“Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Victory Lane” visions have evolved from calm ripples, to a steady simmer and now, after his near-win at Charlotte, to full boiling over.
There’s good reason for optimism. His 2011 season is looking much like his 2008 season – the last in which he won a race and made the Chase. Just as encouraging: This season looks nothing like 2009-10 when he finished the season 25th and 21st in points, respectively.
Some facts to back up the optimism …
• Earnhardt’s six top 10s this season already surpasses his five from all of 2009. Last season he had eight. His two top fives match that of 2009, and are one short of last year’s total.
• Earnhardt’s average finish of 11.0 ranks third in the series behind points leader Carl Edwards (8.0) and five-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson (10.9).
• He has completed more laps – 4,073 – than anyone in the series. He has finished off the lead lap twice this season: Daytona (202 of 208 laps) and Richmond (398 of 400).
• His consistency – as illustrated by his Driver Rating – is up. This season, Earnhardt has scored a Driver Rating over 90.0 in eight of the 12 races. In 2010, he did that in five of the first 12. In 2009, just three of the first 12.
• His fourth-place points position is his highest after 12 races since 2008, when he was third. Last year after 12 races, Earnhardt was 16th in points. In 2009, he was 19th.
Earnhardt has struggled recently at Kansas Speedway. His last two finishes have been out of the top 20. Overall, he has four top 10s in 10 races, leading laps in five of them.
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