Tuesday. “I haven’t really done anything to try to make it fun. I’m a pretty serious guy when it comes to the race track. “I just have an interesting personality, different than anyone he’s ever worked with. I’m all about racing. We have fun when we race and we race well, and it’s not fun when we don’t run very well.” Goal or not, Letarte and Earnhardt Jr. are having fun together. Despite starts of 35th and 33rd the last two races, Earnhardt Jr. has finishes of 10th at Phoenix and eighth at Las Vegas. He’s 10th in points after three races and would be even higher if not for a late wreck in the Daytona 500. Letarte replaced Lance McGrew as Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief after the 2010 season as Hendrick Motorsports swapped the drivers and crews for three of its four teams. Earnhardt Jr. has finished 25th and 21st in points the past two seasons and hasn’t won since 2008. The solid start to the season is a result of good communication and camaraderie between Earnhardt Jr. and his new crew. He spends hours in the team hauler at the track, sometimes even hanging out to watch the Nationwide Series race on Saturday afternoon with Letarte and team engineers. Letarte had worked the previous five years as crew chief for Jeff Gordon. “With a driver like Jeff that you have a tremendous amount of experience with, you kind of have a checklist of questions – you run through those questions and you’re done with the day,” Letarte said. “With Dale, we’re still trying to learn what the correct questions are, what answers we need. … He’s making himself readily available to the engineering staff and myself and I think it’s helping us to get good answers. It’s not putting the pressure on us to ask all the questions at one time.” Not only has Earnhardt Jr. been hanging out with his crew chief and engineers at the track, he and Letarte drove through downtown Las Vegas last weekend, chatting about everyday things and not just racing. They’re close in age – Letarte is 31, Earnhardt Jr. 36 – and have many of the same interests. “The best part about our relationship is I don’t feel that it is very forced at all,” Letarte said. “I’m not hanging out with Dale Earnhardt Jr. because he’s my race-car driver. That might have been why I started hanging out with him. “I feel we get along very, very well. The relationship is very natural. It doesn’t feel very awkward. We have a lot of things in common. I think we truly enjoy each other’s company, so it’s a lot of fun to hang out.” Seriously? What do Letarte, a native of Portland, Maine, and Earnhardt Jr., a NASCAR legacy from Kannapolis, N.C.? They both enjoy other sports and play in the same fantasy football league but they also apparently have some deep discussions as well. “A lot of our personalities are a lot different but key parts of our personalities are a lot the same,” Letarte said. “He’s a funny guy. He’s a very, very intelligent guy. “We have some very interesting conversations. I learn a lot from him. I’m sure he learns a lot from me.” The fun part for Earnhardt Jr. is that he likes to talk about ideas to make his car go fast. “It’s fun in this hauler, man,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “When you’re running good, everything is easier to do. But I really enjoy brainstorming with Steve, and I think it makes me smarter working with him. I become better at helping him and just in a short period of time. “It’s obvious that if a driver puts all that time in, there’s got to be gains made and that would be a plus. He’s just fun to brainstorm and work with and I just want to do good.” Of course, it’s fun in part because they have performed well so far with the exception of qualifying. “I don’t think we’ve been the fastest car each week,” Letarte said. “ I don’t think we’ve started with the best car. I think Dale’s communication throughout the race has been tremendous. He has done a very good job of explaining what he needs. “The engineers and myself understand it and have done a good job hitting the adjustments to work on those needs.” Letarte emphasized that while he’s happy with the start, the Hendrick team is not necessarily meeting expectations. Earnhardt Jr. has missed the Chase the last two years and the team has run well enough so far to be considered a strong contender to make it this season. But top-10 finishes are not the goal. “While we’re pleased with the finishes and pleased with the cars, by no means am I jumping up and down with joy thinking we had the most speed at both of those races,” Letarte said. “While they are good runs, and I like good runs, I have higher expectations than 10th and eighth. … I’m disappointed we haven’t gone out and been faster. “That’s my job to be disappointed we’re not faster. I’m extremely pleased with the performance and the communication side.” And extremely pleased that the limited success has been a product of a team effort. “Dale said a few weeks ago that he doesn’t feel like he’s on an island,” Letarte said. “And nor do I. When he’s out there running laps, I feel like I’m in the car with him and when I’m making a pit call, I feel like he’s on the box with me. “We are doing it together. We’re kind of leading the ship for the team together, and that’s why we’re having a lot more fun together.” Earnhardt enjoying progress made with Letarte You can hear it in his voice. You can see it in his face, and in the results on the scoring tower. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having fun again. "I'm happy. It's a fun team, a great group of guys," he said. "I'm proud to be a part of it, and hope I can keep working well and keep doing well." He had good reason to feel that way Sunday, when Earnhardt turned in his third consecutive solid effort to start the season, an eight-place result at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Earnhardt ran as high as fourth late in the event, but got stuck behind several cars that took two tires on their final pit stops, and then had his No. 88 get tight in the final laps of the race. Even so, the performance follows a 10th-place run at Phoenix, and a Daytona 500 where he was among the leaders late before a cut tire ruined his day. Working with new crew chief Steve Letarte, Earnhardt has now recorded back-to-back top-10s for the first time since New Hampshire and Daytona in the middle of last season, and he stands 10th in Sprint Cup points -- the highest he's been since he was eighth after Talladega last spring. Perhaps most importantly, Earnhardt continues to show signs that he's capable of ending a winless streak that now stands at 96 events. And he's clearly enjoying the process. "We're just doing what we're supposed to do, I reckon. We didn't have too bad a car in practice and I just didn't nail it in qualifying. ... But I guess the best thing that we did all day long was the adjustments. I kept telling Stevie what I thought I needed and what the car felt like it was doing wrong, and he was hitting on it every time. We were kind of working together on some ideas and we hit on one idea that was really good and it really woke the car up," Earnhardt said. "We decided to take four [tires] at the end, and I'll back Stevie's call there. It might have cost us a spot in hindsight, but we just need to run good and get good finishes under our belt and keep their confidence and keep my confidence up. Midway through the race was the first time in a long time I actually was feeling like I could beat them guys, you know? That I was around. It gave me a lot of confidence [Sunday]; we just need to keep doing that." Car owner Rick Hendrick paired Earnhardt and Letarte in an offseason personnel shuffle because he thought Letarte's penchant for keeping his driver upbeat and confident could help a driver who's struggled since joining NASCAR's top organization. Sunday, Letarte was at his best. "Come on, buddy. You're absolutely doing great," he told Earnhardt as the driver tried to gain positions in the final laps. That relationship extends off the track, and goes in both directions. Earnhardt and Letarte -- who won 10 races with Jeff Gordon before being moved to the No. 88 team in November -- met Saturday night with team engineers to discuss what changes to make to the car for the race. "It's fun in this hauler, man," Earnhardt said. "When you're running good, everything is easier to do. But I really enjoy brainstorming with Steve, and I think having worked with him, I've become better at helping him just in a short period of time. But it's fun to brainstorm with and work with him, and I just want to do good." Earnhardt can sense he's making progress, which for him is paramount. He's on his third crew chief since joining Hendrick Motorsports prior to the 2008 season. If it doesn't work with Letarte, he's not sure where he might turn next. "Failure at this point is completely unacceptable, and I've got to put it all out on the line and do everything I can to make this work," he said. "If it don't work with [Letarte], I got nowhere else to go. I got no other options, really other than just to race myself into oblivion with my own team and Tony [Eury] Jr. and them guys. But I want this to work. I want to be in a [Cup car] the rest of my career as long as I can, and I want to be successful, and so I'm just trying to work hard, man. We're getting better. It feels like it's working." Second consecutive top-10 finish has Dale Earnhardt Jr. excited and relieved Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s demeanor and ear-to-ear smile showed equal parts excitement and relief after he posted his second consecutive top-10 finish, crossing the line in eighth Sunday in the Kobalt Tools 400. Not only did Earnhardt Jr. finish eighth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – following a 10th-place finish last week at Phoenix – but he also ran in the top four late in the race after having started 35th. It is the first time Earnhardt Jr., who is now 10th in points, has had back-to-back top-10 finishes since New Hampshire and Daytona last summer, and first time he’s been in the top 10 in points since Talladega nine races into the 2010 season. Earnhardt Jr. has not won since June 2008, a span of 96 races, and is now on his third crew chief (Steve Letarte) in four years at Hendrick Motorsports. “Failure at this point is completely unacceptable, and I’ve got to put it all out on the line, do everything I can to make this work,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “If it don’t work with [Letarte], I’ve got nowhere else to go. I’ve got no other options really other than race myself into oblivion with my own [Nationwide] team and Tony [Eury] Jr. and them guys and what the hell. “But I want this to work. I want to race Cup. I want to be in the COT the rest of my career as long as I can. I want to be successful and so I’m just trying to work hard, man.” Letarte and Earnhardt Jr. have spent more time together after practice and qualifying sessions. They talked with the engineers Saturday night and decided on some key changes for Sunday. “It’s fun in this hauler, man,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “When you’re running good, everything is easier to do. But I really enjoy brainstorming with Steve, and I think it makes me smarter working with him – I become better at helping him and just in a short period of time. “It’s obvious that if a driver puts all that time in, there’s got to be gains made and that would be a plus. He’s just fun to brainstorm and work with and I just want to do good.” That confidence that they can make productive changes during a race can go a long way for Earnhardt Jr., who had more races where he seemed to fade near the end of races in the last couple of years. Sunday, the team made an adjustment that made the car quicker earlier in a fuel run. “The car drove better and better as we made some great