Regardless of their performance on the race track or the disparity between their backgrounds and popularity, they have always seemed intrinsically linked. Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. entered NASCAR's premier series together, at the forefront of the heralded 2000 rookie class, and on the heels of a pair of championship showdowns on the then-Busch circuit. Since then their fortunes have always invited comparison, even if their careers have ventured along divergent paths. Such is the case with two drivers who share a common starting point.

Recently, though, they have appeared on opposite ends of the competitive spectrum. Kenseth lost those two Busch championship battles but emerged to win a bigger one, a Cup crown in 2003, and assert himself as a rock-solid mainstay who made the Chase every year until last season. Earnhardt has endured neck-snapping swings in productivity, and is capable of both mesmerizing and frustrating his fan base at the same time. One is a testament to consistency, the other a monument to unpredictability. There seems very little to link them to those closely bound times of a decade ago.

Until now. Earnhardt must be looking at what his friend and rival is going through, with the recent change of crew chief, and thinking -- I know how it feels.

How can he not? Here you have a driver with 18 career Cup victories, with a number of notable achievements behind him, who is mired in what could be a career-defining slump. Here you have a car owner who steadfastly stands behind his driver, and is determined to throw anything he can at the problem in an effort to get it corrected. Here you have a crew chief change, with the new man coming from the organization's research and development department, and the old one winding up in the Nationwide Series.

Déjà vu, anyone?

No, the situations aren't exactly the same. Earnhardt is in the midst of a 1-for-146 slump and has missed the Chase twice in the past three years, while Kenseth has won two of his past 72 starts and failed to make the playoff only once. Earnhardt lives in a bubble of popularity and expectation that can sometimes seem suffocating, even though he has two multiple champions within his own shop. Kenseth doesn't deal with that crushing level of public adulation, but his title and his consistent nature have made him the clear standard-bearer -- a "pillar," as car owner Jack Roush calls it -- on his race team.

And yet, their current quandaries appear almost mirror images of one another. Earnhardt slumps at Hendrick Motorsports, and the reaction is overwhelming -- the promotion of crew chief Lance McGrew from the research and development program, the eventual reassignment of Tony Eury Jr. to the Nationwide tour with Danica Patrick, an armada of engineers assigned to the No. 88 to help turn it around. Kenseth picks up on a vibe he doesn't like at Daytona, and within a week everything is changed -- crew chief Todd Parrott is brought in from the R&D squad, Drew Blickensderfer is moved to the Nationwide program of Carl Edwards, and Roush Fenway general manager Robbie Reiser comes out to California to oversee the transition. (Continued)