Richmond brings a dubious anniversary for Earnhardt

The championship was called the Nextel Cup, a vehicle called the Car of Tomorrow was still in the development stages, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was still the face of Dale Earnhardt Inc. on that Saturday two years ago in the capital of the old South. NASCAR's most popular driver recorded his 17th career victory that night, marking the seventh consecutive season in which he had won at least one race in the sport's premier division.

There was no hint of what was to follow -- the falling-out with DEI, the eventual move to powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports, the now 71-race-long winless streak that's prompted so many critics to question whether Earnhardt was worth the hype. Saturday that journey again comes full circle, as Earnhardt and the rest of the Sprint Cup tour compete at Richmond International Raceway, where 727 days ago the driver of the now-No. 88 car last visited Victory Lane.

"Coming up on two years without a win, you know, it's definitely something you recognize. It's definitely a stat that you are aware of and reminded of. It's not a whole lot of pressure. I still drive for a good team, I still have a great opportunity to win every time I show up," Earnhardt said.

"I guess if this losing streak, or whatever you want to call it, if while that was going on I was suddenly finding myself trickling down the list of good racecars and good owners and finding myself in equipment that I felt was under par, not on par with what wins races, I would be worried, and the pressure would be a lot. But I feel like a win is around the corner. I feel like we've been in position to do that just about every week we've had a good enough car to contend."

He outran a rookie named Denny Hamlin by .571 seconds (watch video) on that May 6, 2006, and went on to easily qualify for the Chase. Back then he wasn't too far removed from his series-best six race wins and Daytona 500 triumph in 2004, and he would go on to finish inside the top five in final points for the third time in four seasons. Statistically, he was at the peak of his career. He had no way of knowing that a fifth-place finish at Darlington Raceway the next weekend would be the beginning of a two-year winless streak.

"The last time I won was at Richmond, [and it] seems like forever ago, but I try not to think about it," he said. "I don't want to be thinking of how long it's been since a win. Knowing we have a shot at it every week and something or another happens can make it frustrating. We couldn't be doing anything different to prepare -- the team and everyone at Hendrick has been working so hard. It will happen."

It's not like he hasn't had chances. In the past 71 races he's had 17 top-five finishes, and been a runner-up three times. At Fontana later in 2006, he led five laps and finished 3.4 seconds behind winner Kasey Kahne. Last year at Pocono he started from the pole, led eight laps, and finished 4 seconds behind winner Kurt Busch. His best chance might have been earlier this season at Las Vegas, where he led 15 laps and finished a half-second behind eventual winner Carl Edwards.

If anything, the winless streak has overshadowed how well Earnhardt has run this year with his new team. He's placed inside the top 10 seven times -- only five fewer than all of last year -- while his only finish worse than 12th was a wreck-induced 40th-place result at Fontana. He's a solid third in championship points, trailing only Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch. There also have been events like the race three weeks ago at Phoenix, where Earnhardt led 71 laps before fading to seventh at the end.

"We've obviously failed to capitalize on some races where we led a lot and ended up finishing sixth or seventh," he said. "That's just, you know, you've just got to be able to make the right decisions at the end of the race, and we haven't been able to do that."

Maybe this week at Richmond. Earnhardt has always liked short tracks, dating back to his days racing late models at Myrtle Beach Speedway on the South Carolina coast. He has three career wins at Richmond, along with Tony Stewart the most of any active driver on the .75-mile oval. He's also running as consistently well as he has at any point in his career, something he urges his long-suffering fans to remember.

"I feel like the fans want to win. They're ready for a win," he said. " Right now I suppose, from what I can tell, they're pretty happy that we're running well and we're up front and stuff. And they have to keep reminding themselves to be patient for that win to come, because they've wanted the opportunity for their driver to be running well each week, and they have that now. They have to remind themselves to be patient for that win, but they want it just as bad as we do. So that's the deal. You just have to wait. When it happens, it will happen. There's really not much you can do other than just be as prepared as possible each weekend."