LAS VEGAS -- It would have been difficult to blame Dale Earnhardt Jr. if had he not shown up. He could have kicked back in his new house, hung out with family and friends, and had somebody else accept his seventh consecutive most popular driver trophy for him. It almost would have been understandable -- what driver would want to jet all the way across the country for one day, receive an award unrelated to performance, and face another round of questions about what it's going to take to turn his program around?

No, it wouldn't exactly have been proper, but after his miserable, snake-bitten 2009 season, it would have been easy to fathom why the guy might have wanted to steer clear of this Champion's Week altogether. And for an instant there was the question of whether he had, after his name was announced during Thursday's Myers Brothers award ceremony, and a few long seconds passed without any sign of Junior in the showroom of the Venetian hotel. But then there he was, picking his way past all those Chase drivers and their entourages and making a long walk toward the stage.

"They stuck me up there in the top row," he joked.

Well, when you're in a room full of title contenders and you finish 25th in final points, that tends to happen. This was a quick Las Vegas trip for Earnhardt, who was heading home right after the event. No craps, no poker, no regaling in the festivities surrounding teammate Jimmie Johnson's fourth consecutive title in NASCAR's premier division. But he had to make an appearance. Four years ago, after the first time he missed the Chase, he sent a videotaped message of thanks to New York. He won't make that mistake again.

"I learned my lesson," he said. "If the fans are going to go through the trouble of clicking online every day to get this award for you, to get you to win it, to hope you win it, I understand how important it is for me to accept it in person." (Continued)