The last time Dale Earnhardt Jr. was on a track similar to Kansas Speedway, he found himself trying to muscle his car without any power steering. That was at Chicagoland Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval drivers say is most like the track at Kansas.

While hoping for an easier effort, Earnhardt Jr. thinks his Chicago race signals good things for him and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team heading into this weekend’s LifeLock 400 at Kansas.

“I felt like we had a car that could win at Chicago until the power steering went out, so maybe we’ve got that figured out, and we can take it to the finish here,” he said. “I was really happy to get a third-place at Dover. After deserving to give this team and DEI a great finish so many times this year only to see something happen to take it away from us, it feels good to me to be able to get it done - even if we really should have been seventh or eighth.”

With crew chief Tony Eury Jr. leaving the team after the Oct. 7 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, Earnhardt Jr. said the team is feeling the pressure to win before he leaves. He has won at least one race every year since 2000, but has not been to victory lane this season.

Earnhardt Jr. has never won at Kansas, either. In six starts at the track, he has three top-10 finishes, including a best showing of sixth in 2002.

“It’s even more urgent we get after it this week since Tony Jr. is leaving after Talladega,” the driver said. “We need to close out his career at DEI with a big ‘W.’ The law of averages seems to be on our side now: If we continue to run in the top-five week after week after week, we’re bound to win one before the season ends. … We’re loaded for bear to get a win.”

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