Earnhardt Has That Winning Feeling

Earnhardt Has That Winning Feeling

As competitive as they are, a one-race wins drought probably feels like forever for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr. currently stares at a 135-race winless streak. That’s by far the longest of his career.  But just how long is it? Well, his previous longest was prior to his last win in 2008 at Michigan International Speedway, when he went winless in 76 consecutive races.
Other than those two stretches, Earnhardt has enjoyed only brief periods of lulls.
Few waits were shorter than that for his first victory, which just so happened to come at Texas Motor Speedway, site of this Saturday night’s main event. Earnhardt needed only 12 starts to capture his first NSCS win, nabbing it on April 2, 2000.
There’s a feel to this 2012 season that a victory will come sooner than later. He has three top-three finishes (and four top 10s overall), which has moved him to second in the points. The last time he was this high in the points late in the season was 2008, the season he last won. The last time Earnhardt held the points lead was October 2004.
And, the weekly wait surprisingly continues: an Earnhardt win (or one by Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson or Kasey Kahne) would be Hendrick Motorsports’ 200th victory. The team has built up a mini-drought of their own – 12 races have run since its last win at Kansas Speedway. HMS has three victories at Texas, most recently by Gordon in 2009. That win snapped a 47-race drought for Gordon.

Hamlin Hoping For Rerun Of 2010 Texas Sweep

Texas Motor Speedway figures to be a good place for Denny Hamlin to keep his 2012 mojo revving.
Although Hamlin struggled at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth speedway a year ago – he was 15th in the spring; 20th in the fall – he has two reasons to look forward to a return to the Lone Star state.
Hamlin swept both races in 2010, the season in which he finished second in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™.
His crew chief, Darian Grubb, shared Victory Lane with last year’s champion Tony Stewart, the track’s most recent winner. Hamlin and Grubb have been a solid match through six races with a victory, two top-five and three top-10 finishes.
Hamlin has the third-best Texas Driver Rating (102.4) among current Chase contenders, trailing only Stewart and points leader Greg Biffle. Only defending race winner Matt Kenseth (8.7) has a better average finish than the 10.2 Hamlin shares with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson.
Hamlin is the only Texas Toyota winner. All four series manufacturers have at least one victory over the past three seasons.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Etc.

Brad Keselowski will play the role of "guest expert" on NASCAR.COM’s weekly Fantasy Showdown on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. It will be the first live streaming of the site’s popular fantasy show. Click here to watch on Wednesday morning. … NSCS driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 National Guard Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was prominently displayed on the Ellipse outside of the White House for the 134th Annual Easter Egg Roll event on Monday, where NASCAR officially launch its patriotic campaign, ‘NASCAR Unites – An American Salute.’  The car’s appearance was the start of a NASCAR initiative that will support military families from the Memorial Day weekend race (Charlotte Motor Speedway) through Independence Day weekend (Daytona International Speedway). Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Danica Patrick, Greg Biffle and Keselowski are drivers scheduled to run NASCAR Unites paint schemes during this period. More information on the charities and how to donate can be found at NASCAR.com/Unites. … Milestone Marker: Ryan Newman has a couple of notable numbers to watch. He continues his march toward 50 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light poles this weekend. The achievement would make him solely ninth on the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup pole winners list. In 2005, Newman swept both poles at Texas. Additionally, he is on the verge of eclipsing 6,000 NASCAR national series laps led. He currently has a total of 5,965 laps led – 4,462 laps led (NSCS), 1,491 laps led (NNS) and 12 laps led (NCWTS). Newman has led a total of 88 laps in 17 NSCS starts at Texas Motor Speedway. …The NASCAR Foundation is seeking passionate NASCAR fans who are making an impact with children in communities across the country to submit nominations for the 2012 Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award.  Nominations are being accepted through May 31 at NASCAR.com/foundation, with the recipient being awarded with $100,000 from the NASCAR Foundation toward the children’s charity of their choice. … The Sprint Fan Vote is open for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on May 19. Click here to vote. ... Greg Biffle's 193.736 mph last fall won the Coors Light Pole Award and was the fastest lap of the season in qualifying. If Texas wants to keep its title as fastest track, it will have to top the speed Carl Edwards posted for this year’s Daytona 500: 194.738 mph.