by GENE FRENETTE , Florida Times-Union

Just put Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the most famous superspeedway, and he just might transform into Superman. Or, like Popeye downing a can of spinach, he at least had a fighting chance to give race fans a glimpse of his legendary father's greatness.

Sadly, at a time when Junior is struggling mightily just to be factor on the track, he's also losing his mojo at the one venue where the No. 88 car was once a lock to be a contender.

At Daytona International Speedway, Earnhardt has somehow gone from being a sure bet to a certain wreck. At least in 2009 anyway.

It happened again Saturday night at the Coke Zero 400, where Earnhardt became caught up in a 13-car backstretch pileup midway through the race. His car went smoking off the track and into the garage, continuing a career-worst slump that has Earnhardt practically eliminated from the Chase for the Championship with eight races remaining.

While points leader Tony Stewart overtook a crashing Kyle Busch at the finish line to win in spectacular fashion, NASCAR's endorsement king was a non-factor from beginning to end. He started in the 19th position, and remained a middle-of-the-pack racer for 76 laps until the flameout.

The passionate fans who defend Earnhardt will say that he was victimized by a wreck that started when the cars of David Reutimann and David Stremme got together just beyond Turn 2. That produced a chain reaction in which the No. 88 Chevrolet got caught in the crossfire, along with the likes of David Gilliland, Reed Sorenson and Michael Waltrip.

But you see, that's the problem right there. Anyone running in the same superspeedway pack with names such as Reutimann, Stremme, Sorenson and Gilliland is not exactly in the safe zone.

If Saturday night's sequence sounded eerily familiar, just flash back to this same track in February. At the Daytona 500, Earnhardt was a full lap down and trying to beat Brian Vickers for a lucky-dog spot. And then came the wreck, which Earnhardt admitted was his fault because he was too aggressive.

There was a time when Junior came to Daytona and could race away from trouble because, well, he wasn't a football field behind the leaders. Not any more.

As a nonchalant Earnhardt said in the garage after Saturday's wreck, "If you ain't leading, you're vulnerable."

The great irony about that is Busch endured the race's most crushing blow, just as he was about the take the checkered flag.

Failure to properly block Stewart at the finish sent Busch into the wall, landing his car in Kasey Kahne's window. He went from first to 14th in one of wildest finishes in Daytona history.

There was a time when Earnhardt would have been right there at the Daytona finish line. Those days are more and more in his rearview mirror.

gene.frenette@jacksonville.com (904) 359-4540

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