Promising to punch in, go to work

CONCORD, N.C. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaned to the edge of his chair, his expression finally brightening beyond dour underneath that red beard.

After several sober minutes of dissecting what had gone so completely wrong with his 2009 Sprint Cup season, his thoughts had led him back to the glory days, back when racing was about he and his family and the birth of a legend as a two-time Nationwide Series champion.

He was making his father happy, becoming a hero to the boys on the crew and counting money in bundles after cashing $180 checks working at a dealership not so long before.

Those were, as they say, the days.

If only there had been a formula for it all, he could try and start over now. But things are a lot more complicated now.

“I remember that, in '98-99. I look back on those years and go, 'How in the hell did I skirt through that and win those championships?' I was just clueless about what the hell was going on around me. I had no idea," he recalled, grinning, amazed.

"I was at the circus every day. It was awesome. It was fun.

"There was everything. Awesome damned race car, crew guys loving me. It was a circus. But you're a kid. Now you're all grown up and (stuff) ain't like that anymore."

The circus remains despite a decided downturn in on-track glory, with fans mobbing his every move at a preseason fan fest at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, little girls sitting on tires begging for autographs, a girl named Lisa thrusting a homemade jar of apple butter into his hands.

There is the sense, though, that NASCAR's most popular driver cannot enjoy one without the other.

So he's vowed to be "ruthless from the very first lap" as he attempts to improve on a 25th-place points finish, a career worst in a decade as a full-time competitor. And he's vowed to be better at his job, even when it's not very enjoyable.

"Racing at the Cup level has always been a job. It always will be," he said.

"Racing was a lot of fun at the Late Model ranks. It was a lot of fun in the (Nationwide) Series, but we were young and naive then. Age has a lot to do with it.

"You get older you're not as stupid and naive. You got a lot more (stuff) to worry about, whether it be mortgage or marriage or whatever. You got a lot of things to worry about that for lack of a better way to explain it takes a little bit of the fun out of life."

The seasons Earnhardt has had the last five years will do that to a driver, especially one with a history and expectation of success.

Since winning a career-high six races and finishing fifth in points in 2004, he's won just three races and failed to qualify for the Chase three times. A highly public switch to NASCAR's most successful team yielded even more scrutiny and pressure.

"You're expected to win over here. The expectations are through the roof," said his cousin and former crew chief Tony Eury Jr. in 2008. Earnhardt knows he has three seasons to make things right.

"My main goal really is to get to the end of the contract and Rick feel in his heart that he was glad he did this,” Earnhardt said, “(that) he was glad we worked together and he has some tangible reasons for that, (that) he has trophies and wins and has made a profit."

Great energy is seemingly being expended to elevate Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolets to that level. The process began with great pain for Earnhardt with the removal of Eury Jr. as his crew chief early last season and Lance McGrew's elevation to the job.

Though McGrew had overseen JR Motorsports' first Nationwide Series win with Mark Martin in 2008, Earnhardt said he was unsure of his style as a crew chief, and admitted he had struggled to come to terms with Eury Jr.'s "movement."

"I was pretty stricken about how things were going and was in no position to really cast any kind of judgment on him or what was happening," Earnhardt said. "Even when we were kind of talking about making all these changes, I was like, 'I don't want to be a part of it. You got thousands of smart people working for you, Rick. Y'all figure it out. I don't want to be part of Tony Jr.'s ... 'movement.'

"And I don't want to be part of his replacement. I just want (to) show up and be confident with whatever's there, make the team better."

Earnhardt said he's unlikely to change much as a driver after 11 seasons and 18 wins at NASCAR's highest level, though he vowed to be more aggressive. Key, however, is re-energizing a shop, making everyone there believe that Earnhardt can keep up with teammates Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon.

Just a small, intangible change might do it, though, Martin said.

"I think for (Earnhardt's) sake and for Hendrick's sake both, things have to get better than they were last year," Martin said.

"If they only make minor progress in the performance side, and they have the opposite kind of racing luck than they had, they will have a Chase-making and very, very, very respectable season. ... In other words, they don't have to make a huge jump in performance if they can just get that monkey off their back. ...

"Nobody has got the horseshoe forever either. It goes both ways. And certainly Dale, Jr. is due for some good days."