Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he was one move away from winning last year's Daytona 500. Credit: Autostock

Junior: We'll have six or seven wins before Chase

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't look like a driver that failed to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup last season judging by his big smile when he walked into the tent outside of Daytona International Speedway.

He didn't sound like one, either.

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"We're going to come into the Chase and be in the top three in points,'' he said during Thursday's media day. "We'll have six or seven wins, if not more. If we lose the championship it won't be by much.''

The son of seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt didn't stop there, adding he would have won the Daytona 500 last season had he "made a certain move'' and predicting he would win next Sunday's 500.

"I got the car to beat over there in the garage,'' Earnhardt said. "It's the fastest car. It won't run fast in qualifying, but that's the way we build it. We build it to race good and a lot of guys build their cars to go fast in straight line.

"And that's not how you win.''

Needless to say, Earnhardt is confident as he begins his seventh full season in Cup. Some of it has to do with re-uniting with crew chief Tony Eury Jr., who worked for former Dale Earnhardt Inc., teammate Michael Waltrip last season.

Some of it has to do with other hires at DEI that Earnhardt believes strengthened the company.

But seven wins before the chase? That would be six more than last season when Earnhardt struggled to a 19th place finish in points and the combined total of Earnhardt's wins the past two seasons.

"The company is really hungry as a whole,'' Earnhardt said. "The company has shown a lot of fire, a lot of promise. We've got guys that we're really excited about coming to work for us.''

Earnhardt seemed almost embarrassed talking about his plan to finish his career driving for Richard Childress in the black No. 3 car that has been parked since his father was killed on the last lap of the Daytona 500 five years ago.

He said he wanted to win a championship in the No. 8 car for his sponsor, Budweiser, with Eury Jr. before considering a move to the 3.

"I could do it now, but that would be kind of a phony tribute if we did it now,'' he said. "It just wouldn't feel right. It's something we can do whenever we want. I've got to think about my career future right now. I can't be fooling around with tributes and feel good stories all the time. We've got to get down to business and race.

"When that opportunity comes, we'll do that. Plus, I don't think a lot of people are ready for it. It's not even an option.''

Earnhardt said he's dedicated more to his team this season than ever.

"To go in this year and show them I'm in the trench and we're going to do this together, every minute, mile to mile, that'll be more productive for the company than for me to stand there and say, 'All right man. Y'all keep it tight now. I want to win,' '' he said.

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"I want everybody in the company to feel I'm dedicated. ... If the guy in the engine shop thinks I'm going to drive somewhere else if something doesn't work out, that ain't good.''

Earnhardt is so dedicated to DEI that he wants to one day run the company that his stepmother, Teresa, runs.

"I'd love to take over DEI,'' he said. "Me and Teresa will talk about that when the time comes. We'll talk about that before the time comes, but that's not in the near future.''

The near future doesn't go past the first few races.

"I want to get off on a fast start because I want to prove not only this to the fans, but to everybody, that this team I strong,'' he said. "I looked at my racecars and they're better looking than I've ever seen.

"I never really felt that way before about a racecar, but I saw them just before they were getting loaded up and I couldn't believe how they looked.''