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HEMBREE: The Junior Effect
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Talladega go hand-in-hand and wheel-in-wheel…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted May 05, 2012   Talladega, AL
Dale Earnhardt Jr. signs autographs for fans in the garage at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
The hand-made, somewhat ragged sign on the back of the pickup truck on the road to Talladega Superspeedway spoke for all of Junior Nation.

WIN JUNIOR. PLEASE.

The PLEASE was underlined. And in all capitals. And in red.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is within five points of the Sprint Cup point lead. He trails Greg Biffle by that narrow margin entering Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

He has two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes this season. His worst finish is 15th. By virtually all measurements, it is one of the best seasonal starts in Junior’s career.

But there is that dark slash across it, and it’s a burden that he carries week to week, slogging along like he’s pulling a cannon behind his car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has not won a Sprint Cup race since June 15, 2008 at Michigan International Speedway. For those who are counting – and there are many, that’s 138 races in a row, a streak that most could not have imagined when he joined Hendrick Motorsports for the start of the 2008 season.

Despite the drought, Junior will be considered among the favorites here Sunday at one of his favorite tracks. He could have won here last spring but instead played the good teammate and pushed Jimmie Johnson to a narrow victory in the tempest of a final-lap shootout.

The end of The Streak would be celebrated here perhaps with greater ferocity than at any other NASCAR venue. The Talladega crowd is a Junior crowd. Fans pour in from across the Southeast and from points north to cheer on Earnhardt Jr. and the power of the Earnhardt legacy at NASCAR’s biggest track, a surface once ruled by Dale Earnhardt Sr. with the style of a conquering hero.

The links are formidable. Earnhardt Sr. scored the last win of his career here in October 2000 with one of the most legendary late-race runs in the sport’s history.

Earnhardt Jr. won here in October 2004 to move into the series points lead, a position he held only briefly. He was penalized 25 points for uttering an obscenity in victory lane – ironically, when questioned about his father’s legacy at the track – and fell out of the point lead.

That was the last time Junior held first place in points.

Sunday could be the next time.

Junior Nation waits.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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