By Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 14, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 13 -- As prologues go, last weekend's Bud Shootout couldn't have unfolded more perfectly for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

In the waning moments of the 70-lap race, he got a strategic shove to the front from superstar stablemate Jimmie Johnson, who just as easily could have resented Earnhardt's offseason addition to stock-car racing's most elite team. With the victory, Earnhardt ended a 21-month winless streak. And he was rewarded with a bearhug by car owner Rick Hendrick, who celebrated as if it were Hendrick Motorsports' first victory instead of its 200th-plus.

But by Wednesday, that triumph was little more than a footnote to preparations for Sunday's Daytona 500. The Shootout doesn't count toward NASCAR's season-long championship, for one. It's scripted for sheer entertainment to whet fans' appetite for stock-car racing's Super Bowl. Moreover, Earnhardt's Chevrolet engine developed a glitch during Wednesday's final practice -- a problem that afflicted nine other drivers and will force everyone who changed engines (Earnhardt included) to the rear of the field for the start of Thursday's 150-mile qualifying races.

Despite last weekend's feel-good story, it won't be clear for some time whether NASCAR's most ballyhooed union -- Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports -- will produce the slew of victories that so many fans feel the sport's most popular driver deserves.

Until then, every move Earnhardt makes in his new No. 88 Chevy, as well as every hiccup in his engine, will dominate the sport's headlines.

There's a tremendous amount riding on Earnhardt's decision to part ways with the team founded by his late father, the seven-time champion who was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, and join the most successful, well-funded team in stock-car racing.

NASCAR's slide in TV ratings has coincided with Earnhardt's nearly two-year absence from Victory Lane, and few think it's coincidental.

"Junior has had two mediocre years back to back," NASCAR team owner Felix Sabates noted. "If Dale Junior does have a good year, you'll have a lot of fans come back to the sport because he's doing well."

Earnhardt doesn't give himself that much credit.

"The sport don't ride on my shoulders," he said after his victory in the Shootout. "If we weren't here tomorrow, there's guys in this sport that would carry the sport to wherever it goes, and it would continue to do great things."

But he knows his own future likely rides on his decision to leave the cocoon of the family team, even if family dynamics were less than ideal.

Until last week, the 33-year-old driver had never competed for a car owner he wasn't related to.

There were advantages, to be sure, in having a stock-car racing pedigree. For plenty of races, Earnhardt had a front-row seat for studying his dad, NASCAR's "Intimidator" and the best, many believe, to ever wheel a stock car. When it came time to try his hand at the sport, Dale Jr. had the benefit of his father scrutinizing his racecar, making sure it was safe and good enough, if handled properly, to get the youngster to Victory Lane. And when Dale Jr. was ready to try NASCAR's big leagues, corporate sponsors flung money his way.

Even after his father's death, and relations with his stepmother grew increasingly strained, Earnhardt knew he was set for life as long as he stayed at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

"Being that I was the son of the guy that built the place, when my dad was around and even after, I never had to worry about my job," Earnhardt Jr. conceded. "I basically could act and do and say and go along as I pleased because of the family connections."

But all those advantages also proved a burden of sorts. For those not born with a famous last name, it's hard to imagine what's so tough about being Eli Manning, Ivanka Trump or Dale Earnhardt Jr. But the question invariably lurks: Is the child's success his own or a byproduct of a fortunate birth?

In Earnhardt's case, there was also a ready excuse as his on-track performance declined last season. Insiders said Dale Earnhardt Inc. wasn't investing enough in research and development. Anyone could see his engines weren't standing up to the punishment of 500-mile races. And the gulf between car owner and driver, stepmother and stepson, was evident.

"I think it was a huge risk, and it took a lot of nerve for me to make that first decision and to get out there in the real world," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I've always talked about trying to get credibility and [having] people respect you and whatnot. By putting yourself out on a limb here, it's hopefully going to get me some of that -- especially if we can perform and get the job done that everybody thinks we should get done."

Notes: Ten drivers changed engines after Wednesday's final practice after engineers found problems. All will move to the rear of the field for Thursday's races. Those drivers: all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers (Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears and Earnhardt Jr.); two of three drivers with Joe Gibbs Racing (Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin); Clint Bowyer, Scott Riggs, A.J. Allmendinger and J.J. Yeley. Johnson, who won the pole for Sunday's Daytona 500, will get to keep his top starting spot for Sunday's race, however, because drivers are allowed one change between qualifying and the race.