adjustments,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I just kept describing what I was feeling, what I thought I needed. Steve was really hitting right on it about every time. “We got a little bit too tight, … but we took it back out for that last run. I’m happy. It’s a fun team, a great group of guys. I’m proud to be a part of it and I hope I can keep working well and keep doing well.” The day’s biggest setback seemed to come when he took four tires on a pit stop with about 20 laps remaining, a call that probably cost him about four spots in the finishing order. “It’s disappointing not to run fifth or whatever where we’re capable of running, but I can’t fault the decision we made at the end there to take four [tires],” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Tires didn’t really fall off that much and it was cool and fast. “That wasn’t in our favor that the track was in good shape and the tires were so good, so those guys were able to hang on pretty good with two tires.” In both of his top-10s the last two weeks, Earnhardt Jr. has started the race in 33rd or worse position. “That happens all the time in this sport,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “The old man [my father] used to practice like garbage and qualify terribly. I ain’t too surprised when I see that. Me and Tony Jr. used to do that all the time – be so worried and feel like we were junk in practice. “I knew the track was going to change tremendously from how it was yesterday after that Nationwide race and I felt like we had a good chance at the top 20 cars backing up to us. We had a good feeling car, we just had no true speed.” The fact that he and Letarte could work together to find speed proves that their relationship is working, Earnhardt said. “It’s obvious that it is working, when you really look at it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I was sitting there in the middle of the race saying, ‘You know, this really ain’t a fluke. This is how it’s supposed to go and how it should go – and how it went in the past when things were good.’” For second consecutive week, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start near back of field Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t practice the high line much during his 90 minutes of track time Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was during that practice where Earnhardt Jr. was trying to negotiate more pronounced bumps between turns 1 and 2 over the tunnel where vehicles enter the infield of the 1.5-mile oval. He finally tried that high line in qualifying, didn’t have great speed and wound up 33rd on the grid for the Kobalt Tools 400 on Sunday. “I hadn’t run the top of [turns] 1 and 2, which is what you have to do because the bumps are so bad on the bottom that you can’t go through there where the tunnel is – all the earth under there has settled around those spikes where the tunnel is,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “When I found out the fast way was around the top, I hadn’t had a chance to run there, so I had to try it for the first time in qualifying. It just wasn’t fast enough. I’m sure the car has got a little more speed than that.” With one 75-minute practice Saturday, Earnhardt Jr. said it is imperative his Hendrick Motorsports team comes out fast for that practice because there is not much time to make wholesale changes. “There’s some really, really terrible bumps down in 1 and 2 and we were just a little bit behind,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We just missed it. … We were banging in the race track a little bit and tried some things and didn’t hit on it just right.” Earnhardt Jr. has two top-fives and four top-10s in 11 starts at Las Vegas, where he has an average starting position of 22nd and average finish of 18th. “I feel like we can run good here,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’m just real frustrated that I didn’t do better in qualifying and frustrated in how we lacked speed today and we’ve just been off a couple of tenths [of a second]. “It’s real frustrating. … The car was comfortable. In the past, I’ve been fine and we had speed. We just didn’t put it together.” The 36-year-old driver took at least part of the blame. At least he proved last week he could turn a sour qualifying spot (35th) into a solid finish (10th). “I wasn’t prepared as a driver and we could probably do more with speed in the car and those two things together cost us a little bit of time,” Earnhardt Jr. said. Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggles in qualifying, will start 35th at Phoenix Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a loose car for Subway Fresh Fit 500 qualifying Saturday, but he said it wasn’t a 35th-place loose car at Phoenix International Raceway. Earnhardt Jr. seemed a little disappointed over his starting spot of 35th for the 312-lap race Sunday on the 1-mile oval. He said the car had a lot more front grip than he had anticipated, and he and crew chief Steve Letarte talked for about 45 minutes after his qualifying lap. “I can do a million different things outside the car and be plugged in every hour of the day,” Earnhardt Jr. said Saturday after the meeting. “But it really just comes down to whether I can get in there and get the job done. “Today, I didn’t get the job done. The car was definitely faster. … I definitely didn’t do what I’m supposed to do.” The schedule for the weekend had all practice Friday with just qualifying Saturday. That meant that Earnhardt Jr. and Letarte could take their time Saturday afternoon before the team started making adjustments to get ready for the race Sunday. “Especially when we don’t do well and you have a day like when we have a little problem like we had today where I didn’t perform, I want to be here in case Steve needs to get some information from me and he can get it from me face-to-face,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I have nothing else to do.” At least Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t alone as far as qualifying struggles. The other Hendrick Motorsports cars weren’t that strong as well with Jeff Gordon posting the quickest speed to start 20th. “Steve seems to think we have the loosest setup of the four cars and that’s why it kind of bit us a little bit in qualifying,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “The front grip was a whole lot better in qualifying, and normally that’s a great thing. But we were kind of loose yesterday and expected the track to be about the same.” Even though he didn’t post any great times in practice, Earnhardt Jr. said he had a good run during the final practice Friday. “We’re polishing on that and deciding on what changes we might want to make due to how much the track [changed] today,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We think it will be even better tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a little cooler. “We have some decisions to make on whether we need to tighten the car up a little bit.” Obviously Earnhardt Jr. isn’t panicking about starting in the back or making any judgments on it as a reflection of him working with Letarte and Letarte’s crew for only their second race together. “We’ve still got good confidence, and hopefully we can maintain our work ethic and our ability to want to work together every day – on Friday and Saturday, want to be together, want to work together, want to talk together, want to work through the car in the same room,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s a good thing right now and it’s a great feeling and it’s productive and we need to keep it that way all year. “This is a great group of guys, and I’ve got a lot of confidence in their ability to give me the cars that I need to have. Steve is pretty fun to be around. He’s a great crew chief, he’s got good energy. Everything seems to be going pretty good right now, we just have to do a little bit better on the race track. We had a hellacious Speedweeks.” Speedweeks included Earnhardt Jr. wrecking three cars, including in the Daytona 500 when a late crash relegated him to a 24th-place finish in the Daytona 500 in a race where Earnhardt Jr. was hoping to challenge for the win. “I feel OK about where I’m at,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’m really disappointed about the points we lost, the opportunity we had to have a good points day, the opportunity we had to try to win the race. We were trying to work with Tony [Stewart] there and felt like we had a good shot at a good finish and a chance to race for the win. “The points probably will be the thing that bothers me the most over the long haul of the season.” Forbes ranks Hendrick top value in NASCAR Forbes’ annual rankings show that Hendrick Motorsports is the most valuable team in NASCAR for the third consecutive year. Forbes’ report released Wednesday showed NASCAR’s top team was worth $350 million. But the report finds the average team value has declined 5 percent over the past year because of declining sponsorships. Roush Fenway Racing is again ranked second at a value of $224 million, and Richard Childress Racing is ranked third at $158 million. Joe Gibbs Racing ($152 million) and Penske Racing ($100 million) round out the top five. Forbes says the average team is valued at $136 million and generated an average of $89 million in revenue last year. Forbes ranked three Hendrick drivers as the highest paid in NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is first at $29 million, followed by Jeff Gordon ($25 million) and Jimmie Johnson ($24 million.) Tony Stewart was fourth at $18 million and Kevin Harvick fifth at $15 million. Strong Earnhardt effort cut short at Daytona Few drivers had a more active Speedweeks than Dale Earnhardt Jr. There was a crash in the season-opening Budweiser Shootout last weekend, a crash in practice Wednesday that forced him into a backup car, and a crash in the final laps of Sunday's Daytona 500. Yet what kept NASCAR's most popular driver from winning NASCAR's biggest event was something far more mundane. A flat tire forced Earnhardt to pit road with one lap remaining in the regulation distance, placing him back in traffic when he was collected in a four-car accident on the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish. Earnhardt was in the top five and vying for the victory when he radioed to crew chief Steve Letarte that the left-rear was going down, and wound up with a 24th-place finish despite having one of the stronger cars in the field. "The guys on the team and back at the shop worked really hard to get us to this point, and we had a fast car and tried to do the best we could [Sunday], but it came down to all the carnage out there," Earnhardt said. "Too much carnage out there." Ultimately, Earnhardt was caught up in an accident that brought out the last of the event-record 16 cautions. Earnhardt was running along the bottom with Tony Stewart, his preferred drafting partner on the afternoon, when the line of cars began checking up and then going sideways. Earnhardt wound up with damage severe enough that he couldn't finish the event, even though he had completed 202 laps of a race that would ultimately be extended to 208. "We got a flat tire and got ourselves in the back there, and I was coming around [Turns] 1 and 2 and all those guys were running into the back of each other on the inside, and it was crazy," Earnhardt said. "And [Robby Gordon] got turned down in the apron, and they had a wreck. ... Some guys got into the wall on the outside, and I was just trying to avoid that and got to the center there, and got hooked in the right rear. But I don't know. We have had some pretty tough luck down here, and didn't get the finish we wanted." Or perhaps the finish they were capable of, given that Earnhardt's No. 88 car was fast enough to earn