OUT OF A FUNK; Has Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned it around?(Motorsports)(Bristol Motor Speedway)

Byline: AL PEARCE

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been stinking up the joint. No ifs, ands or buts: He and his Budweiser Chevrolet team had been in a serious funk in July and August. For them, though, the new Chase for the Championship was a blessing. Instead of falling hopelessly behind, the Bud Boys stayed among the top-10 in points, the only necessary strategy for the first 26 races.

Just when it looked like their funk might linger, they shot the moon in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol. (Junior kicked 'em the night before in the Busch Series race, too.) Earnhardt led half the laps in Friday night's Busch 250, then 395 of the 500 (including the final 85) in Saturday night's Cup feature. He easily beat Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson en route to clinching a spot in the 10-race playoff for the Nextel Cup.

All of which left him as pumped as many have ever seen him. "It's Bristol, baby, and this is the biggest race of my career,'' he crowed. "I came to a lot of races here when my dad was driving. He made this place magical if you were an Earnhardt fan. I might not have done it like he did it, but it was pretty damned close. I've wanted to win here so bad. Good Lord, what a great day.''

The win-his fourth this year and 13th of his career-came with surprising ease. After all, Earnhardt qualified 30th and didn't exactly charge in the early laps. But he used slick pit strategy to reach the point at lap 64, staying out (he had pitted earlier) while virtually everyone else pitted. Once there, he didn't fade, leading in clumps of 41, 13, 125, 116, 15 and 85 laps. During one green-flag segment he lapped up to sixth before a debris caution slowed him.

"With 100 laps to go I was thinking, `Man, I hate this place,''' Earnhardt Jr. said. "But it's a love-hate relationship. You come here as a child and it puts you in awe, and you want to win so bad. It's like a lot of tracks with history, like Charlotte and places that deal nasty blows. They'll dangle it right in front of you, then deal you a nasty blow and make you wait. This has always been on my list of places to win.''

Junior had finished 22nd, 31st, 25th, 27th, fifth and 21st after running sixth at Daytona Beach in July. The swoon began the week before he was burned in an American Le Mans Series race at Sonoma in mid-July. He needed relief help in two starts and his team's performance lagged. At Indy, he said his wasn't a championship team when compared to those that can win every weekend. Maybe not, but Earnhardt will start the playoff no worse than third or fourth in points.