Dale Jr.: "I'm driving real, real hard to get good finishes for this team, to keep them motivated. And slowly but surely, we're gaining a position or two each week, and there is still a lot of racing left." Credit: Autostock

PIR comes at opportune time for Earnhardt Jr.

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- It's rare when all of the variables come together to hand a driver the perfect-handling car.

It's even more rare when it happens twice at the same track in consecutive years.

But three times? Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopes the third time is even more of a charm in Saturday night's Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

A victory would end a winless streak that started after his victory at Phoenix in November -- and would continue a surge that has allowed him to gain 12 positions in the point standings since leaving Las Vegas with a wrecked car.

"When I first started going out (to Phoenix) I had a hard time being competitive, but the last two times we were out there we were absolutely hooked up," Earnhardt said.

	Credit: Autostock
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That might be an understatement. Earnhardt appeared to be toying with the field before running away with the victories.

In 2003, he passed Jimmie Johnson for the lead with 51 laps to go and fended off all challengers during a series of restarts, then blasted past Jeff Gordon with 11 laps remaining last season, this time staying out front in a green-white-checker finish.

So what's the secret?

"There's no secret. It's all about getting your car to handle through the middle of the corners," Earnhardt said. "Since the corners are so different, you almost need a balance between the two. That's where we were able to put a lot of distance on cars last year."

Earnhardt must smile every time he thinks about one-mile tracks. In addition to three straight top-five finishes at Phoenix, he has five top-10s in his last six visits to tracks one mile in length, and three of his 15 career wins have come at Phoenix and Dover.

"(Phoenix is) one of my favorite tracks, because it's got short-track tendencies, yet there's a lot of room to race," Earnhardt said. "You can pass and be passed without too much trouble."

2004: Three-lap sprint to the finish at Phoenix 2004: Dale Jr. celebrates his win at Phoenix Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Junior hopes he's seen the last of his trouble this season. After a third in the Daytona 500, Earnhardt never found the handle at California, crashed out early at Las Vegas and struggled at Atlanta, typically one of his better tracks.

Earnhardt said he may have let his intensity slip while getting accustomed to new crew chief Pete Rondeau.

"I started out the year trying to be cool and let everyone on the team get acclimated to me and me to them," he said. "But Pete (Rondeau) and myself are starting to work harder and demand a little more from each other."

In addition, Earnhardt said he's still struggling to get a handle on the new spoiler rule.

"We're still not where we want to be," he said. "(We've) still got to find a way to make our cars go faster, and find the grip we lost with the new spoiler."

The team is making progress. Earnhardt was fourth at Bristol, 13th at Martinsville and ninth last week at Texas despite losing several positions late in the race with an ill-handling car.

"We're working hard," Earnhardt said. "I'm driving real, real hard to get good finishes for this team, to keep them motivated. And slowly but surely, we're gaining a position or two each week, and there is still a lot of racing left."

Another perfect car Saturday night -- and another trip to Phoenix's Victory Lane -- might be all the motivation Earnhardt and the No. 8 Chevrolet team needs.