the Daytona 500 pole in qualifying last weekend. But it was also 10 days of crisis management for Letarte, who moved over from the program of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon during the winter. In the Shootout, Earnhardt was caught in a chain-reaction accident. In practice, he was hooked from behind while in a tandem draft. Two damaged race cars required shuttling one vehicle back to North Carolina, and the trip to a backup also forced the team to give up their pole position and start the 500 from the rear. And yet, despite all of that, the opportunity was there. "Green-white-checkered for all the money!" Letarte exhorted on the radio as the endgame began to unfold. Debris and a flat tire intervened. "The only part of the weekend we were disappointed with was the finish," Letarte said. "I thought the team did a remarkable job. I thought the driver did a remarkable job. ... The crash in practice was just circumstances, the crash in the Shootout was just circumstances, and surely the crash in the 500 was circumstances. But [Earnhardt] put us in a lot of good circumstances all week long. The green-white-checkered, we were riding around in fifth before we had a flat tire, and it kind of all went downhill from there." While it lasted, though, it was a spirited race for Earnhardt, who like everyone else in the field tried to find the right partners in a draft where two vehicles linked together was the fastest way around the track. Ultimately he teamed best with Stewart, his partner in many restrictor-plate events past, and the driver who pushed Earnhardt to victory at Talladega in 2001 as well as the Daytona 500 three years later. It was Stewart who clicked to Earnhardt's radio channel and proposed they work together, two veterans who wanted to just make some laps and avoid so much of the craziness that was erupting around them. "That's exactly what I want to do," responded Earnhardt, who led three times for nine laps. "I don't want to get pushed up into the back of this." It fit with Earnhardt's strategy, which Letarte said was to ride around for 190 laps and be there for the victory with 10 to go. And to a large degree it worked, with Stewart and Earnhardt often sailing through the field whenever they hooked together. But in such tight quarters, they couldn't always maintain contact. And the poor track position resulting from the flat tire did the rest. "You did a good job all week, man," Letarte told his driver on the radio after the No. 88 received damage too heavy to continue. "This whole team did." Earnhardt had hoped for a bit more. "It was wild," he said. "I want to thank all my guys on my team, Hendrick engines, the body men and everybody who worked real hard to get us down here and make us run as good as we did. It was a shame we couldn't get a good finish for them." Earnhardt Jr. wrecks late, fades in Daytona 500 Surrounded by friends and strangers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. watched a highlight video of previous Daytona 500 races. His late father was featured prominently. There also was a huge No. 3 painted in the infield grass at Daytona International Speedway and a moment of silence during the third lap. Earnhardt welcomed all the tributes. He might be glad to leave them behind, too. After what had to be a difficult week, one that was mostly about the 10-year anniversary of his father’s death at Daytona, Junior can now move on. “Had as much fun as we could under the circumstances,” Earnhardt said following a 24th-place finish in Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500. He drove from the back of the pack to the front of the field, led nine laps that brought his loyal fans to their feet and was in contention most of the afternoon. But much like his last two seasons at Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt’s day ended with disappointment. He wrecked on the first green-white-checkered restart. It wasn’t what Earnhardt wanted. It was, however, fitting considering how the season opener went for Hendrick Motorsports. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon had lengthy trips to the garage, and Mark Martin faded from contention in the final laps. Throw in Earnhardt’s ride to the infield care center, and the Daytona 500 was one to forget for team owner Rick Hendrick and his powerhouse team. “Very disappointing,” Gordon said. “It’s definitely not what we wanted. It’s disappointing when you don’t have a shot in the Daytona 500, especially when you have as good a car and team as we all do.” Johnson, the five-time defending Sprint Cup champion, finished 19 laps behind race winner Trevor Bayne. Gordon, the four-time series champion who started on the front row, was 35 laps back. Martin had Hendrick’s best finish, a 10th-place showing that came after his early trouble. Earnhardt could have saved the day for the powerhouse team and had the car to do it. But David Ragan and Ryan Newman got together after that late restart and changed everything. Newman hit the wall, and Earnhardt’s car quickly became collateral damage. Earnhardt extended his winless streak to 94 races. “I figured we would run good,” Earnhardt said. “I was very happy with how fast we got up through there at the start of the race. … It was a shame we couldn’t get a good finish for them.” Earnhardt has come up short in his last seven starts in the Daytona 500, all since his lone victory in 2004. “We have had some pretty tough luck down here and didn’t get the finish we wanted,” he said. Earnhardt has been equally discouraged with his past two seasons, finishing 25th and 21st, respectively. The mediocre results came a year after teammates Johnson, Martin and Gordon gave Hendrick an unprecedented sweep of the top three spots in the final points standings. So team owner Rick Hendrick responded by moving everyone except Johnson and longtime crew chief Chad Knaus. Earnhardt was looking for a confidence boost at Daytona. But it had to be tough with all the questions and tributes about his father’s death. “It will be awesome to see all those things, hear all the great things,” Earnhardt said last week. “Anytime anybody says something good about him, it makes you feel great. It will be good. It will be a good weekend for the family. My grandmother will probably enjoy hearing all the great things that will be said, as will all of us.” But the only thing he’s concerned about is finding more success on the track - something that didn’t happen at Daytona. “The only thing that affects my mood and my personality I guess is directly connected to the performance factor in the sport,” he said. “That’s the one thing that weighs on you.” Earnhardt Jr. still struggling to measure up The wins of the father have been, in a sense, visited on the son. Dale Earnhardt Jr. inherited plenty from the old man - fast reflexes, fearlessness and the biggest tribe in NASCAR - but too many expectations and, so far, too little of his staying power. He’s won plenty of races, but none the last two years, and only once since switching to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, a move that was supposed to settle the question of whether Earnhardt was overrated or just stuck driving underpowered cars out of loyalty to the old man’s team for too long. Then there’s the matter of yet another anniversary. Sunday marks 10 years since Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500. The son has tried to honor his legacy in a dozen ways before, even swapping the red paint job on his then-No. 8 car for a likeness of his father’s black No. 3 at Talladega five years ago, on the same weekend, no less, than Earnhardt Sr. was enshrined in the hall of fame there. None of them has made much of a difference. That explained, in part, Junior’s reluctance at the start of the week to talk about what a win in the sport’s Super Bowl this Sunday would mean. “I think I’ve become more reserved, maybe due to how I’ve seen me be judged or analyzed. I’ve sort of changed my outward approach a little bit toward everybody,” Earnhardt said Wednesday. “But I’m telling you, if I can get back to the racetrack and I can win a race and run well, it’ll get a whole lot easier.” The problem would be Earnhardt’s alone, except for this: The fate of no other pro sport depends so much on an athlete who isn’t close to being the best in his game. Every time Dale Sr.’s second son and namesake has won, the needle on the TV ratings box rocks. So many people want Earnhardt to win, starting with NASCAR boss Brian France and extending all the way down to the garage mechanics who revere the old man and genuinely like the son, that his every move is plumbed for some deeper meaning. So naturally, when he won the pole position last weekend, the conspiracy theorists went to work. Old-timers still talk about the day an aging Richard Petty finally got his 200th NASCAR career win - on July 4, 1984, with President Reagan in the stands - as though it were ordained from on high. And it might have been. Petty, 47 at the time, never picked up No. 201, despite eight more years spent trying. Then there was the unexpected boost from Las Vegas bookmakers, who tabbed Earnhardt at 10-1 to win, a curious choice since his Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson, who’s won five season championships in a row, came in at only 12-1. But Earnhardt crashed his pole-winning car in practice Wednesday, which squashed the conspiracy talk and most likely his chances of winning. Peel back all the layers of extra attention and what you’re left with is a driver low on confidence. The move to Hendrick three years ago gave Earnhardt access to better equipment, but it also meant taking a backseat to the team’s two other stars - Johnson and Jeff Gordon - at least until his resume is as glossy as theirs. “He’s just under the microscope every minute,” team owner Rick Hendrick said earlier this week. “I can’t tell you how I would handle what he’s trying to handle, and that is carry on his father’s name, have a business that he takes care of, make everybody happy, and the sport needs him to do well. He’s getting it from everywhere. He has no safe zone.” The wear and tear has become more apparent as the week wears on. After the crash trashed his front-line car, Earnhardt gloomily questioned why he was out practicing. After Thursday’s qualifying race, nearly all of which Earnhardt spent stuck in the middle of the pack, he complained about the lack of a partner to push him around the track - a necessity for anybody hoping to win on the faster, recently repaved surface at Daytona International Speedway. Then he pointed yet another finger at the car. “We need to find a little more speed on the car. Guys are able to run a little bit longer than we are without swapping,” Earnhardt said. “We need to find a little better deal on the cooling.” No doubt. Maybe not this week, but sometime soon, Earnhardt is going to have to decide how much longer he can tolerate being stuck in his father’s shadow. Because it isn’t just a reminder of where he came from, but how much further he still has to go. Dale Earnhardt Jr. to rear as controversy swirls around pole Whether the fix was in or not, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won't start first in the Daytona 500. A crash in Sprint Cup practice Wednesday sent NASCAR's most popular driver to a backup car and essentially wiped out the pole position he'd earned Sunday. Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet will drop to the rear for the green flag in Sunday's 53rd running of The Great American Race. NASCAR's most popular driver was drafting behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson when their two-car train approached the slower cars of Robby Gordon and David Gilliland. As Gordon and Gilliland drifted high, Johnson and Earnhardt both lifted off the accelerator, and the Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. tagged Earnhardt from behind. "You've got to pay attention out there," said Earnhardt, seemingly blaming Gordon and Gilliland. "If you're going to come out here and race, you've got to pay attention. We came up running on some guys that didn't have their heads on straight and got in an accident." The damage meant backup cars for both Truex and Earnhardt, who seemed more disconsolate about having elected to practice. Because he had qualified on pole, Earnhardt will be forced to start from the rear of the Daytona 500 regardless of his finish in Thursday's qualifying race. Under NASCAR rules, anyone who goes to a backup after qualifying must start from the rear, and only Earnhardt and teammate Jeff Gordon were considered to have "qualified" Sunday because only the top two positions are locked. "We've got plenty of race cars," Earnhardt said. "I ain't worrying about how fast we'll be. We'll be fine. It never feels good tearing them up. I'm just disappointed in myself. I didn't feel good about being out there practicing. I didn't think I needed to be out there practicing. I just had a bad feeling about it." The bad vibes actually might have started yesterday when co-host Tony Kornheiser intimated on ESPN's Pardon the Interruptionthat NASCAR had helped Earnhardt turn the fastest lap in qualifying. Kornheiser said a longtime NASCAR reporter told him there was a 60% chance that Earnhardt's car might not be legal. "There are people in and around the NASCAR world, not just drivers but people who cover the sport, who are winking at this one," Kornheiser said. "Who are wondering if this wasn't a setup because it's the pole position." The reporter was The Washington Post's Liz Clarke, who covered NASCAR for more than a decade for four newspapers and also wrote a book about the sport. Earlier Tuesday, Clarke had appeared on Kornheiser's ESPN 980 radio show in Washington. During a discussion about Earnhardt's pole position, Clarke said, "people who covered racing for a long time, a lot were just laughing when they heard Junior won the pole because of the rich NASCAR tradition of ginning up storylines and outcomes. There's a lot of questions still about Richard Petty's 200th win, which came the day Ronald Reagan was there. Everything Americana happened to fall into place that particular day." Noting that PTI does a segment called "Odds" in which situations are assigned a 1-100 percentage, Kornheisesr asked Clarke, "what are the odds that NASCAR rigged this" so Earnhardt would start first? "I'd say better than 60%," Clarke said. "I'm trying to think, 'Will I regret saying that?' No, it's more likely than not. But he drives for the best, best team with the best cars and smartest mechanics. This is an awesome team. He's had the best equipment." During a Wednesday morning appearance on Sirius NASCAR Radio, Clarke said she regretted assigning a percentage to such a scenario. Curiously, Kornheiser had a different take on the Earnhardt situation earlier in Tuesday's radio show during an interview with Pardon the Interruption staffer Matt Kelliher. Discussing possible topics for the program that night, Kelliher suggested NASCAR had given Earnhardt a free pass on the pole. "It certainly would be a wonderful way to script it, and he has been a terrible driver of late," Kornheiser replied. "But I'd rather believe he won it on his own, and he had extra adrenaline going as well." Kornheiser's comments didn't go over so well with some of ESPN's NASCAR staff during a news conference Wednesday. "It pisses me off that somebody thinks that from being inside and knowing how hard that myself and a lot of others that I worked around worked on our race cars," said analyst Dale Jarrett, also the 1999 champion. "All you have to do is look around throughout the history of the sport at crazy things that happened. You get in a wreck with somebody one week, and the next week you qualify side-by-side and you're in a truck riding around the track together. Did NASCAR plan that? Why hell no. "Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in a very good race car. He's always run well here given good equipment. He's my pick to win this race. Was it because it's the 10th anniversary of his father's death? Well no, it doesn't have anything to do with that. It aggravates you that that perception is out there. We have a very good sport with a lot of integrity out there and to have it questioned is unfortunate." Said analyst Andy Petree, former crew chief for seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt: "We're hearing opinions of people who really have no idea. This is my 30th Daytona 500 that I've come down to. I have spent a career trying to get an advantage under the hood or anywhere I can with that car. I can tell you I've never, ever in my life seen anybody get the call to have something done to their car. These guys are too smart in the garage. You're working right next to every team in there. If I saw something on somebody else's car that I thought wasn't right, I'm going to be the first one to make sure somebody knows about it." ESPN vice president of motorsports Rich Feinberg said, "that's a show of opinion, and they are entitled to their opinion. And I can tell you for sure that ESPN doesn't agree with his opinion yesterday, but that's the nature of commentary, and not all the time are we going to get a rosy picture when people are offering their opinions." After Nationwide practice Wednesday, Earnhardt told reporters Kornheiser's comments didn't bother him because "those two guys that do that show don't know much about racing." Kornheiser was contrite about his NASCAR comments during Wednesday's PTI show. The featured interview was five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who jokingly invited Kornheiser to a NASCAR race "to keep you from saying stupid things." "I think Tony Kornheiser quickly realized his limitations when it came to racing," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "Our fans and drivers deserve better. There is no more open inspection process and garage in all of racing than in NASCAR." Earnhardt wrecks Daytona 500 car Dale Earnhardt Jr. has wrecked his pole-winning Daytona 500 car. Earnhardt was pushing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in Wednesday’s practice when the contact caused Johnson to bobble. A second pack of cars led by Martin Truex Jr. closed quickly on Earnhardt’s bumper, causing the No. 88 Chevrolet to spin across the track and into the inside wall. Hendrick Motorsports immediately pulled out a backup car for Earnhardt. He will have to forfeit the top starting spot in Sunday’s season-opening race. It will be Earnhardt’s third car of Speedweeks. He wrecked one in last weekend’s exhibition Budweiser Shootout. Earnhardt vows to battle through hard times to regain success in Cup Series Dale Earnhardt Jr. has one message for his detractors: He's not a quitter. "I wouldn't be sitting here right now if I didn't feel like that I wanted to go win races and be successful," Junior said during the NASCAR media tour stop at Hendrick Motorsports. "I wouldn't put up with all the things that I put up with. And I enjoy driving race cars and I want to be around for a long time. "Whether people think I'll be here for a long time, I plan on being here. I've got nothing else to do, nowhere else to go. This is what I grew up to do. This is what I want to do. This is where I want to be." After suffering through two of the worst seasons of his career, don't think for a moment Earnhardt doesn't hear the whispers of those who think he's washed up, who believe he's lost the touch resulting in 15 wins before he turned 30 -- and only three in the six years since. For him, it's not a matter of if. Rather, it's just a matter of when. "It's unfortunate that we haven't been successful over the last several years," Junior said. "There was a period where we were successful. And that gives me a lot of hope and a lot of expectation to get back, to get there again. "I know I can do it, so that's what we'll try to do this year. We made a lot of changes. We're trying to fix it. We're trying to get better. We're making the effort. We just have to wait until we get to the track to see what the results are." Winning the pole for the season-opening Daytona 500 is a small step in the right direction for Earnhardt, who now has Steve Letarte handling crew chief duties on the pit box in 2011. But it's only the first of many needed to get the No. 88 Chevrolet back to some semblance of competitiveness. The unfortunate result of being NASCAR's most popular driver is having to deal with overwhelming expectations, and the intense scrutiny that follows when those expectations aren't realized. Team owner Rick Hendrick was well aware of that when he hired Earnhardt to drive for him at the beginning of the 2008 season. "Everybody expects me or Dale to wave some magic wand and he's going to lead every lap and win every race," Hendrick said. "Jeff Gordon didn't win a race last year. Carl Edwards had a winless streak. There's so many guys who have streaks, then all of a sudden, they hit it and they come back. He's just under the microscope every minute." And that focus only gets more magnified at Daytona, where Junior's father was killed 10 years ago. Earnhardt's demeanor never wavered as he calmly answered question after question about the events of that day and how it impacted his life. Hendrick, who lost his son and several other family members and friends in a plane crash at Martinsville, is amazed by Junior's resilience. "I don't know how [he can] go to Daytona every year and he loves to race there," Hendrick said. "So how he handles that, I don't know. Everybody does it their own way. "I think he's real excited. He doesn't show as much enthusiasm as I do sometimes. But he's excited about this year and he knows that a lot of the things, the questions, we've addressed. So we look forward to it." Hendrick has 10 NASCAR Cup championship trophies in his possession, including Jimmie Johnson's five consecutive titles. But Junior's continuing struggles left him perplexed and searching for alternatives. "Have we done what I thought we'd do? No, I'm not satisfied at all," Hendrick said. "Last year was not good anywhere. So I've gotten used to having to answer the question, but the pressure's there even if you didn't ask me the question. I'm too competitive to be out there and not have my cars up front and all running well." Complacency is one thing Hendrick won't tolerate, and that was the word he used to describe his operation in 2010. It's also the main reason why he went to the drastic measure of shuffling crew chiefs on three of his four Cup teams. "We needed to shake it up and have a real reason to come back with some enthusiasm and some self-inflicted pressure," Hendrick said. "Because when you just rotate the seats and everything else stays the same, then it fires up everybody because it puts everybody on point. "We were behind in lots of areas so we had to catch up. I could see toward the end of the year that we were gaining in some areas where we were behind. All I can tell you is I'm determined to try make each team as good as they can be, and I feel real good about this. "Can I guarantee you that I'll have four cars in the Chase? I guarantee that if we don't, I'll keep working on it." Earnhardt is a history buff. And he understands the best way to understand history is to learn from it. He's taking that to heart this season. "We're working hard to fix our problems," Junior said. "We understand that we haven't run well. I've owned up to all my issues of the past and my performance in the past." During the offseason, Junior stayed near friends and family. He went deer hunting with Martin Truex Jr., attended the wedding of his sister Kelley and kept in touch