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Sprint Cup
CUP: Dale Jr.’s New Year – Happy?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will open 2012 riding a 129-race winless streak but with a surge of optimism…
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been strong this season. (Photo: Getty Images)
Even for those who might have been visiting a concession stand or restroom or perhaps were blindfolded in the stands, it was crystal clear what was happening on the track at Martinsville Speedway with 20 laps to go in the April 3 Goody’s Fast Relief 500.
The crowd noise rose above the rumble of the cars making 19-second laps around the half-mile. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had powered around Kyle Busch and, with only 10 miles between his Chevrolet and the finish line, turned his eyes toward ending a long losing streak that had confounded the sport and frustrated his ever-bubbling fan base.
Junior would lead for 17 consecutive laps, but suddenly shadowing him was the Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick, who ultimately would become Darth Vader on this Sunday afternoon. Harvick slipped past the slowing Earnhardt Jr. with four to go, won the race, left Junior second and sent the majority of the crowd home with yet another disappointment.
The despondency would be repeated the following month when Junior appeared on target to win the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s never-ending marathon, at Charlotte Motor Speedway only to run out of fuel on the final lap, Harvick again proving the spoiler.
And so it went for Earnhardt Jr. – a good season but not a great one, and the extension of the winless streak to three full seasons and 129 straight races. His spin of frustration is longer than those of Jeff Burton (113), Joey Logano (91), Greg Biffle (43), Jamie McMurray (41) and Juan Pablo Montoya (50).
The hope for Junior Nation, however, rests in the other statistical columns. Earnhardt Jr. had 12 top-10 runs and only two DNFs in 2011. He had a pair of seconds (Martinsville and Kansas), finished a tight fourth in pushing teammate Jimmie Johnson to victory at Talladega in April and raced in the points top 10 most of the year before finishing seventh.
The consistency of his year was underlined by the fact that he had a good points finish despite being the only driver in the top 14 without a race win.
Now, with a new calendar page having been flipped and a fresh new season awaiting, the seemingly eternal search for that restorative victory continues.
“Deep within myself, I’m really happy about how I’ve improved,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’m happy to be competing again. I’m almost where I want to be. Outwardly, I want to express a lack of satisfaction. We need to get better. We have more to do. We need to go faster. Those are the truths. But I feel like I’m in a better place personally and professionally. I’m having fun. I enjoy driving.”
Junior said the high point of 2011 was the near-win at Charlotte, the disappointment of an empty fuel tank on the final lap not overpowering the quality of the day.
“We hadn’t been in that position much in the past,” he said. “It gave me a lot of confidence that we were putting ourselves into position to win races.”
Junior said crew chief Steve Letarte, starting his second season atop the No. 88 war wagon, has “helped me be calm and stay the course throughout the races, not give up, keep competing, get the best finish we can. Several races he sort of rallied us and helped us regroup and get going. His organization and people skills are really good. They contribute to our performance every weekend.”
The pair will be looked to for another level of production this year. Another winless season would be a major black mark for Earnhardt Jr.
“I know what winning feels like, and I want to have that feeling again,” he said. “I want to enjoy something like that again in victory lane. It’s fun. It’s the reason you show up and keep going and think you might be able to do that again.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The crowd noise rose above the rumble of the cars making 19-second laps around the half-mile. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had powered around Kyle Busch and, with only 10 miles between his Chevrolet and the finish line, turned his eyes toward ending a long losing streak that had confounded the sport and frustrated his ever-bubbling fan base.
Junior would lead for 17 consecutive laps, but suddenly shadowing him was the Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick, who ultimately would become Darth Vader on this Sunday afternoon. Harvick slipped past the slowing Earnhardt Jr. with four to go, won the race, left Junior second and sent the majority of the crowd home with yet another disappointment.
The despondency would be repeated the following month when Junior appeared on target to win the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s never-ending marathon, at Charlotte Motor Speedway only to run out of fuel on the final lap, Harvick again proving the spoiler.
And so it went for Earnhardt Jr. – a good season but not a great one, and the extension of the winless streak to three full seasons and 129 straight races. His spin of frustration is longer than those of Jeff Burton (113), Joey Logano (91), Greg Biffle (43), Jamie McMurray (41) and Juan Pablo Montoya (50).
The hope for Junior Nation, however, rests in the other statistical columns. Earnhardt Jr. had 12 top-10 runs and only two DNFs in 2011. He had a pair of seconds (Martinsville and Kansas), finished a tight fourth in pushing teammate Jimmie Johnson to victory at Talladega in April and raced in the points top 10 most of the year before finishing seventh.
The consistency of his year was underlined by the fact that he had a good points finish despite being the only driver in the top 14 without a race win.
Now, with a new calendar page having been flipped and a fresh new season awaiting, the seemingly eternal search for that restorative victory continues.
“Deep within myself, I’m really happy about how I’ve improved,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’m happy to be competing again. I’m almost where I want to be. Outwardly, I want to express a lack of satisfaction. We need to get better. We have more to do. We need to go faster. Those are the truths. But I feel like I’m in a better place personally and professionally. I’m having fun. I enjoy driving.”
Junior said the high point of 2011 was the near-win at Charlotte, the disappointment of an empty fuel tank on the final lap not overpowering the quality of the day.
“We hadn’t been in that position much in the past,” he said. “It gave me a lot of confidence that we were putting ourselves into position to win races.”
Junior said crew chief Steve Letarte, starting his second season atop the No. 88 war wagon, has “helped me be calm and stay the course throughout the races, not give up, keep competing, get the best finish we can. Several races he sort of rallied us and helped us regroup and get going. His organization and people skills are really good. They contribute to our performance every weekend.”
The pair will be looked to for another level of production this year. Another winless season would be a major black mark for Earnhardt Jr.
“I know what winning feels like, and I want to have that feeling again,” he said. “I want to enjoy something like that again in victory lane. It’s fun. It’s the reason you show up and keep going and think you might be able to do that again.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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