Earnhardt Jr. close to breaking drought

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Eleven top- 10 finishes. Second place in the Sprint Cup standings.

That’s an impressive start to the season for any driver, but for Dale Earnhardt Jr., it only makes the question more persistent: When will he finally win again?

“I feel like we’re getting real close,” Earnhardt said. “We’ve been really competing well and been competitive every week, at every track, and that feels really good to say.”

Earnhardt is back at Michigan International Speedway for this weekend’s 400- mile race — four years after he won at this same track. He’s without a victory in 143 Cup races since, and all the steady consistency in the world isn’t going to take the attention off that ugly streak.

Last weekend at Pocono, Earnhardt led 36 laps in his No. 88 Chevrolet and had it positioned as the car to beat until crew chief Steve Letarte made a call for a late stop for gas instead of trying to stretch the fuel to the end. Earnhardt finished eighth. He supported the call and said he’d take a top10 finish any time over running out of gas.

“I knew that we weren’t doing the popular thing by pitting and taking the fuel,” Earnhardt said.

Earnhardt says he’s fine with the questions about his winless drought because at least people still care and are paying attention to him.

“It hasn’t been that incessant,” he said. “If you weren’t asking that kind of question I would be a little worried.”

Other drivers are certainly aware of Earnhardt’s dry spell.

“I feel if you go four months, it’s tough enough,” Jeff Gordon said. “I think it all depends on the expectations.”