with his online racing buddies. And if that next win comes on Sunday at Daytona, what will it be like? "It's hard for me to explain to people what winning feels like," Junior said. "People ask me about winning my first race and things like that. I can't explain it. What's the greatest feeling you've ever had in your life? That's it. "I don't really think about, daydream about, going to Daytona and this is how it's going to happen. But wherever we get the next win is going to be good, regardless of whether it's Daytona or anywhere else. The next time we win a race is going to be great for a lot of people. And I'll be very happy." Earnhardt to start from the 500 pole for first time The pressure's off Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- until next Sunday, that is. In Sunday's qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway, Earnhardt edged Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for the top starting spot in next Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500. Turning a lap in 48.364 seconds (186.089 mph), Earnhardt claimed the 10th Coors Light pole award of his career and his first at a restrictor-plate superspeedway. He'll try to win NASCAR's most prestigious race for the second time in the 400th start of his Cup career. What Earnhardt -- and Gordon, for that matter -- won't have to worry about is racing for position in Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Under the unique qualify procedure for the Daytona 500, the two fastest drivers in time trials are locked into the front row. The rest of the field for the 53rd running of the Great American Race won't be set until the Duels are completed. "The main thing [the pole] does for me is take the pressure off Thursday's race," said Earnhardt, who will start from the top spot in the first qualifying race. "I can go out and have fun and not worry about where I finish or getting a good starting spot for the Daytona 500." Gaining a slight edge through Turn 1, Earnhardt narrowly beat Gordon (48.396 seconds, 185.966 mph) for the top spot on the grid. It was the third Daytona 500 front-row sweep for Hendrick Motorsports, which placed Ken Schrader and Darrell Waltrip first and second in 1989. Mark Martin won the pole for last year's 500, with Earnhardt starting on the outside of the front row. Rookie Trevor Bayne (185.445) was third fastest in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, followed by Richard Childress Racing teammates Paul Menard (185.422), Clint Bowyer (185.223) and Jeff Burton (185.071). Bayne was elated by his strong run -- and equally impressed by the drivers starting ahead of him. "If I'm going to get knocked off by somebody, I'm sure the fans were glad it was Dale Jr.," said Bayne, who briefly held the second spot before Earnhardt's pole-winning run. "But to be sitting third behind two of the most well-known drivers in NASCAR -- and Jeff Gordon my childhood hero -- I mean, this is incredible." Bill Elliott (17th fastest), Travis Kvapil (20th) and Joe Nemechek (21st) all earned guaranteed spots in the 500 as the three fastest drivers among those required to qualify on speed. Terry Labonte also knows he will start the race, thanks to a provisional available to the most recent past champion not otherwise qualified. Four more starting positions are available in Thursday's Duels, two from each race. Earnhardt draws Shootout pole Kevin Harvick will try to win his third consecutive Budweiser Shootout from the 18th starting position Saturday night -- but that's not such a bad thing. It doesn't seem to matter where Harvick starts the 75-lap exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway. Last year he won from the second position. Two years ago he claimed his first Shootout win from 27th on the grid. "That'll be all right," Harvick said after unwrapping the No. 18 placard from the Budweiser bottle he chose in the blind qualifying draw Friday night. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the 2003 and '08 Shootouts, drew the pole for Saturday's race. "You knew it, didn't you?" draw party show host Kenny Wallace asked Earnhardt after the selection. "I did," Earnhardt said. "We're good." Three-time Shootout winner Tony Stewart starts from the outside of the front row after drawing the No. 2 position. Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin will line up third and fourth, respectively. The race will be run in segments of 25 and 50 laps, with a 10-minute break between. Green-flag and caution laps count toward the total. It's an eclectic field for the 33rd running of the race that originated as the Busch Clash. Originally, the event was an exhibition for pole winners from the previous season, but when Coors Light took over sponsorship of the Cup pole award from Budweiser, it created a conflict that necessitated a change in eligibility requirements for the Shootout. NASCAR is still feeling its way through that process, and changes to the eligibility rules this year dramatically altered the composition of the field. All 12 Chase drivers from 2010 qualified, along with past Cup Series champions, past Budweiser Shootout winners, past winners of points races at Daytona, and Cup rookies of the year for the past 10 years. That last provision punched the tickets of Kasey Kahne, Juan Montoya and Joey Logano, who otherwise wouldn't have made the field. It also gave entry to Regan Smith and Kevin Conway, neither of whom has won a race in any of NASCAR's top three series. Dale Jr. focused on car and not his father's memory at Daytona If Dale Earnhardt Jr. seems sullen during Speedweeks, he says the sour mood won't stem from a dark anniversary. Though Feb. 18 will mark 10 years since his father was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt Jr. says memories won't impact him nearly as much as his results on the track. "The only thing that affects my mood and my personality is directly connected to the performance," he said during Thursday's Media Day for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20. "Our performance needs to get better, and it's been very disappointing and upsetting. That's the only thing I think about. The anniversary of my father's death is just regular wear and tear and (not) on my mind as much as what I need to do to run well." It's been 93 starts and more than two seasons since the last victory for Earnhardt, who has missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup the past two seasons. Hendrick Motorsports retooled the personnel on his No. 88 Chevrolet in the offseason, transferring crew chief Steve Letarte over from Jeff Gordon's No. 24. Letarte already has put his stamp on Earnhardt's schedule and is planning to curtail the driver's PR commitments if necessary to stay focused on the car. Earnhardt seemed relieved to yield control after being admittedly miserable for most of the past three seasons. Though he made the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup, his slump began in the second half of his first year with Hendrick. "I've tried to be as nice as I can to everybody, but it's not been at all pleasant," he says. "I take full responsibility for how I ran. Enough is enough was last year. I'm ready to get going and see if we can turn things around. "I don't really doubt myself. I never doubt myself. I know what I accomplished in the past. I know what I'm able to do." Daytona has been the scene of many of Earnhardt's greatest accomplishments, including victory in the 2004 Daytona 500. Though he wondered if arriving at the 2.5-mile oval this year would feel different, he was settled in a relaxed and chatty mood Thursday. "I have a lot of pride in this place," he says. "There are great memories here. I feel protective of it and prideful about it. But it doesn't feel a whole lot different." Earnhardt says he's looking forward to digesting the tributes and salutes to the late seven-time champion but doesn't plan any personal remembrances of his father. "Anytime someone says something good about him, it makes you feel great," he says. "It'll be a good weekend for the family. "I think about a million images, mainly, just specific races and cars …drivers he raced against. It's a million different images to cycle through. I don't think about that day. That type of situation wouldn't spark the memory." Junior says time has come to shorten races Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Wednesday that he applauds the changes that are coming to the Sprint Cup Series point standings, but that NASCAR has another adjustment it needs to make. Speaking during a Sprint Media Tour stop at Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt called again for a shortening of most of the Cup races. Hitting on a theme others have addressed previously, he said he particularly would like to see the season's two 500-mile events at Pocono Raceway shortened. "I think it's a great idea, especially at certain events. The Pocono races are entirely too long," Earnhardt said. "I think NASCAR should shoot for a three-hour or three-hour and 15-minute televised event, and try to fit into that sort of time frame. But it can't be done at all times. I understand. I think you've got to have races like the 600-miler [Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte] and the Daytona 500 and things like that -- but there are certain events [that should be shortened]." He added that he believes NASCAR made a mistake when it added distance to last year's spring race at Phoenix -- taking it from 312 laps to 378. The fall Phoenix race remained a 312-lap event. "For example, Phoenix was a good race. Adding that little bit to it didn't make it better. It only made it longer; it only made it tougher to watch, tougher to witness," Earnhardt said. "It was a good distance [prior to last year's change], and the 300 laps at New Hampshire is the perfect distance. "Then you go to Pocono, and it's entirely too long, obviously. It's an obvious, glaring issue with everyone that's there -- but it's like this huge, pink elephant that nobody wants to talk about. Maybe there was some kind of a guarantee or promise made in the deal years ago, and it's something they won't change. We'll see how it goes." Later Wednesday evening, NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France responded to Earnhardt's comments. He contended that several races have been shortened already, including events that have shifted within the schedule. He also said the governing body will be open to considering more such changes in the future -- but only to a point. "We've done that over the last several years. I think you see with Atlanta being a 500-mile race, going to Kentucky, that's a 400-mile race. California going to Kansas, you're seeing that's a 400-mile race," France said. "We awarded the second one in California. That is a 400-mile [race]. ... "So there will be alterations as we go down the road to shorten them up by a little bit. [There are] no expectations from us to make any drastic changes -- but 100 miles changes a complexion of a race, depending where you are, for sure. And we're going to continue to look at that. And we'll look at the Nationwide [Series] events where we want to have good separation between a Sunday and Saturday show. ... [We] will be looking at the length of Nationwide events as we go down the road." Earnhardt said he wanted to make it clear that he was not bashing the sport he said he loves. He just thinks NASCAR officials need to be realistic about what most fans' attention spans are in today's crowded televised sports markets. "I enjoy our sport. I enjoy watching races," Earnhardt said. "I was having a discussion with this guy the other day, and we were talking about how they think the 1 o'clock starts are OK, but they think the 3 o'clock starts might be better "Well, they think that people are tuning in because they're