Do It Again: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Looks to Repeat Texas Magic from 2000

April 2, 2000 will forever be immortalized as a memorable date for one of racing's perennial names when third-generation driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. captured his first career victory in the NASCAR Cup ranks at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Even if the weather was eerie, filled with clouds and a brooding atmosphere surrounding the treacherous 1.5-mile facility, the scenes from Victory Lane on that day were liken to that of beach-goers enjoying the sun, taking in every aspect of their surroundings with absolute euphoria.

Making that victory even sweeter for fans and the Earnhardt family was witnessing a rare moment of a seven-time Cup champion stepping out of that Intimidator role, embracing his 25-year-old son proudly as an emotional, joyful father. It was a moment that compared to the sentimental cheers and jubilation of the 1998 Daytona 500 Victory Lane - just sweeter and more satisfying for one of NASCAR's most prominent clans.

Regardless of your allegiance, the sight of the Dale Sr. and Junior hugging each other in a confetti-filled winner's circle was about as good as it gets, exemplifying the notion of NASCAR being a family affair sport.

Fast forward to 2010 and a lot has changed since that magical moment in stock car racing. Dale Sr. has since gone off to the racing heavens while his son has been somewhat beleaguered by motorsports purgatory, experiencing an inconsistent streak of success and struggles with his Cup career.

Just as his father accomplished on Feb. 15, 1998, Earnhardt Jr. captured a Daytona 500 win on the same date just six years later. He's also gained a notoriety of being a restrictor plate ace, winning seven events, including a four race winning streak at Talladega (Oct. 2001-Apr. '03). During his years with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, his No. 8 Budweiser Chevy was the pied piper of those 43 car packs.

Also, he's had his share of hard hits, including a heavy crash in the 2002 Fontana race, in which he and Kevin Harvick collided just before the exit off turn four, leaving "Little E" with his worst career injury with a concussion and ankle pain.

Earnhardt Jr. would admit about his injury months after the accident, as he didn't want to endure the criticism or prospects of being called "washed up" by the media.

"I didn't want to tell it until it got better and I started to run better," Earnhardt said in a 2002 USA Today interview with Chris Jenkins. "You just start back at zero and people are going, 'Oh, he's finished, he'll never be the same.'"

Since his tumultuous 2002 campaign, there's been a number of great moments, where it appears as if another Earnhardt might be in the record books as a champion. With 18 victories, 89 top-fives, and 144 top-10s in 370 races, his Sprint Cup career has been fairly respectable.

Driving for one of the most-established teams in all of racing, namely with Hendrick Motorsports, the expectations are for Earnhardt Jr. to step it up, win multiple races and to capture a collection of titles. After all, he's working alongside some of the sport's greatest contemporaries with Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson.

Then there are times when he's perceived as washed-up or a driver that doesn't have the desire to compete at the highest level. Especially with 2009, there were moments where the perception with the No. 88 unit was "three strong Hendrick teams and then the Earnhardt bunch."

Even if the results aren't showing, to say that about any racer is simply insulting, given how competitive and close the fields are, from qualifying rounds to the races on Saturday nights or Sunday afternoons. As seen with even the best in the business, like Gordon and Martin at their worst, success is never guaranteed for the elites.

Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway will be one for the sentimental books for Earnhardt Jr., who experienced two of his most memorable NASCAR moments in a span of two years. In 1998, he won his first Nationwide Series race, a memorable moment that truly served as the Kannapolis, NC's "Welcome to NASCAR" moment as a legit contender.

Two years later, he stepped up to the Cup stage and delivered with a dominant performance, leading 106 of the 334 laps enroute to winning the DirecTV 500 in front of the Ft. Worth racing fans who witnessed a historical day.

When CBS Sports' Ken Squier asked Dale Sr. about his son's victory, smiling, he said, "I tell you, he's something else. We knew the kid could do it. This kid, he's worked hard."

It'd be a moment that Earnhardt Jr. may never capture again, but to win a race, especially if it happens this Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, will be about as special as it gets for the grown-up, 35-year old racing veteran.

Coming off of three consecutive seasons of disappointment, the 2010 season has shaped up as a decent campaign thus far through seven events. Sitting 10th in the points battle, his statistics aren't exactly screaming loud, with a top-five and two top-10s. However, the focus to win again has never wavered, working as diligently as ever to prove to fans that he is a true Cup contender.

His communication with crew chief Lance McGrew has improved since last year, even to a point where some of their chemistry has been tested a time or two as seen in Bristol last month. Both appear to be on the same page and the cars seem to get closer to Earnhardt Jr.'s liking on race day.

