For much of the first half of the 2008 season, one of the hottest topics of conversation centered on when Dale Earnhardt Jr. would get back to Victory Lane. Success in the Bud Shootout and Gatorade Duel at Daytona promised an exciting and successful year for the sport's most popular driver, but once points racing came around wins were hard to come by. A close call at Richmond left Junior and his fans frustrated, but optimistic that that first points victory with Hendrick Motorsports was right around the corner.

That breakthrough win came in June as Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. used pit strategy and fuel mileage to steal the show at Michigan. Not much of a factor that day, Earnhardt Jr. was there when it mattered most.

"I am looking forward to going back," Earnhardt Jr. said of this weekend's race in Michigan. "We run pretty good and had a pretty good car. I want to make the car better. I like that race track. It is a lot of fun to race on. These cars are pretty challenging this year but that is still a fun track for me."

Last week on the road course at Watkins Glen, Earnhardt Jr. appeared to have one of the best cars in the field after starting from the second-spot. Junior led a total of thirty-three laps, before a yellow flag took the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet out of contention. Staying out on the track longer than any other leader, Junior was in the right place at the wrong time as he was one of only a few cars that pitted under the yellow.

"We are sort of starting to swing back toward the tracks that we have better runs at and we have better luck at," Earnhardt Jr. explained. "I have had some rough, rough, rough runs this summer but that seems to be the case every year. I wasn't a bit surprised that we didn't really light 'em on fire this summertime, but we will try again next year. But we are starting to lean toward these race tracks we run pretty good at and we get more top-fives with higher frequency toward last one-third of the year and we are in good shape to make a good run at it. Maybe we can start it off this weekend if we get lucky, we just need some luck."

Luck is just what this team had on its side last time the series rolled through the Irish Hills of Michigan and - as Junior points out - is what it will take again this weekend. Securely in the Chase, Junior needs to go for broke and think about nothing but winning from now until the Chase begins. With only ten bonus points - compared to Kyle Busch's eighty - Junior and the entire No. 88 team needs to step it up a notch and close the deal.