In the postrace press conference at Martinsville, a reporter asked Dale Earnhardt Jr. if he was back, and Junior admitted that he didn’t know.
So while everybody got a rise out of Dale Jr.’s runner-up finish last week, it would be wise for them to hold off on stockpiling champagne for Junior’s next win. If recent NASCAR history is any judge, the trip to Victory Lane that everybody’s been waiting for could be a good two years away just as easily as it could come on Saturday at Texas.
This is about the worst time in NASCAR history to correspond success with wins. Jimmie Johnson’s victories on the way to a five-peat combined with Kyle Busch’s wins have created an atmosphere not seen in sports since Michael Jordan in his heyday with the Bulls. Just as there’s a distinguished list of names (Ewing, Malone, Barkley, etc.) who left the NBA sans rings because they happened to play in the same era as Jordan, there’s a similar list in Sprint Cu…