With four top ten finishes in his first nine races and currently fourth in Sprint Cup points, there is significant evidence that this could be a turn around season for NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Though he continues to suffer through a 102 race winless streak, spanning from July 15, 2008, the driver of the #88 Amp Energy Chevy appears to be back on the right track where victory will only be a matter of time.

  A product of or root cause of Earnhardt’s improved success appears to be a change in demeanor. While many factors could attribute to such a change, one need look no further than the garage to gauge its origins.

  This season, Crew Chief Steve Letarte made the move to Earnhardt’s pit box after holding the same position with Jeff Gordon for the past five years. And helping drivers out of losing streak is nothing new to Letarte. After all it was he who crewed Gordon out of his 66 race winless streak, the longest of his career.

  But according to Hendrick motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, Letarte’s means to a cure involves much more than a mechanical approach.

  “I think a big factor in their consistency, in the confidence that I see in Dale Jr. today, is the chemistry between he and Steve,” Johnson said. “This sport is about people. We always say that.”

  NASCAR legend Kyle Petty agrees. “What Stevies done for him is helped his head a lot,” Petty said. “Even if they don’t get the finish they want, Stevie’s good enough to make him feel good about the finish that he had. So I think he’s more comfortable with what he’s doing on the racetrack. He seems like he’s alleviated some of that pressure to have to win, win, win, win, win.”

  In Petty’s opinion, Letarte has helped Earnhardt come to terms with his racing situation. “I think it’s allowed Junior to be a lot more honest about where he’s at,” Petty said. “He runs second at Martinsville and he said ‘honestly we had a sixth or seventh place car, Stevie just put us in a place where we could race at the end’. That was honest. He didn’t have a winning race car. But he’s honest enough he can sense that now so I just think he’s in a better place in his head.”

  Still, Earnhardt’s problems are far from cured. “I am happy to be consistent but we still have another step to go,” he said indicating that outcomes at some tracks could have been better.

  Without a doubt, no sports figure in history has been faced with the relentless pressure of Dale Earnhardt Jr. With a racing father who was nearly deified by his followers, Junior has been saddled with the ever-growing expectations of the Earnhardt name.

  “To me, his story is one of the hardest saddest stories in racing,” Petty said. “Let’s just say (if) his name is Jimmie Johnson. There’d be no expectations. He could just go drive a race car and he could do what he wanted. But what happens is all those people in the grandstands they point all their hopes and dreams, their expectations, their dreams, where they want to be rides on his shoulders.

  “I think he feels that now where 10 years ago he didn’t feel it,” Petty added. “I think all of the stuff he went through with Teresa (Earnhardt) and all that stuff that kind of hurt his feelings as much as anything. He’s a shy guy and a fairly sensitive guy too, he can’t just slough things off like that.”

  Many people believe if anyone knows what it is like to walk in Junior’s shoes it would be Petty, the son of the King of NASCAR, but Kyle says that is not so. “I don’t understand him,” he said. “We’re both the same from the aspect that both our fathers were great race car drivers.” Beyond that, Petty said there is little comparison as far as pressure. “The times, media wise and public wise are so different,” he said. “When I started there were like 30,000 coming to Richmond and 15,000 to a place like North Wilkes-Barer.

  “I think the media pressure and the hype of where he’s at is totally different,” Petty added. “He and I have talked a lot during the years about a lot of stuff but I told him, I can’t fathom what you go through. On my level there wasn’t anything near that.

  “That’s why I say if his name was Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon he would be a lot better race car driver,” Petty said. “I believe that. He’s a good race car driver, but the other stuff makes him not a good race car driver.”

  Though Earnhardt has shown consistency and improvement this year, the question remains whether the added pressure will forge a diamond or eventually break him. “I don’t have time to be worried about anything else other than just trying to keep it going,” he said. “So, it’s a lot of pressure to try and keep going and try to keep up the expectations that everybody has for you.”