"Little E" may not be the fresh faced kid from 2000, as he sports a beard that would make Mike Love jealous. Some of his enthusiasm and youthful demeanour has faded, replaced by one that's focused on the racing industry, as well as his JR Motorsports venture in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

However, if the wayback machine's in use and Sunday's race at Texas has a touch of nosalgia, particularly by race's end, it will probably involve Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevy team.

With the way this season's been in producing emotional victories for some of the sport's most established stars, a win by the two-time Nationwide titlist will certainly serve as one of the more popular moments for the sport.

An Unusual Start for the Unusual Sport of NASCAR

Another season has dawned upon us and the NASCAR Sprint Cup scene could not be more complex than it is already. Fans are either elated or slightly panicking over their teams' performances in 2010, rationally or closely predicting how the drivers and crews will fare in the upcoming races. What's certain is that this season will be the most unusual one yet, and I'm certainly not saying that because of who won this year's Daytona 500 or the fact that a "beloved" four-time champion has captured the past two races.

Three years ago, the sport implemented its greatest change with the cars since 1981 when it phased-in the Car of Tomorrow chassis and body style, which greatly affected the competition on the track. Immediately, Hendrick Motorsports' racers in Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson picked up where they started during the 2007 season, finding immediate success before other teams like Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Roush-Fenway Racing adapted to the car.

By far, this vehicle was embraced with polarized reactions, with drivers either feeling like it improved the on-track product or worsening the action on the playing field. Instead of front valences and rear spoilers, crews now dealt with splitters and wings. Sounds more like the names of chicken meals than a stock car, if you ask me.

Make no mistake about it - NASCAR made up its mind, adamant and firm on its decision with the implementation of the Car of Tomorrow. It was here to stay and there wasn't a whole lot that teams, fans, or the media could do about the CoT. After all, it'd improved safety features, save teams money, and prove to be a durable machine.

Suck it up or watch IndyCar racing, they probably thought.

Fast forward three years later, where the sport has somewhat made an "Oops, we made a boo boo" statement with the soon-to-be-used rear spoilers on the CoT bodies. Let's face it - wings work only on airplanes, chicken, and the Plymouth Superbird. Just not in today's stock cars.

Whether or not the talking heads want to admit it, the rear wing presented trouble at the high-speed arenas, particularly at Daytona and Talladega. Sure, the boxy cars meant that teams were given the largest restrictor plates since 1989. While designed to be a not-so aerodynamic friendly vehicle, it proved to be a machine that basked in the draft, revitalizing the slingshot draft tactic that seemingly died after the mid-1980s.

While I understand the need for the CoT, which has undoubtedly saved drivers from serious injuries, it has probably done the very opposite which it was intended to do back in 2007: improving the racing product on the track.

Seemingly, the only way that NASCAR has managed to save itself, either by coincidence or maybe with an appearance of a friendly "old" friend, with the races is by way of the late-race caution flag, courtesy of a mysterious piece of debris, or as fans have dubiously labeled it, "Jacques Debris."

Call me old school, but it wasn't long ago when these Sunday spectacles were interesting enough that a late caution flag period proved unnecessary to bunch up the field for the finish. Instead, it was up to the skills of the racers and pit crews to make the dramatics happen, with a 200 mph chess match with decision making and position shuffling on the speedway. More often than not, we got a great show, even if the finish was part of a long green-flag run.

Now, we have parades on the track, often lasting longer than an Extenze pill will help certain readers or a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will entertain the kids in New York City. NASCAR has become something similar to a cycling race, with a peloton and a pack of chasers. However, it's not in the context that would prove most desirable (no pun intended), as the competition is quite distant until that late caution period.

When I first saw the CoT, my first thoughts were that it would kill the racing action and prove to be an unpopular car with the fans and some teams. Save for some short track races in the past three years, where aerodynamics are practically absent as a factor, it has made events at most of the "cookie cutter" tracks even more boring to spectators in the grandstands and fans huddled in their living rooms across the US of A.

Perhaps NASCAR will make a CYF (Cover Your Face) move with the rear spoiler, which hopefully prove to be a much better component to the cars and competition than the wing. While NASCAR is hoping that it produces relatively the same downforce and aero numbers as the wing, this fan and writer thinks it may actually enhance the racing and perhaps save a few drivers from experiencing "A Claritin Moment" aka what happened to Carl Edwards in last April's Talladega horror.

Maybe it'll aid some racers who have struggled to produce multiple victories or a win in the past three seasons, namely Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is a capable driver that just hasn't come quite to terms with the CoT, or Greg Biffle, who has been somewhat overshadowed by his teammates in Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards over the past few years.

Whatever the spoiler does, it will undoubtedly be part of what has become one of the most unusual starts to a very atypical sport. Regardless, we love it, but hopefully, what will become typical on the track is good racing. After all, the only traffic that any individual should encounter on a race weekend is the one going home to points unknown, not on the battlefields of America's finest facilities.