A 'fortunate' son; After winning race to honor his father, Earnhardt knows there's hard work ahead

After all the good vibes that came out of Daytona last week for him, you'd think NASCAR racing's most popular driver would be more upbeat heading into the Sprint Cup race tonight at Chicagoland Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke a personal drought by winning the Nationwide race in a No. 3 Chevy honoring his legendary father, and then finished fourth in a crash-riddled Cup race. It was his fourth straight top-11 finish, and it moved him up to 11th in the jockeying for NASCAR's season-ending 12-man Chase.

Far from celebrating, Earnhardt left Daytona apologizing for being lucky rather than good. And he wasn't lifting off that stance as he stood outside his hauler Friday in Joliet.

''I just know right from wrong, I guess,'' he said. ''We need to get better. We didn't have a good car last weekend. We were real fortunate to finish where we did. We'd have been lucky to get into the top 20 if they hadn't all crashed out. That ain't good.''

Even sneaking into the Chase left him sounding more worried than encouraged.

''If you go by the points, we're about the 11th-best team in the sport -- and that'd be slightly generous,'' he said. ''I'm nervous about losing points and not making the Chase. Everybody hates to fail. People are saying we have to think about Pocono and Watkins Glen and a couple of other tracks. We need to not take any track for granted. We need to approach them all with the feeling that they're all as dangerous as the others as far as how it could affect us in the Chase.''

His jaw set, Earnhardt vowed to keep working at it, beginning tonight in Joliet, and said his crew was just as determined.

''I haven't run that good here lately,'' said Earnhardt, who has finished no higher than 15th at Chicagoland the last three years. ''I've been working really hard with Lance [McGraw, his crew chief], trying to free it up as much as possible. I ain't really worried about qualifying. I'm just trying to get the car where I feel like it should race good.''

That's been a surprisingly difficult struggle for Earnhardt for a long time.

When he joined Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson at Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, there was talk of a super team, but Earnhardt hasn't added much, hasn't enjoyed the success that was envisioned for him. He finished 12th in the points that year, and 25th last season.

He hasn't won a Cup race since Michigan in June 2008. That's a 75-race winless stretch, a big burden for stock-car racing's biggest star. And the lack of success is a big reason he's so edgy.

Danica Patrick, who also faces weighty expectations, offered some insight into the pressure faced by Earnhardt, co-owner of the Nationwide car she drives.

''I've been dealing with this for a while,'' said Patrick, IndyCar's most popular driver. ''He's been dealing with this for a long time. It becomes a way of life. Any time it gets bad, you have to remember how lucky you are, that you have fans all around you all the time rooting you on. On those tough days, you have to remember that.''

With all of Earnhardt's fretting, all of his references to danger and frustration, it would seem natural if he compared notes with Patrick, who also knows the glare of relentless public scrutiny. But Junior hasn't gone there.

''Haven't talked to her since New Hampshire,'' he said. ''She's got a crew chief. I don't need to talk to her. I got my own set of damn problems to deal with.''

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