available at 3. It's not that they miss the 1 o'clock [start]; it's just that they don't feel they need to watch the first 200 miles. They're skipping that on purpose. That's what I think." Earnhardt said he knows others have weighed in on the subject. That would include Fox Sports chairman David Hill and Earnhardt's team owner, Rick Hendrick. Speaking earlier in the week on the Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway, Hill also called for NASCAR to look into shortening races to help spark interest and improve sagging television ratings. "I think the racing is far too long," Hill said. "There is more diversion, more opportunities for stuff than any other time in man's history. I think that a lot of the races are too long. I think probably three hours would be ideal." Hendrick agreed with Hill and his driver, calling not only for shorter races but also for a shorter season. The Cup season currently includes 36 points races and two non-points races, and stretches from mid-February to nearly Thanksgiving each year. "I absolutely think the races ought to be shorter, and I think the season ought to be shorter. It's just so long," Hendrick said. "We've got so much to look at -- we've got baseball, basketball, football all going on at one time, and then [there is] our season. "Football players, I've got some friends, and they get to take months off. We get back from [Las] Vegas [and the banquet to cap off the season], we start testing, and we're working harder in the offseason than in the regular season. If we had three more months off, I think the fans would be eager to watch it again. But I don't know." Earnhardt added that he has no problem with the length of the season, and doubts that it can or will be changed. Even Hendrick admitted as much. "I think the financial rewards from having the season as it is are too great," said Earnhardt, who has been voted NASCAR's most popular driver by fans eight years running. "It's almost as if each race is a limb that you can't amputate. It's too big a deal to shorten the season. It's not a simple task to say, 'All right, this guy is losing a date. Is everybody cool with that?' "It's so challenging. There are tons of money involved and tons of livelihoods involved -- and people's careers and opportunities are involved. So I don't believe we'll ever see a shorter season. But I do believe that in my lifetime I will see the shorter races across the board at 80, 75 percent of the events." Hendrick agreed shortening the length of the season is a real long shot, even in the long run. "I think they've got so many people involved ... who are you going to eliminate? What tracks are you going to eliminate?" Hendrick said. "Everybody's got a huge investment. I don't know how you unwind what you've done." Earnhardt said he approved of the changes to the points system that NASCAR announced Wednesday evening. Drivers will now be awarded points in single-point increments from first through 43rd, depending on where they finish in a race, with three bonus points for a win, one bonus point for a lap led and another bonus point for the most laps led in a race. France said the goal was to simplify a system that too many fans -- and even competitors -- found confusing. "I think it's a good choice to make it a little simpler," Earnhardt said. "It was challenging, and it's a good idea to simple it up a little bit. There is no reason why it couldn't be simpler. I don't believe it jumbles things up entirely. If you had this new system before, a few positions swap, but nothing major. But I think how we're able to read it will be simpler, and that's all they're trying to do." Changes for 2011 include emphasis on winning NASCAR on Wednesday announced that it has added a wild-card element to setting the Chase for the Sprint Cup field and it has simplified its points system for 2011, making it easier for fans, competitors and the industry to understand. While the 12-driver Chase field remains intact, the final two spots will be determined by the number of victories during the first 26 races. The top 10 in points following Race No. 26 -- the "cutoff" race -- continue to earn Chase berths. Positions 11 and 12 are "wild-card" qualifiers and will go to non-top-10-ranked drivers with the most victories, as long as they're ranked in the top 20 in points. The top 10 Chase drivers will continue to be seeded based on victories during the first 26 races, with each win worth three bonus points. The wild-card drivers will not receive bonus points for wins and will be seeded 11th and 12th, respectively. It's a move aimed toward rewarding winning and consistency during the regular season. NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France made the announcements at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., during the Sprint Media Tour. "The fans tell us that winning matters the most with them, so we're combining the tradition of consistency in our sport with the excitement that comes along with winning," France said. "This makes every race count leading into the 26th race of the season at Richmond, when we set the field for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup." The new points system -- which applies to all NASCAR national series -- will award points in one-point increments. As an example, in the Cup Series, race winners will earn 43 points, plus three bonus points for the victory. Winners also can earn an extra point for leading a lap and leading the most laps, bringing their total to a possible maximum of 48 points. All other drivers in a finishing order will be separated by one-point increments. A second-place finisher will earn 42 points, a third-place driver 41 points, and so on. A last-place finisher -- 43rd place -- earns one point. In the Camping World Truck Series, the last-place finisher receives eight points, to account for that series' 36-driver race field. "Many of our most loyal fans don't fully understand the points system we have used to date," said France, referencing the system that has been in use since 1975. "So, we are simplifying the points system to one that is much easier to understand. Conceptually, it is comparable to our previous system, but it is easier to follow." During his remarks Wednesday night, France reflected on the outstanding competition the sport enjoyed in 2010 and expected to see that high caliber of racing to continue once the green flag drops for the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20. "NASCAR enters 2011 with positive momentum and a great sense of excitement and optimism," France said. "We're extremely excited for the launch of the season. Leading the season off with Daytona, Phoenix and Las Vegas, we believe our fans are in store for some of the best racing the sport has to offer." Other competitive enhancements announced Wednesday: Pick a Series -- Drivers in all three national series now must select the series where they'll compete for a drivers' championship. Drivers still may compete in multiple series and help their teams win owners' titles in series where they're not competing for a drivers' title. The move helps spotlight young talent in the Nationwide and Truck series. New Qualifying Procedure -- The qualifying order will be set based upon slowest-to-fastest practice speeds. Inclement Weather Qualifying -- If bad weather cancels qualifying, the final starting lineup will be determined by practice speeds. The same rule book procedures will be used to determine eligibility to start a race. If weather cancels practice sessions, then the starting lineup will be set by points, per the rule book. Tire Rules Revision -- Cup teams now are allowed five sets of tires for practice and qualifying instead of six. They must return four of those sets to Goodyear in order to receive their race allotment, and may keep one set of practice/qualifying tires. Tire allotments for race weekends will vary according to historical performance data. Closed Loop Fueling System -- Introduced in the Truck Series, this goes into effect for all three national series in 2011. It combines a more efficient fueling system with the elimination of the catch-can man, considered the most "vulnerable" pit-crew member. Teams now will use six, rather than seven, over-the-wall pit-crew members. Evolution of Cup Car -- NASCAR continues to work with the manufacturers and teams to enhance the look of the Cup Series car. The cars have new fronts this season and the body makeover will continue to help appeal to fans and aid manufacturer identity. January Fan Fest full of top names Daytona International Speedway announced two days of star-studded activity Monday for its NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fest later this month. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will spend Jan. 20-22 testing the new pavement over the 2.5-mile tri-oval. Cup teams have not tested here for two years because of a NASCAR ban. After testing on the new asphalt, drivers will meet face-to-face with race fans in the Fanzone. The lineup includes Daytona 500 champions Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Drivers currently scheduled to make appearances Jan. 20 beginning at 6 p.m. are Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr., Regan Smith and Earnhardt. On the second night of the Thunder Fan Fest, race fans will be visited by nearly a dozen drivers over two sessions. The first session is from 5 to 7 p.m. Among those scheduled to appear in the first session are Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, David Reutimann, Casey Mears, Jeff Burton, Joey Logano, Kevin Conway, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman and Johnson. During the 7-9 p.m. session, drivers scheduled to appear are AJ Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya, Marcos Ambrose, Matt Kenseth, McMurray and Gordon. Tickets for Fan Fest are $20 and available by calling 1-800-748-7467 or going online to daytona500.com Those holding 2011 Daytona 500 tickets and children 12-and-under will be admitted free to Fan Fest. Advanced reservations are available (limited to 250 people) for special autograph sessions to be held with participating 2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers and Daytona 500 champions. Additional driver autograph sessions will be held on both days. To request access to the special autograph sessions, race fans should call the Speedway beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday. In addition to viewing the on-track activity from the Fanzone, race fans may watch each day's testing at no cost from a section of the Oldfield Grandstands near Turn 4. Changes offer Junior best chance yet at comeback The big exterior numbers have been changed outside the shop buildings, the drivers have gotten to know their new crew members, the new revamped team configurations have even been put through a dry run during the recent tire test at Daytona International Speedway. The opening of the 2011 Sprint Cup season is still a long way off -- 60 days remain until the Daytona 500 -- and by then, the results of the personnel changes made by Hendrick Motorsports after this recent campaign should feel comfortable and familiar. They were more than driver and crew chief realignments; they were an attempt to re-balance an organization that, despite winning a fifth consecutive championship behind Jimmie Johnson, took a step backward in terms of overall strength. After being a title contender the year before, Mark Martin failed to make the Chase. After enjoying a fast start, Jeff Gordon faded at the end. After a riveting charge to second place in the final laps of the Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr. once again settled deep in the points. Rick Hendrick has said repeatedly that the changes weren't made specifically to boost Earnhardt's fortunes, and it's easy to