Earnhardt hoping different team takes him to brand new place: Victory Lane

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - With three laps to go Sunday afternoon in Atlanta, the sea of fans better known as “Junior Nation” were on their feet, watching in suspense as their favorite driver — Dale Earnhardt Jr. — went sailing into turn one after chase leader Jimmie Johnson on the final restart of the Pep Boys Auto 500.

Earnhardt had persevered through engine problems, a penalty on pit road and an unscheduled pit stop to move into third place entering the race’s final stage.

And that’s when the wheels came off — really.

Earnhardt’s left-rear wheel, loose before the restart, separated from the car, sending him hard into the wall and leaving his fans all wondering the same thing: Why can’t Junior win a race?

There is no question Earnhardt desperately wants to win one checkered flag in the No. 8 Budweiser Chevy before the season ends and he switches teams next season. But it appears every time he is close to earning his first victory of the season, something devastating happens.

Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s engine woes have been well documented during the past few months, robbing both Earnhardt and teammate Martin Truex, Jr. of top-5 finishes on several occasions. When the engine holds up, though, something else always seems to get between Junior and victory lane — a race car that handles poorly, a wreck, or in Sunday’s case, a faulty wheel.

It is enough to make fans of the No. 8 car think he is cursed or being sabotaged by the organization he is leaving at the end of the season, but Junior knows the explanation is not that simple.

“We just need some luck, however I can get that,” Earnhardt said a few weeks ago. “We’ve had really, really fast cars. I’ve been happy everywhere we ran. We’ve run with the leaders everywhere, but haven’t been able to get the finishes.”

And Earnhardt has been running fast. In his unsuccessful attempt to make the Chase, there were few drivers racing harder than Earnhardt. He’s still as determined to win as he was at the season’s outset, but it appears only bad luck has prevented him from being rewarded with a trip to Victory Lane.

A new chapter starts for Earnhardt this week as he tests a Hendrick car in Atlanta, and with the way this season has progressed, he’s ready for a new beginning with a star-studded team at Hendrick Motorsports that includes Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

“Tony [Eury, Jr.] has been there and has been there working with the guys and has some ideas,” said team owner Rick Hendrick of Earnhardt’s new crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports. “Its kind of a day we’ve been waiting for - we’re pretty excited about it.”

So as Earnhardt heads into the final three races of the season, there are two things “Junior Nation” can look forward to: an end to the bad luck and the promise that things will be better next season.

“All I can say is that I know how many Junior fans are out there,” Gordon said. “And they should be anxious about him getting behind the wheel of a Hendrick Motorsports car next year.”

And they should — as long as the wheels don’t fall off.

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