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Earnhardt Jr. confident troubles are behind him
Mike Harris/AP

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — While Dale Earnhardt Jr. would just as soon forget last season, the lessons he learned have him anxious to start this season.

Right now, his confidence is soaring.

"I think we're going to come into the Chase being top three in the points," Junior said. "We'll have six or seven wins this season, if not more. If we lose the championship, it won't be by much."

The third-generation NASCAR star will get his first chance to show that the No. 8 Chevrolet is going to be a leader instead of a follower Saturday night in the Budweiser Shootout, a 70-lap race for the previous year's pole winners and former Shootout winners.

Junior, easily the most popular driver in NASCAR, was among the favorites to win last year's Nextel Cup championship. But he won only one race and failed to qualify for the 10-race, playoff-style Chase.

"You know, we learned a lot," Earnhardt said as his team prepared his car for the first competition of the season, a prelude to Sunday's pole qualifying for the Feb. 19 Daytona 500.

"That was an unfortunate season that I had to experience for some reason to really get back — to really mentally get back to where I needed to be," he added. "I think now we've got a better understanding of what needs to be done."

A year ago, the Dale Earnhardt Inc. team began with an ill-advised swap of cars and crews for Earnhardt and then-teammate Michael Waltrip. Junior began the year without cousin and longtime car chief Tony Eury Jr. or uncle and longtime crew chief Tony Eury Sr. in his pits.

New crew chief Pete Rondeau lasted through May before being replaced by Steve Hmiel, DEI's technical director, as interim crew chief.

Finally, Eury Jr. replaced Hmiel for the final 10 races, and some consistent runs buoyed everyone on the team with hope over the winter.

"Working with Steve Hmiel taught me a lot. Working with Pete, going through those changes, taught me a lot. Those people had an effect on me for the better. It was something that had to happen."

Earnhardt, who feels he's the favorite for the 500, will get an chance to show just how strong he is during the Shootout. He drew the 19th starting spot in the 21-car field that also includes reigning Cup champion Tony Stewart and defending 500 winner Jeff Gordon.

Other starters include Ken Schrader and Jimmie Johnson, starting from the front row, along with Joe Nemechek, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Newman, Scott Riggs, Dale Jarrett, Carl Edwards, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, Danny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers and Waltrip, who now drives for Bill Davis Racing.

He has been replaced at DEI by two-time Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr., who will race for Rookie of the Year honors.

In recent years, Earnhardt, the 2004 Daytona 500 winner, and two-time Daytona 500 winner Waltrip have been a potent 1-2 punch at Daytona and Talladega, the two tracks at which NASCAR requires carburetor restrictor plates to keep the cars under 200 mph in the interest of safety.

Plate racing puts a strong emphasis on teamwork and drafting and, even with very strong cars for each event, Earnhardt will likely need some help from Truex to win on Saturday night and, particularly, in the 500.

"Martin has had some experience in drafting and he's going to be able to help, and we'll be able to hook up with Tony (Stewart) and some other people," Earnhardt said. "We'll be fine.

"I got the car to beat over in the garage for the 500," he added. "It's the fastest car. You know, it won't run fast in qualifying, but that's the way we built it. We built it to race good."

The drivers involved say that building momentum in the Shootout — divided into segments of 20 and 50 laps, with a mandatory pit stop in the second segment — is important. But it's a very unpredictable race.
Stewart calls the race a "a highspeed chess match.

"The key to winning the Shootout is not making any big mistakes and being the first guy to cross the finish line," he added.

Harvick echoed that, saying, "It's all about having a fast car. That's what it all boils down to."