The streak stands at two years, but junior knows 'It will happen'

RICHMOND

JIMMIE JOHNSON, a winner 34 times along NASCAR's thunder road, paused Friday to ponder what for him is the unponderable: a two-year separation from his beloved checkered flag.

"With all the success we've had, it would be really tough," Johnson said after practice for tonight's Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.

"I can imagine how difficult that would be to go multiple seasons - shoot, a career for that matter," he said. "Some guys have been putting in their time for a long, long time and don't have a win. So I've been very fortunate."

You think? Johnson has won the past two Cup series championships. He crossed the finish line first 10 times last year. He won at Phoenix last month.

Winning is what makes the competitive sports world spin - NASCAR racin' down to chicken wing eatin' - and Johnson's got his head, hand and driving foot firmly on that pulse.

In that context, a certain famous son who shares the super-duper-megawatt Hendrick team with Johnson and Jeff Gordon has flat-lined. The same guy who moves the most officially licensed product and who totally owns the "most popular driver" fan vote.

That would be Dale Earnhardt Jr., who - repeat after me, race fans - last won a Cup race two years ago this week, when the boys braked in Richmond and Junior emerged as the best.

Since then Earnhardt, 33, has exited the team that bears his late father's name. He has broadened his reach as a businessman, endured a tortured '07 - "That was horrible, the whole year," he said - and positioned himself better than ever, in his opinion, to win.

But that winless clock just keeps ticking... with irony.

"I feel like I'm in a better place," Earnhardt said of his new team, "so I got a better shot every week."

That's hardly whistling down the backstretch, too. True to his comfort level and confidence, Earnhardt this year has notched seven top-10 finishes, including a runner-up. He's third in Chase points. Only Johnson has led more laps, 412 to Earnhardt's 401.

The words "any day now" are custom-fitted for such nonsensical circumstances. And "any day" could very well be tonight, which is one thing that does makes sense because Earnhardt has historically done well at this 3/4-mile oval.

That said, winning a NASCAR race is one of the most formidable and fickle challenges offered by pro sports. That is to say, it's a serious back-breaker. It takes a massive collision of talent, teamwork, luck and, for shame, sometimes the hidden, seconds-shaving, how'd-that-get-there? gizmo under the hood or back fender.

"You can count on both hands how many times you felt like you had the fastest car and didn't win," said Denny Hamlin, who has won once this year and is fourth in the points. "A lot of people feel that way. The fastest car maybe wins one out of every three races, realistically. There's just so much more that goes into it than that guy's out there and he's gotta be better than the next guy."

Tell Junior about it.

"I don't want to be thinking of how long it's been since a win," Earnhardt said earlier this week. "Knowing we have a shot at it every week and something or another happens can make it frustrating. We couldn't be doing anything different to prepare....

"It will happen."

And soon, the 18th checkered flag in Earnhardt's career, right? Answer that with another question: Considering how well his No. 88 Chevy is humming, how can it not?

"I can't wait to just have that celebration we're gonna have in Victory Lane," Earnhardt said, not quite salivating - but almost.

"It's gonna be so much fun."

Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com