believe him -- if anything, Gordon got the best end of the deal in being paired with former Martin crew chief Alan Gustafson. But by switching whole teams and not just crew chiefs, by realigning shop partnerships, Hendrick has provided Earnhardt with perhaps his best chance to snap out of this two-year slump. It's been difficult to watch, this plummet into mediocrity, especially for anybody who saw Earnhardt during his best years earlier this decade and knows of what he was once capable as a driver. But the past two seasons, with all the expectations and nothing to show for it, have certainly been trying for the man inside the No. 88 car. There were always the true believers out there who thought that the issue wasn't necessarily Earnhardt, but a somewhat awkward assimilation into Hendrick, a square peg being pounded into a round hole. Did he have the right people around him, the right kind of cars underneath him? Give him Chad Knaus and that No. 48 team, they'd argue, and you'd see what he could do. That's about as viable as unicorns and leprechauns. But now, he's getting the next best thing -- Steve Letarte and what until a month ago had been the No. 24 team, a unit that's made the Chase every year since 2006, and won nine races along the way. Remember, this isn't a crew chief swap as much as it is a driver swap. Letarte isn't joining the No. 88 team; Earnhardt is joining the No. 24, re-branded with a different number and sponsor. And better yet, he'll work in the same facility with Johnson's team, the two programs sharing shop crewmen and cars, functioning on weekdays as a single entity just as the old 24/48 group did for so many years. Every day Earnhardt will walk into a building with championship banners hanging from the ceiling, and work with men with championship rings on their fingers. It's not going to happen automatically. But Earnhardt now will work in an environment where success at a very high level isn't just hoped, it's expected. He won't have to look down the hill at the shop where the five-time champions are housed, he'll be in it. Earnhardt speaks often about wanting to become more professional. Well, Johnson and Knaus are as professional as they come, in the efficiency in which they conduct their business to how they communicate with one another over the radio on race day. And now, Earnhardt is joined to them at the hip. "Being in that building with the 48 elevates them up a lot, motivates them a lot, too," said Gordon, who will now be paired with Martin in a 24/5 shop. "Certainly the pressure is on, no doubt about that. But I think that in order to make our whole organization better, that kind of effort's got to be put out for those guys .... It's not just that move that's going to make the magic happen. It's a combination of a big move happening, and the message it sends to our organization, and how it opens up the ability to get quality personnel added to the quality we have. That's what makes us stronger. If that shop gets stronger over there, and if Junior can step up, then it makes all of us better." No question, Earnhardt bears some responsibility in this quest to become relevant again, and surely he knows it. But inserting him into Gordon's old No. 24 team, working side-by-side with the No. 48, offers a best-case scenario for potential improvement. Of course, there's another side to this, too -- what effect will the move have on Johnson's team? Many recall the tinkering Hendrick did with Martin's program prior to last year, moving an engineer over to the No. 88 and giving Gustafson more oversight of combined 5/88 efforts, all in an effort to bring Earnhardt up to speed with his shop-mate. Once the season began, Martin cratered. It wasn't necessarily a cause-and-effect, but it leaves fans of the No. 48 team asking a pertinent question: is Earnhardt capable of dragging down Johnson? "I don't think that there's anything the 48 team would look at as something that would drag them down," Earnhardt said. "I think they're a little more confident than that. If anything, Jimmie should be able to maintain his success. We feel as a company that we all need to get better as a whole. That's another story. Obviously, we all across the board want to run much better than we did this year. And Jimmie would rather the championship battle not be as tight as it was going into the last race." Johnson won the title by 39 points this season, and trailed Denny Hamlin entering the final two races, a stark change from previous championship campaigns where he's enjoyed triple-digit leads late in the year and been in complete control going to Homestead. Still: "From a selfish standpoint, over the last five years it's hard to say that the environment we had needed anything adjusted," Johnson said. "That's just from me. It's more than just me. So we'll just have to see how it goes." Besides, Johnson said, it's not like his No. 48 team has been isolated from the whole Earnhardt saga just because they've been in a different facility. "They've been exposed to that and are familiar with that now. I don't think it's going to change much, being in the same building," he said. "The better my teammates run, the better I run, the better we all run. If we can have all four cars winning races and making the Chase and fighting for the championship, it's only making us better. So I'm excited. I'm hopeful." So is Earnhardt, who was eager to begin working with Letarte and the new members of his revamped No. 88 team, and was the first driver on the track during the opening day of Goodyear tire testing last week at Daytona. Yes, the car number is the same, the team owner is the same, the sometimes suffocating expectations are the same. But for NASCAR's most popular driver, everything else is different. And this fresh start, in a new environment surrounded by new people, may represent his best hope yet of a comeback. Daytona 500 track 'real smooth' after improvements Dale Earnhardt Jr. says the track at the Daytona International Speedway is “real smooth” after the completion of a $20 million repaving project. Earnhardt was the first driver on the track Wednesday as 20 cars participated in the first day of a two-day Goodyear tire test at the speedway, which underwent a massive facelift beginning July 5 in a move precipitated by a pothole between Turns 1 and 2 during the Daytona 500. “They smoothed out all the bumps,” Earnhardt said. “The track is real smooth. It’s got a lot of grip. It reminds me exactly of what Talledega was like when they finished (repaving) it.” Clear skies, cool temperatures and a smooth surface greeted some of the top drivers in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series at the first tire testing session at since the completion of the repaving project. By late morning, several hundred onlookers were seated in one of the grandstands and standing near a retaining fence to check out the new surface, as well as the drivers in action. Most of the testing consisted of single-car laps, although there were moments when cars were bunched closer together. Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon came away convinced that the 2 1/2 -mile track, which was most recently paved over in 1978, would become more about speed and less about handling to the drivers. “That’s going to make for more exciting racing, more aggressive racing,” said Gordon, who added that aggression would manifest itself in another way. “You’ll be able to see us race three-wide here, lap after lap after lap.” The only incident of the day came when David Ragan sustained damage to the front quarter-panel of his Ford after losing control through the tri-oval. Testing will continue Thursday morning. Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopes to get his confidence back with new crew chief Steve Letarte Dale Earnhardt Jr. knows he will get his confidence back as a driver when he runs consistently in the top five in Sprint Cup races again. How new crew chief Steve Letarte can improve his performance and restore that confidence, he doesn’t exactly know. Earnhardt Jr. said Thursday that his team’s switch from crew chief Lance McGrew to Letarte, the former crew chief for Jeff Gordon, is like knowing what you’re getting for Christmas. “It’s healthy,” said Earnhardt Jr., who has 18 career wins but only one victory and one Chase appearance in three years at Hendrick Motorsports. “We needed this to happen. I needed this to happen. Hopefully this will get me back to winning races, running in the top five and running in the top 10. “I used to own up to my own inconsistencies back in 2000, 2001 all the way up through 2004 and ’05 when we had some of our more successful years. I’d do anything to be that inconsistent now. I know I can be that guy again – at least that good. This is a good opportunity to see if that can happen.” Letarte will be Earnhardt Jr.’s third crew chief since joining Hendrick in 2008. He joined Hendrick with Tony Eury Jr., his crew chief at Dale Earnhardt Inc. and the son of his most successful crew chief, Tony Eury Sr. Although Earnhardt Jr. made the Chase in 2008, he struggled in 2009 and Eury Jr. was replaced by McGrew, who led the No. 88 team for 60 races. During that time, Earnhardt Jr. was winless and had the two worst points finishes of his career – 25th in 2009 and 21st in 2010. “I have no answer for why when we worked with Pops that worked and Tony Jr. didn’t work,” Earnhardt Jr. said Thursday after being named the sport’s most popular driver for the eighth consecutive year. “I thought that Tony Jr. was as smart, if not smarter, with today’s technology than Pops was. I felt they were on equal grounds and I was going to have a dynasty of a crew chief in Tony Jr. “He has that talent and that knowledge and it just didn’t work. We made a change with Lance, and we went half a season and we felt pretty good about what he was doing, decided to go another year and it didn’t work. I was up and willing for a change and I sat on the side and waited to see what that change would be. I was called into the floor and told what the new deal was and I’m behind it.” Confidence has always been a key to Earnhardt Jr.’s performance and success. It has been lacking the past three years. “The only person that can truly help me get where I need to go starts with me, then it goes to [team owner] Rick [Hendrick], Steve and those guys in your inner circle every week and in your corner every week,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “My biggest problem, I think, is my confidence. “I know what I’ve done in my past and I know that I’ve outrun and beat these guys that I compete with each week before. I just have to remember that the potential is there. “I believe in myself, but there’s a swagger that you have to have. … To convince myself to get back where I need to be confidence-wise, I need to see it happen on the track. I can’t just talk myself into going to the track thinking the way I need to think. I’m going to go there, mash the gas and it needs to happen.” Earnhardt Jr. said he and McGrew made some progress but not enough to warrant sticking together. McGrew will now work with Mark Martin, while Martin’s former crew chief, Alan Gustafson, will guide Gordon’s No. 24 team. “I really bought into the program and bought into Lance’s opportunity and his ability to lead us as a crew chief,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We did some good things. We just weren’t moving along fast enough in this world as far as getting more productive and getting better as a team – we weren’t doing that quickly enough. “In this time and age, you have to produce now. We feel that urgency and we feel that responsibility and pressure. I do.” Not only will Earnhardt Jr. get Letarte as his crew chief, he will race with the crew that worked for Gordon and drive the cars Gordon drove this season. He will now be