Why a clock holds so much meaning for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — As a child, Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced in the shadow of a grandfather clock.
On a small circular rug next to one of his famous father's trophies from Martinsville Speedway, Earnhardt would hold imaginary races with Matchbox cars while listening to NASCAR races on the radio. The clock would chime on the hour as Earnhardt's cars went round and round on the rug.
When he grew up, Earnhardt always craved a clock of his own.
He came close, but never won in 29 previous starts at NASCAR's smallest track until his time finally arrived Sunday, when he shook off the disappointment of being eliminated from the playoffs one week ago to score a victory in the Goody's Headache Relief 500.
Earnhardt jumped for joy again and again in a massive group hug with his team after what he called a "very personal" win. He could hardly stop smiling or talking about the celebration that was about to take place at his house or where he might put the clock once it arrived.
On the way to the media center for a postrace interview, he stopped by a concession stand to tell the workers he got a clock.
"I'm going to put it somewhere where I see it every day," he said. "I want to put it just inside the front door where you got to walk around the damn thing when you come in the house, but (girlfriend Amy Reimann) probably won't let me set it there."
Wherever he puts it, the chimes will serve as one of the lasting memories of a year filled with both elation and unexpected disappointment for Earnhardt, who has as many wins this season (four) as in the previous nine years combined.
He won the Daytona 500 and swept the races at Pocono Raceway, carrying high hopes into the Chase for the Sprint Cup. But the team didn't perform in the second round, which resulted in early elimination.
All that was left entering the final four events was to win a race in hopes of salvaging some good feelings for a tight-knit team losing crew chief Steve Letarte to a TV job after this season.
"Hopefully when I'm at his house having a cold one, we'll listen to the chime 10 years from now and smile," Letarte said.
The victory served as a reminder to the rest of the crew — which is staying together after Letarte leaves — that it's still capable of one day achieving everything it hoped during a regular season filled with confidence.
Earnhardt has his most wins and top-five finishes (12) since 2004, and it seemed like the Daytona victory was the start of what could be a magical year. But the heartbreak of Chase elimination meant the 40-year-old would have to wait at least another year for his first championship.
"I don't believe in fairy tales," he said. "It's only magical after the fact when you see it happen. It just wasn't our year, man."
It wasn't just Earnhardt who had an emotional reaction to Sunday's win. Team owner Rick Hendrick arrived in Martinsville on the 10-year anniversary weekend of the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash that killed 10 people, including Hendrick's son, brother and two nieces.
"I could feel how important it was to him and his embrace when he would hug me (in victory lane)," Earnhardt said. "You just know when there's a genuine hug and there's a hug. His was the real deal."
Having suffered a high-profile loss of his own — Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed in a last-lap crash at the 2001 Daytona 500 — Earnhardt said he can relate to the 10th anniversary. Part of it is a celebration of the lives lost, he said; but the other is a painful reminder of a hole that can never be filled.
"Losing my dad was difficult," he said. "I can't imagine that loss that he went through, his family went through, the whole organization. All those people at one time. It just has to be unbelievable to have to deal with that."
Letarte said it was no coincidence that Hendrick drivers are all strong at Martinsville because of what a victory here means to the company.
And runner-up Jeff Gordon said all drivers know "it's not easy on (Hendrick)" to even come to the track. "It puts extra pressure on us at Hendrick Motorsports when he's here to get that win because it's a way to really pay tribute," he said. "It's the ultimate way you can do it."
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