Is a new Dale Earnhardt Jr. emerging?

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I don't know about you, but I find the post-race interviews to be one of the best parts of a NASCAR race, especially when there's an incident that directly affects the race's outcome.That being said, I was somewhat surprised, maybe even dismayed a bit, by the casual comments of Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.Busch, who ticked off Junior Nation and is easily the early frontrunner for the 2008 Most Hated Driver Award, showed after Friday's Nationwide race that he doesn't like to be roughed up.Also, he will kindly return the favor, doesn't care how many cars he'll wreck in the process to settle the score (his words) and doesn't really give a whit whatsoever about having any class or respect on the race track, pit road or the garage area - basically anywhere associated with racing.So much for Kyle Busch. Now on to Junior.Through 10 races last season, the car that Junior now drives as the No. 88 had been to Victory Lane once, at Bristol, and even then the former driver got out and said the new Car of Tomorrow - in his words - "sucked." We're now 10 races into the 2008 season and, of course, Junior is winless in points races.While Kyle and Dale Jr. didn't get nasty with each other in the post-race interviews - nothing like that 1995 Bristol night race that involved Junior's dad, Rusty Wallace and a flying water bottle - the comments were telling. This one by Earnhardt stood out:"I am pretty disappointed to say the least," said the Hendrick Motorsports driver after finishing 15th. "I had a good race all night. I had a good top-three car most of the night . . . and should have finished in the top three."Does that sound like a driver more concerned about winning a race and breaking a winless streak - 72 and counting - or competing for a championship after missing out of the playoff format two of the last three seasons?Really, he needs to be worry about both.In the old days before the Chase for the Cup Championship, which began in 2004, a driver could focus on running consistently each week and be satisfied with a top-10 or top-five result rather than forcing the issue and risking valuable points while gambling for a win. Matt Kenseth won once - the third race of 2003 - on the way to his championship. Terry Labonte (1996) and Alan Kulwicki (1992) won just twice in title campaigns.But the dynamic of the system for awarding a championship has changed, and a driver needs to win if he's up front and there's an opening. Last year, Jeff Gordon led in regular-season points but trailed teammate Jimmie Johnson when the points were reset after Richmond because the Lowe's driver had two more wins through the first 26 races.Like many, I didn't expect Driver 88 to be winless at this point. With two restrictor-plate races, Atlanta, Bristol, Martinsville, Phoenix and Richmond comprising over half the schedule so far - all tracks where he's won at the Cup level - a win by now seemed like a certainty, not a stretch of the imagination."To me it is just disappointing to not get what you can get out of the race car," a composed but dejected Earnhardt said about the wreck with Kyle. "I am and have been preaching how good we have been running. We are sure happy about that."He's preaching about consistency and being third in points, not domination, especially when compared to what transpired in 2005 and 2007 when the No. 8 was often found in the garage in a race's last laps. He's not talking about overwhelming 42 drivers and sadly wondering when that terrible streak will end. He seems more concerned about the Big Picture rather than the individual pieces.Maybe it's the same old Kyle Busch, just a different Dale Earnhardt Jr.SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES: Long-time race fans will get a treat this weekend when Bill Elliott pilots the Wood Brothers No. 21 Motorcraft Ford with a very familiar paint scheme. The Fusion will be decked out in the famous colors the No. 21 Purolator Mercury carried in 1971 when David Pearson drove it. The vintage paint scheme features candy apple red colors and gold numbers.Pearson, a 10-time Darlington winner who won five times at the South Carolina track for the Wood Brothers, drove the No. 21 Mercury from the Darlington Raceway Museum in a media event with Carl Edwards last month.R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Joe Nemechek, a recent pole-winner at Talladega, has been racing at Darlington since 1994, and offers some good advice."Let's be realistic: If you don't have the right amount of respect for Darlington Raceway, you're going to take some hard licks. It can be a beast, but at the same time it's a fun place to race at because of its personality and degree of difficulty. The track has always been a challenge and we'll see how the newly-paved surface plays out," the Lakeland native said.(Bill Whitehead writes for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. E-mail him at wwhitehe(at)ircc.net.)