Dale Earnhardt Jr. was asked two weeks ago if he ever daydreams about returning to Victory Lane after his two-year victory drought.
"Yeah, I've daydreamed about that all my life," Earnhardt said.
It does seem a like a lifetime since he's been to Victory Lane after a Sprint Cup race. For the record, it's been 101 races, or since June 2008.
Earnhardt vividly remembers being in Victory Lane that day at Michigan International Speedway — his first win with Hendrick Motorsports.
He probably also vividly remembers the one that got away that year.
It looked like his first victory with Hendrick was going to come at one of his favorite tracks. He held the lead with two laps remaining that April at Richmond International Raceway when Kyle Busch came calling.
Busch and Earnhardt were racing side by side for the lead when Busch got into the left rear quarter panel of Earnhardt's car, sending his No. 88 Chevy spinning and crashing into the outside wall.
While Busch and Earnhardt Jr. both wrecked, Clint Bowyer sneaked beneath them for a surprising victory.
Meanwhile, the wrath of Junior Nation poured down on Busch, who truly feared for his safety as the boisterous pro-Junior crowd voiced its displeasure.
They weren't the only ones shocked and appalled by Busch spinning out NASCAR's most popular driver just when it looked like he was about to reach a milestone with his first win for Hendrick, his first in two years and his first since his ugly breakup with his stepmom, Teresa, and Dale Earnhardt Inc.
"No, no, no," FOX analyst Darrell Waltrip yelled when the incident unfolded. "Boy, I tell you what, that ain't going to go over too good," Waltrip said. " . . . I love that little boy to death, but that was not a good move right there."
Busch sheepishly tried to defend himself as boos rained down on him on pit road.
"We were both racing hard and it looked like he came down a little bit," Busch said. "I probably could have moved down a little lower getting into the corner and he probably could have moved up higher. It's just a product of good, hard racing. I apologize to those guys."
What made the incident even more compelling was that Busch had been released by Hendrick Motorsports to make room for Earnhardt, who signed a lucrative contract with the organization after announcing he was leaving DEI.
Busch later signed a multiyear contract with Joe Gibbs Racing and went on to win eight races in his first year with his new team.
Immediately after the incident at Richmond, a crewman from Earnhardt's Hendrick team — and a former crewmen for Busch — confronted Busch on pit road with some heated words for his former teammate.
"For us to go on the way we have since this has all gone on, it has nothing to do with any of that stuff," Busch said.
A dejected Earnhardt warned Busch he might need extra security while exiting the track.
"Whether it was fair or not, he's gonna need some security from all of us," Junior said.
But, in his typical classy manner, Earnhardt took the high road and declined to blame Busch for the incident.
"I was not good on the bottom (of the track) so I moved up," Earnhardt said. "He gave me room on the outside off of (Turn) 2 so I would say that it was not intentional. We had been racing each other earlier and had no problems . . . I guess he just got loose underneath me.
"The worst part is I've been priding myself on running good all year and was in position for a win and I ran hard and got wrecked. I had a top-three car and should have finished in the top three, but I wound up on the hook. It's disappointing."
In hindsight, it was a more pivotal moment and bigger disappointment than he could even imagine at the time. Though he won at Michigan in June, that victory came in a fuel mileage race where pit strategy and circumstances determined the outcome.
Earnhardt has not won since and has yet to win a race for Hendrick in which he led a significant portion of the race and outrun the top contenders for the win.
His best chance to stop the winless streak could come this weekend at Richmond, where he has three career victories, tied with teammate Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart for most among active drivers.
But to win, Junior likely will have to deal with Busch again. Busch has won two of the past four races at Richmond, and Gibbs teams have swept the Cup races there the past two years.
To win again, Busch might find himself racing Earnhardt for the lead.
Will Earnhardt remember the 2008 incident and enact revenge?
Probably not. Earnhardt doesn't race that way. He had a chance to rough up Kevin Harvick for a win at Martinsville a few weeks ago but instead settled for second and said afterward, "I don't wreck people on purpose . . . I don't have a history of doing that."
For many, one of the most disappointing outcomes of the Richmond incident is that Busch and Earnhardt Jr. didn't develop a lingering feud or rivalry.
The circumstances were ripe for it. Busch had been released by Hendrick and replaced by Earnhardt. Naturally, there were some hard feelings and awkwardness.
Busch, at the time, was developing into the sport's chief villain and one of its most hated drivers, while Earnhardt Jr. was/is the ultimate good guy.
A feud between the two could have sparked a natural rivalry, producing a compelling storyline and a boon for the sport.
Instead — thanks to both drivers taking the high road — it quickly fizzled and the two drivers have had little contact and no problems with each other since.
Could Saturday night's race produce another opportunity for some drama between the two?
Possibly.
Like Earnhardt, we can at least daydream about it.
