Win eases pressure but Earnhardt cautious about summer

BROOKLYN, Mich.

"Finally," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said after winning his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in more than two years.

Finally, his fans shouted in agreement. Finally, no more questions about the drought. Except, maybe, for this one:

OK, Junior, so when are you going to win again?

Earnhardt suggested that over the next couple of months, aside from the series' annual visit to Daytona, he might not offer his fans as much to celebrate. His best showings, he says, are more likely to come later in the season.

"The summer stretch, we've never really been smoking hot," he said. "I think I have real potential and the races specifically in the Chase are good tracks for me."

As for the summer, Earnhardt admits he's "hit or miss" at Pocono and that his goal for the upcoming two road course races - including Sunday's event at Infineon Raceway - is to score a top-10 finish, which he has never done there.

Unlike Tony Stewart, who often bunches his wins when the weather turns hot, Earnhardt's victories typically occur early and late in the year. Only three of his 18 career wins have come in June, July and August. It's been three years since he won in those months when he beat the field at Chicagoland Speedway.

Despite that limited success, Earnhardt isn't discounting anything.

"We'll see with this equipment and this opportunity... with these motors and these cars, we may turn that around and really surprise ourselves throughout the summer, but I guess I'm in a maintain mode," he said after a fuel-mileage gamble gave him Sunday's win. "I'll be really happy if I can be as consistent as I've been the first part of the season."

Earnhardt's victory was his 11th top-10 in 15 races this season. Only Carl Edwards has as many top-10 results. Earnhardt's total is one more than series points leader Kyle Busch, but Busch has three more wins.

It appears Hendrick Motor-sports is slowly closing the gap on Joe Gibbs Racing's stable of Denny Hamlin, Busch and Stewart. Jimmie Johnson led the most laps Sunday before he finished sixth.

Horsepower is pivotal at Michigan, and Johnson's performance shows that Hendrick is gaining on the Toyotas, particularly the Gibbs cars and the Red Bull Racing car of Brian Vickers, who placed fourth.

Work remains for Hendrick, though. Jeff Gordon finished 18th. He ran in the top 10 in the first half of the race but lost ground and never recovered. Teammate Casey Mears never was a factor.

Earnhardt has led the team most of the season, surprising since he's the new guy. Car owner Rick Hendrick applauds how Earnhardt and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. have seamlessly acclimated themselves to working at Hendrick Motorsports.

Hendrick admits he "never dreamed" the transition for those two would be so easy.

"We've had a lot of fun," Hendrick said.

It can keep going now that Earnhardt has scored his first points win since May 2006. No longer does he have to be asked when is he going to win that first points race. Same for Hendrick.

"Now... we can focus on running for the championship," Hendrick said. "I think this will take a little pressure off, a lot of pressure off."