As Dale Earnhardt Jr. removed his helmet following practice, the first noticeable difference was his newly grown beard.
What was perhaps more significant, however, was Junior's continual eye contact during his media interviews. Over the past two years, NASCAR’s most popular driver was more apt to shift his blue eyes to the ground rather than look directly at a reporter.
But Earnhardt's demeanor has softened since he settled in with his new crew. Headed by crew chief Steve Letarte, the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team appears to be very supportive of its driver.
Junior feels the camaraderie the team has established over the first few months will benefit the crew during adversity. Earnhardt believes Letarte is "great" about keeping the team — and the driver — on an even keel.
"He gives you the impression that when you get yourself in a hole or the car isn't quite going like you want it to go or the car isn't responding like you think it should, you get the impression that you'll get it fixed before the end of the day. As long as he doesn't fool me too many times," Earnhardt said, referring to a crew chief that tells a driver what he wants to hear and not necessarily what he needs to hear.
"He does a great job at, you know, just keeping you in the game. You're part of the puzzle, and everybody needs to be pulling in the same direction. He's good at what he does. Ain't no doubt about it."
Last season, Earnhardt never had the feeling that his former crew chief Lance McGrew "didn't want to be there" despite the bickering that occasionally occurred during the radio chatter. He felt the relationship was good and both parties wished the results had been better. Earnhardt acknowledges that being his crew chief is a real tough job and McGrew "was put in a very challenging and tough position," but handled it well.
Compared to the discouragement that Earnhardt experienced last year, he seems grateful for his new team and another chance.
Following the season-opening Daytona 500, where Earnhardt was collected in a late race incident, the No. 88 Chevrolet has put up two consistent finishes. Junior is currently 10th in the point standings compared to 15th after the first three races last year. He starts 22nd in Sunday's Jeff Byrd 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, a track where he has a win and an average finish of 11.5. It's another step in rebuilding his confidence and success
"It's the clean slate, the different personalities," Earnhardt said. "It's just such a great slate starting for this season. It's allowed me to sort of reboot a little bit. Me and Steve are getting along really good, and the environment around the garage and trailer and stuff is good. Hopefully we can maintain that.
"That's going to be the challenge really, is me and him maintaining, you know, the positive attitude, maintaining the communication and the consistency of how it's working right now. That's going to be the part that is the hardest and that will determine whether we will succeed or not, is whether we can keep that going over the entire season."
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin has watched the situation evolve since moving to the organization two years ago. Martin, who inherited Earnhardt’s former crew chief McGrew, has noticed a difference with the driver.
"Junior is well on his way to what I would call a recovery," Martin said. "It’s been a tough stretch for him. I think that he is incredibly committed this year and is feeling comfortable and confident, more confident."
Earnhardt has always been extremely forthright. He does not mince words when self-evaluating. At times, Earnhardt is far more critical of himself than are his pundits. And he knows it would be unwarranted to lay blame for his past issues solely on the team.
"The season is long," Earnhardt said. "Things don't go right. You get pissed off. You just got to get through those points when they happen, whether it be in a practice or whatever. The littlest thing, you got to be able to manage it and not let it ruin things. I have a hard time not letting things ruin my day, get pissed off at everything around me. I've always had that problem."
"I think it's realistic to be patient about your expectations," Earnhardt said. "My expectations are really the same. It's just early in the season and we got a long, long way to go."
Roush return
Roush Fenway Racing continues to flex its muscle this season as with Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle swept the top spots for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Edwards, who won the series last race at Las Vegas, continued his dominance by topping the speed chart in practice then posted a lap of 128.014 mph in qualifying.
"We've got to keep this thing rolling," Edwards said. "This is fun. The cars have just been great. For me and Greg to be up there sitting on the front row, I mean Greg motivated me. I didn’t think anybody was gonna be able to go that fast. I thought that the track had slowed down a lot more than that, so I was out there driving my heart out."
Edwards anticipates a competitive race on Sunday. With the field receiving just one set of tires for practice on Saturday, there are still many unknowns. But starting from the pole and benefiting from the first pit stall will be an advantage for Edwards.
"Racing here is gonna be very tough because everyone is the same speed," Edwards said. "It’s gonna be really tough. There are gonna be guys running up by the fence, guys on the bottom, I just hope we can stay out front. That pit stall will help. Track position is gonna be huge."
Numbers game
Say what?
Juan Pablo Montoya on the beast that is Bristol Motor Speedway:
"The thing is that it’s so different than anything that you have seen before. The place, the size and from the driving side you don’t have any time on the straights. You come out of the corner and you are going into the next one, and so on. Especially at the beginning. In the beginning you don’t even have time to look at the gauges. Everything simplifies the more you do it."