based in the shop with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, and many of the people who work on Johnson’s cars will now work on Earnhardt Jr.’s cars as well. “I don’t think there’s anything that the 48 team [of Johnson] would look at [me] as something that could drag them down,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I think they’re a little more confident than that. “If anything, Jimmie should be able to maintain his success. … It’s a little bit intimidating going into there and knowing how successful that team has been. But it also is an opportunity to rub up against it and learn what you can and be observant to what feels different about it, the culture in the shop and the approach they take to racing.” Earnhardt Jr. and his old team had lunch together last week, and he also has spoken to his new crew. “I really didn’t know hardly any of those guys,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s a new environment. It’s like going to a new school. You’ve got to make new friendships and new relationships. For me personally, I’m reluctant to make those kind of relationships, but when you’re forced into a situation like this, once you do make those relationships, that’s probably the biggest reward about the sport. “The friendships that you make, the bond, the camaraderie and going to bat for each other and getting to know some truly amazing people that you otherwise would have the opportunity to get to know.” The 36-year-old driver is also looking forward to having a clean slate and starting over with a new team. “You look at it as a clean slate and a chance to see if this new package, new chemistry will produce better results,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “The anticipation to get to the track is more and you’re ready to go to work and want to go run laps at the same speed and see lap times and see adjustments and feel new cars and what they’re doing and how they’re reacting to the changes that the new crew chief is making and the new engineer is producing.” Earnhardt Jr. joked that he will have to change his vocabulary on the radio because Letarte’s kids listen at home on the team scanner. “I hope for me, being around him and his group and their professionalism will rub off on me, make me a better driver, make me a better person, make me more productive in my communication with him,” Earnhardt Jr. said. While Earnhardt Jr. and McGrew won’t work together, there is no animosity between them and they weren’t frustrated with each other despite some heated exchanges during races, Earnhardt Jr. said. “We pretty much knew that things weren’t working well,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We were very aware with what reality was and how we were running and how poorly things were going. We were frustrated. We were pitted so closely together throughout the weekend that some of that is going to bounce off each other a little bit. “I never took it personally from him. … We got along pretty good considering how me and Tony Jr. would have handled the same situation.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins eighth consecutive Most Popular Driver award Dale Earnhardt Jr. had his second straight disappointing season on the track but he has not lost the adoration of his fans as Earnhardt Jr. won the voting for the NASCAR NMPA Hamburger Helper Most Popular Driver Award for the eighth consecutive time. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was given the award during the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards Luncheon on Thursday afternoon at the Bellagio Ballroom in Las Vegas. "I want to thank the fans. They've really meant everything to this sport," Earnhardt Jr. said. Earnhardt Jr., winless in the last two years with career-worst points finishes of 25th in 2009 and 21st in 2010, is third all-time in the number of Most Popular Driver awards behind Bill Elliott (16) and Richard Petty (nine). Elliott also holds the record for most consecutive years winning the award with 10 from 1991-2000. Fans voted throughout the regular season to determine 10 finalists. Voting throughout the Chase For The Sprint Cup determined the winner of the award, administered by the National Motorsports Press Association. The other finalists, in alphabetical order, were Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart. The 36-year-old Earnhardt Jr. is one of only two father-son combinations to have won the award. Earnhardt Jr.’s father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., won it in 2001, the year he died in the Daytona 500. Petty’s father, Lee, won the award in its first two years in 1953 and 1954. Steve Letarte says he's humbled by challenge, has faith in Dale Earnhardt Jr. Steve Letarte remembers the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas earlier this year when Dale Earnhardt Jr., with no race practice because of rain all weekend, took the lead by passing the best drivers on the outside. That move is one of the reasons that Letarte believes he can help Earnhardt Jr. find his confidence, and victory lane, in 2011. The newly named crew chief for NASCAR’s most popular driver is ready for the challenge and said he did not question team owner Rick Hendrick’s decision to move him from working with four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon to Earnhardt Jr., who has struggled the last three seasons at Hendrick under crew chiefs Tony Eury Jr. and Lance McGrew. “I have 100 percent faith in Mr. Hendrick and the decision he makes,” Letarte said Wednesday afternoon at the Hendrick Motorsports shop. “I was excited for the opportunity. I was humbled. It’s a task that he has given me that is not a small task, it’s not an insignificant task. “It’s a very important task for this company, for Dale Jr., for the sport, and I take it as that. I was very proud that I was the guy tagged for that. I’m excited, and I’m ready to go.” Letarte has spent the last five-plus years working with Gordon. Although they made the Chase For The Sprint Cup all five years, they managed only 10 victories in 190 races – and just one in the last three years – while Gordon challenged for the title only in 2007. Such results were hard to stomach for Letarte, a member of all four of Gordon’s championship teams and someone that worked in the Hendrick shop at age 16 in 1995. “Five years is a long opportunity, and I had an opportunity to get him there, and we came close a few years but we never got there completely,” the 31-year-old Letarte said of his time spent with Gordon. “I’m definitely disappointed in that. … I’m a crew chief in this sport because of Jeff Gordon. “I’m a crew chief in this sport because of Rick Hendrick. Those two created who I am. When I started here, I was a 16-year-old kid that swept the floor with a lot of desire and not a lot of knowledge.” Two aspects of his experience with Gordon could be beneficial in his new job. The first is that Gordon can get animated on the radio during the race, just like Earnhardt Jr., being horribly blunt if he dislikes the car. “I don’t think much gets me too worked up anymore,” Letarte said. “Dale Jr. and I will be a great mix on the radio. The most important thing is to have opposites. Jeff and I were opposites; Jimmie [Johnson] and Chad [Knaus] are opposites. “Dale Jr. can be excitable, and I usually stay pretty calm. That’s my job. I’m not in the car. I don’t have the distractions. I can get down [off the box] and get a glass of water.” Being Gordon’s crew chief also put Letarte in the spotlight. He already has felt the harsh words of fans blaming him for Gordon’s woes. That likely will be no different – and more than likely intensified – if Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t perform up to expectations. “I would say that if the spotlight got to me, I’d be well sunburned by now,” Letarte said. “I’m not too concerned. My dad raised me from a very young age on how racing works – whether it’s Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr., Jimmie Johnson or whoever it is, when they put a helmet on, that’s a driver. “That’s what they are and that’s the tool we’ll use to win races. And I think Dale Jr. gives me a remarkable tool to take to the race track.” Earnhardt Jr. in is in the midst of a 94-race winless streak and has won only once in three years since joining Hendrick Motorsports. He started his Hendrick tenure with Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief before Lance McGrew took over in May of 2009. “I believe he’s a remarkable race-car driver, and I think some people in the world have forgotten that,” Letarte said. “I look forward to the opportunity to remind them that he is as good as I think he is. “I’ve had the ability to work around some very remarkable talents, and I think he is included in that bunch. That’s my motivation – to show everybody in the world how talented Dale Earnhardt Jr. is. … We know he can do it. We just have to give him a consistent platform to operate on. I have all the faith in the world with him.” Before sitting down with McGrew, Letarte will talk more with Earnhardt Jr. “The first person I will talk to is Dale,” Letarte said. “I won’t talk to anybody about Dale except for Dale. I will have a relationship with him. After I feel that relationship has fostered in the direction where it needs to be, then without a doubt I will be on the phone with everybody he’s worked with, everybody who has ever set up a car for him. “Because if I didn’t, then that would just be ignorant. If I didn’t call Lance McGrew, then we wasted the last number of races they worked together on setups and information. Just because their success level wasn’t where it needed to be doesn’t mean they didn’t learn anything.” Letarte said he wasn’t surprised by the decision nor the crew chief swaps. McGrew will now work with Mark Martin while Gordon will work with crew chief Alan Gustafson, who was Martin’s former crew chief. “We all knew that the company didn’t run as well as we wanted to and I know Jeff and I were disappointed in our performance together and we knew that the 88 [of Earnhardt Jr.] needed to improve and we knew there were areas around the company that needed to improve,” Letarte said. “I wouldn’t say it was shocking. We definitely didn’t have a lot of conversation before yesterday about this specifically. … Nothing surprises me anymore.” Letarte said he and Earnhardt Jr. have talked since the announcement. They will do some testing in the offseason, including possibly one day of the Goodyear tire test Dec. 15-16 at Daytona International Speedway. “The biggest challenge with Junior is keeping it as simple as racing,” Letarte said. “That’s really all it is. Everybody makes it a whole lot more than that. “The simple fact is we race for a living. We have the best jobs in the world – to make sure my team and Dale Jr. and me and the sponsors and Rick everyone remembers what we’re on the race track to do. That will be our biggest goal.” Letarte said he would have to sit down with Hendrick and Earnhardt Jr. to determine their specific goals. Earnhardt Jr. made the Chase in 2008 but was 25th in the standings in 2009 and 21st in 2010. “We need to set what expectations we think are realistic,” Letarte said. “The most important thing is [to] give him an opportunity to showcase his talent. I think he is a remarkable talent. “I without a doubt think we can go to victory lane with Dale Jr. I think we can contend for the Chase.” Letarte already has told Earnhardt Jr. one condition of their relationship. “I already told him this isn’t going to help on the trades,” Letarte said in reference to their fantasy football league. “He’s out of luck. Those bum trades he offers up are ridiculous. He isn’t going to get a good player out of me just because I’m his crew chief.” Click here to vist the Dale Earnhardt Jr New Archive Part 3