A Familiar Victory Lane For Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Now that Easter break is over for the Sprint Cup drivers, the next five weekends have four night races and some tracks that require a great deal of wheel wrestling and fender banging. Those tracks include Richmond, Darlington, and Dover. Along with Charlotte, the next five weeks include 3 tracks which Dale Earnhardt Jr. has previous wins.

Coming off a top five finish pushing his teammate, Jimmie Johnson, to a victory, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is arguably racing as well as he has in more than four years. He has continually finished in the top ten, finishes strong, and is communicating very well with new crew chief Steve Letarte. Although he may not be the strongest driver in the series, he definitely is back in peoples’ thoughts when contemplating possible winners.

Although he has had poor finishes of late at Richmond International Raceway, he has raced stronger there historically than almost anywhere else. He has 3 wins at RIR, second only to his total at Talladega. He also has 3 wins there in the Nationwide Series.

Many people will think of Dale Jr. racing Kyle Busch when they think of his successes at RIR, but over the past two years, he has been well outside of contention. In fact, in three of the last four races there he has not finished on the lead lap. Most of the viewers this Saturday night will expect a different end than the last few for Dale Jr.

For many viewers and fans, the waiting for Earnhardt’s first win in, now, 100 races is as Tom Petty sang, “the hardest part.” Thinking his breakthrough could come each week leaves his fans a little disappointed at the end of each weeks race, but not nearly as disappointed as watching him fade late and rarely charge. For these fans, a win this weekend would merely fan the flame for the next race. One win would not quench the thirst.

For other fans, commentators, and NASCAR employees, a Dale Jr. win this week would likely be a relief. A feeling that a return to growing ratings and surging merchandise sales has arrived would probably help some of these people relax and feel secure about the future of the sport. After all, NASCAR “needs” Junior to win, right??

Dale Earnhardt Jr. would likely fall somewhere between the two sentiments. I am sure he will feel relieved that his losing streak is finally over. However, most of his fans hope that the long awaited taste of victory will only stir his hunger to reach some more lofty goals.

Posted in: Dale Earnhardt Jr,Jimmie Johnson,Nascar Nationwide Series,Richmond,Sprint Cup,steve letarte