Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr. not taking the same route

In the 41 Sprint Cup races since the start of the 2008 season, Kyle Busch (top)has racked up 10 wins, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (below right, with crew chief Tony Eury Jr.) has managed just one. tomorrow, 1:30 p.m., WLRH

MARTINSVILLE Can you imagine a humbled Kyle Busch?

Can you imagine a Busch who sympathizes with a troubled foe, a Busch who wins gracefully and accepts defeat without complaint.

Perhaps not.

After all, Busch did park his car and stomp away after a crew error cost him a recent Nationwide win.

But the oft-maligned Busch says he can feel Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s pain.

Earnhardt replaced Busch at Hendrick Motorsports at the start of the 2008 season. The expectation was that Earnhardt's career would take off as he drove for the powerful Hendrick team. Some wondered if Busch would even fit in with his new team, Joe Gibbs Racing.

As it turns out, Earnhardt is enduring a puzzling Sprint Cup slump. And Busch is the one whose career is soaring.

Busch has become one of NASCAR's most versatile and consistent drivers, having won 26 events in NASCAR's three touring series in 2008 and 2009. In 41 Sprint Cup starts since he started driving for Gibbs, he has won 10 times.

In those same 41 Sprint Cup events, Earnhardt has won only once.

"I'm proud of the fact that I'm outperforming a guy that replaced me," Busch said yesterday. Then, with something approaching sympathy, he added, "But that's not what this sport is all about. [Earnhardt's] got a lot of weight on his shoulders, but he's out there doing his best."

Busch pointed to the competitive pressure of trying to beat title-winning machine Johnson and the current Sprint Cup points leader Jeff Gordon.

What he didn't say is that the toughest task for any driver in a NASCAR series right now is to outrun Busch. Already this year, Busch has five NASCAR touring-series wins -- two Sprint Cup races, two truck series races, one Nationwide race.

But for all his success since he left Hendrick, Busch still feels the sting of his late-season collapse in 2008. After winning a series-best eight races during the 26-race regular season, he was never a threat during the 10-race postseason Chase for the Cup -- stumbling to the season's end while Jimmie Johnson ran away with his third straight championship.

Again this year, Busch is working to position himself to dethrone Johnson. Heading into tomorrow's Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, he's fourth in the Cup standings. In fact, if the points were reset for the Chase today, Busch and Matt Kenseth, with two victories apiece, would start the Chase as the leaders.

Meahwhile, Earnhardt has only one top-10 finish in 2009 and is 19th in points. He has not been running up front, and unless the No. 88 Chevrolet cranks it up, the sport's perennial Most Popular Driver could miss the 12-driver postseason for the third time in five seasons.

Earnhardt acknowledges the growing pressure to succeed. He offers no excuses -- no problems with engines, tires or his crew. He dismisses charges that he has been distracted by his sometimes-volatile relationship with his crew chief, cousin Tony Eury Jr.

"We haven't run well, and it is obvious," said Earnhardt.

Last June at Michigan International Speedway, Earnhardt snapped a 76-race winless streak with a victory that had more to do with fuel efficiency than speed. He hasn't won since.

Earnhardt said attention to his slump is justified.

"It is OK for people to point that out because it is a fact," he said. "I put myself in this position. I'm willing to accept the ups and downs and the goods and bads that come with it.

"We haven't run like we want to. . . . The guy that I feel bad for is Tony, Jr. because he gets criticized so badly. I would rather be crucified than him."

Busch, for his part, isn't pointing fingers at either Earnhardt or his crew chief.

"We have to look at everybody's situation as different -- and how [our situation] has just come together a little bit better than theirs for some reason," Busch said. "[Crew chief] Steve Addington and I have been working pretty well together."

While Junior Nation might be sweating it, Gordon is confident his Hendrick Motorsports teammate will snap out of his slump.

"I'm not going to count [Earnhardt] out yet," Gordon said. "I believe they're going to get it together."

Earnhardt can imagine that.

Contact Ralph N. Paulk at (804) 649-6851 or rpaulk@timesdispatch.com.