James: Dale Earnhardt Jr. a changed man this time at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. had not reached victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway in nearly 11 years. He completed a long journey home on Sunday, a distance not measured merely with a calendar.

As with most things Earnhardt, it's been measured by expectations, those he's met and the many, in his self-critical analysis, he's not. Of chances and happiness he deserved, or, again, didn't. And as usual, it was measured against the unfair standard of his late father and namesake. The seven-time series champion's legend has only grown since his death on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, and often engulfed a son who loved his dad and made the sometimes thankless decision to follow him into the family business.

On Oct. 3, 2004, then driving an iconic red No. 8 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., Earnhardt Jr. was so giddy over winning at a place his father conquered a record 10 times that he inadvertently cursed in a live post-race television interview, was fined 25 points by NASCAR and lost the points lead he had just swiped from Kurt Busch. Relegated to second place — fifth by the end of the season — he watched Busch win the first championship in the Chase for the Sprint Cup era despite capturing a career-high six wins.

A 29-year-old who had the hopes and expectations of his revered late father foisted upon him didn't fulfill his supposed destiny. It's a weight he has carried heavily, through the demise of his father's team to joining the most successful organization in modern NASCAR in Hendrick Motorsports.

Earnhardt Jr. was therefore awash in emotion again Sunday after winning the GEICO 500. It was different, but no less genuine and telling of where the man stands today.

Four days after what would have been his father's 64th birthday, when he received an autographed diecast of a car his father raced from fellow Cup driver Kevin Harvick, Earnhardt Jr. appeared to suppress tears in victory lane.

"I love when we go to victory lane because I feel like I add to his legacy there," he said later. "All I ever want to do is make him proud. I feel like when we win at those tracks where he was successful, that's exactly what we're doing."

Earnhardt Jr. earned his 24th career victory, defending the front of his draft train for 67 of 188 laps two days after he predicted the style of racing would shift. No one could or would challenge him. This new generation of Sprint Cup car would not produce the type of passing of its predecessors on restrictor plate tracks, he predicted, and he exploited the new reality perfectly in winning for the first time since 2004 at Talladega Superspeedway, tying Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon with six wins at the 2.66-mile Alabama track.

Earnhardt Jr. didn't vault into the points lead, but he did something nearly as important, virtually assuring himself a position in this iteration of the Chase as a race winner. He could return in the fall in his No. 88 Chevrolet racing for a championship and take another step toward that supposed destiny.

Earnhardt Jr.'s victory in Talladega in 2004 came with his uncle, Tony Eury Sr., as crew chief for a team created for him and his sister, Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, to learn the family business. She is now general manager of the JR Motorsports Xfinity Series team they co-own. Times were still good in 2004, but would stay that way for just three more years before Earnhardt Jr. left amid diminishing performance and acrimony with his step-mother and owner Teresa. DEI was absorbed by other teams and effectively vanished. Earnhardt Jr. won the faith of team owner Rick Hendrick, who in 2008 added NASCAR's 11-time most popular driver to a lineup that has won a record 11 championships at the sport's highest level.

PHOTOS: Behind the wheel with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Self-doubts over his worthiness mounted as he endured a 143-race winless streak, but Earnhardt Jr. has appeared to blossom later in his career, finishing fifth in 2013, and winning four races despite finishing eighth in points last season. In his most recent trip to Talladega, Earnhardt Jr. needed a win to advance to the next round of the NASCAR playoffs and failed.

"There's just not many second chances," he said. "I feel like if my name wasn't Earnhardt that I wouldn't have had the second chance. I feel like I owe my second chance to my dad, his legacy, because the way I ran from '09 through those years till 2011 or so, I feel I didn't deserve to be kept around or hung onto."

Hordes of Earnhardt fans didn't seem to mind the wait Sunday. They stood by their seats for most of his passes for the lead and many lingered long after the checkered flag at a place where he is a favorite son and his father was a folk hero. They had adored the capricious Junior after he won his fifth race in 10 tries here when he assessed his win by yelping: "It don't mean (expletive) right now. Daddy's won here 10 times."

And they adored the introspective 40-year-old, with the red beard but the same glint in his eye. And maybe the hint of a tear.

Follow James on Twitter @brantjames

PHOTOS: 2015 GEICO 500 at Talladega