FORT WORTH, Texas -- As he bounded into a helicopter to whisk him away from Texas Motor Speedway following the DirecTV 500 in 2000, Jeff Burton was surprised to find Dale Earnhardt already strapped into the flying machine.

“

... the next win I have, there will be a lot of appreciation for the company that I drive for now ... for getting me there, for giving me that opportunity and giving me that chance.

”

DALE EARNHARDT JR.

Burton was trying to make a quick getaway from the track after finishing second in the race to Earnhardt's son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. It was the younger Earnhardt's first victory in the Cup Series.

"What in the hell are you doing? You ought to be in Victory Lane celebrating with Junior," Burton told the elder Earnhardt.

"Nah," replied big Dale. "This is his day, not mine."

Burton was remembering that moment Friday, not long before Junior went out and won the pole for this Sunday's Samsung 500 at the same track. Earnhardt's blistering pole-winning lap of 190.907 mph was a reminder that this is a place that has held magic for him in the past. Not only did he capture his first Cup win at Texas, but he also earned his first victory in what was then the Busch Series (now Nationwide) at the venue in 1998.

Of course Earnhardt's father did pay a visit, however brief, to Victory Lane that day Junior captured his first Cup victory. There is a large, poster-sized photo of dad giving son a crushing hug there on one of the walls in the TMS media center. Plus, son clearly remembers it.

"I remember how cold it was that day and when he grabbed me, he knocked my hat crooked and that was how I had my hat on that day in front of a national television audience. Crooked," said Junior, grinning. "That win was as unexpected as anything.

"When we won the Nationwide race, well, we had run second at Vegas and we run good at a couple of other races. But that [Cup] win right there just shocked me. I could hardly hold the gas pedal down the last 30 laps. My legs and my whole body were just shaking. I don't know if I could top that even winning here again -- how that feeling was."

He would like to attempt it this Sunday, however. He has gone on to register 16 more Cup victories since that cold Texas afternoon in 2000, but none since his last win at Richmond in May of 2006. That was 68 races ago.

And even though he began this season with thrilling back-to-back victories in non-points events at Daytona International Speedway -- in the Bud Shootout and his Gatorade Duel qualifying event for the Daytona 500 -- he still longs to break the drought in a race that matters. He also is eager to earn his first victory in the No. 88 Chevrolet that he began driving this season for Hendrick Motorsports, after making the switch from Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company founded by his father.

"I guess the feeling that I would get the next win I have, there will be a lot of appreciation for the company that I drive for now, the team that I work with now for getting me there, for giving me that opportunity and giving me that chance," Earnhardt said.

He also wants to make sure that everyone knows how happy he is and how satisfied he is with the start he has had driving for team owner Rick Hendrick this season, despite having not won a points race yet. He enters this Sunday's event ranked fourth in the driver standings.

"I think the majority of the people are as hungry as I am to get a win," Earnhardt said. "The thing that I'm trying not to look past or underappreciate is how much better I'm doing in my career and in this position I'm in this year -- how much of a better situation I'm in and how much happier I am as a person and just what all good has come from this change that I made.

"I knew that Rick's program and his company were awesome, and they continue to do things that are impressive and organized to me. So I want to go out there and get a win. I want to get that out of the way and tack it onto my stats and all that good stuff."

The irony is that Earnhardt said he isn't as big a fan of Texas Motor Speedway as one might think.

"I don't like it more or less than any other track," he said. "It just so happens this is where I got my first win in the [Nationwide] Series and in the Cup Series, so you never forget it.

"It's a cool place. The fans are great. The best thing about this track is the fans, to be honest with you. There are nuances about the surface of the track and character that the track has, but they're neither good nor bad. They're just things you deal with.

"The great thing about it is, this is our best market west of the Mississippi. We struggle in our other areas west of the Mississippi, right? And this is great to be able to come to Texas and get people excited. They really love seeing us come here."

Many no doubt would love seeing him leave here with his winless streak no longer intact.

Burton said he has no doubts that wins will start coming again for Earnhardt, whether it is this Sunday or some weekend soon.

"I'm surely not going to make an assessment on why one particular driver, one particular team hasn't won -- other than to tell you that it's very difficult," Burton said. "This is a hard sport. There are a lot of really, really good race teams with great equipment and great crew chiefs, engineers, and it's very competitive. It's hard.

"Junior has run really well this year. He's been probably the top performing Hendrick car so far. Their wins are coming, there's no question about that."