CONCORD, N.C. -- The NASCAR all-star race once was known as The Winston -- and when it came around in the year 2000, Cup rookie Dale Earnhardt Jr. was smoking.

So much so that Humpy Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway, predicted that the driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet would win the event. Despite some successes on the track by the No. 8. in the weeks leading up to the race, it was a startling prediction. No rookie driver had ever done it.

The prediction didn't sit well with Dale Earnhardt, the father of the then-rookie driver. He sought out Wheeler and demanded to know why Wheeler had made it.

"You're putting too much pressure on the kid," the elder Earnhardt insisted. "Why did you do it?"

"Because I think he's going to win," Wheeler replied.

Told of the conversation exchange years later at a recent luncheon, Earnhardt Jr. had to laugh.

"I thought it was funny that you said Dad got mad -- because we were about maxed out on pressure at that point. You couldn't add any more," the younger Earnhardt told Wheeler. "We already felt a lot of pressure, but that was probably pressure that we put on ourselves."

Now Earnhardt Jr. is feeling a different kind of pressure. He met with the media again Friday at Lowe's Motor Speedway, confirming that he has begun the process to select which team he will drive for beginning next season. He previously announced that he would be leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company founded by his father, when his contract expires at the end of this season.

As much attention as Junior drew that night in 2000 when he became the first rookie to win NASCAR's all-star event, he's now drawing more as the most marketable driver in the sport.

"I guess I'm not surprised, as big as the sport has become," said car owner Ray Evernham of Evernham Motorsports. "His dad was big, and Junior is a personality. In fact, he is 'The Personality' of the sport. I don't know who the hottest star in Hollywood is now -- but it's like if Tom Cruise or somebody like that was doing something; it's going to be big news. Dale Jr. is the story; he's the guy who can command the most sponsorship and licensing money. He's our big box-office draw, and all the sudden he's a free agent. That would be a big story in any sport."

Yet Junior is not Dale Earnhardt. The elder Earnhardt won 76 times and seven points championships in his Cup career, which was cut short when he died in an accident on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. (Continued)