Dale Earnhardt, Jr. found himself in an unusual place Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway ? Victory Lane.
For most of the race, it appeared as if Kevin Harvick was the only driver with a shot at taking the checkered flag in the Crown Royal 400. After announcing in an official team release Friday afternoon that he had signed a contract extension to stay with Richard Childress Racing and the 29 team through 2009, Harvick continued the hot streak he started a few weeks ago, winning Friday night in the Busch Series, then dominating the Nextel Cup event, leading more than half the race.
But when Harvick?s car began to fade in the closing laps, Earnhardt made his move, taking the lead to thunderous applause from the sold-out Richmond crowd. After a battle with rookie Denny Hamlin on the final restart of the race, Dale Junior pulled away for his first win since July.
For Earnhardt, it has been a long road back to victory lane. After winning six races and finishing fifth in the point standings in 2004, Dale Junior agreed to allow crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. to move over to teammate Michael Waltrip?s team last season. The move was supposed to strengthen both Dale Earnhardt, Inc. teams, but in the end Waltrip continued to struggle, and Earnhardt, Jr.?s team went into a tailspin ? he finished 19th in the standings, and never got close to making the Chase for the Cup.
DEI corrected their mistake late last year, bringing Eury, Jr. back to the team. While the move came too late to help last season, Dale Junior has been racing with a quiet confidence this year, and the win Saturday night in Richmond triumphantly announced his return to form.
While the victory certainly provided a confidence boost for Earnhardt, it also put him in a great spot to be a part of the Chase. Junior moved up to sixth, and was helped out by bad luck that struck some of the other drivers at the top of the point standings.
Kasey Kahne, fourth overall heading into Richmond, had a spark-plug wire fall off early on, leaving him five laps down. Matt Kenseth, second in the points going in, had problems as well ? his brake rotor fell apart, and the flying pieces put a hole in his oil pan. Even points leader Jimmie Johnson struggled, going a lap down before fighting back to a 12th place finish, allowing him to keep the overall lead.
Dale Junior has to find consistency to make the Chase, but now that he has finally captured that first victory of the season, his legion of fans can expect several more to follow before the season is over.
Get up to speed on the latest in NASCAR ? listen to Wilson?s Race Report every Monday and Friday at 5:39pm on 93.1 WPOC.
