iNSIDE SCOOP: Gee, Ain't It Funny...

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins, things happen.

Sales go up, there's a good positive vibe in the air and Junior Nation, that fickle, lovable band of crazies who support their man to the ends of the earth, faces the day with a big smile on their faces.

I'm sure it happens that way when Kyle Busch wins a race, too...it doesn't? Well, that makes sense.

Dale Junior winning gives hope to the masses that maybe, just maybe, he can win it all this year. The last year we had that feeling was 2004, when he was right in the thick of things at Atlanta. Unfortunately, a slip of the tongue and a bad finish the following weekend doomed that run.

There are several planets in alignment this year. It's crew chief Steve Letarte's final year on the pit box. It's the 20th anniversary of his father's seventh and last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. It's Rick Hendrick's 30th year in the sport. 

And, Junior has finally found a way to win multiple races in the same season since 2004.

If I'm at all conscious of numbers and what they might mean, I'd say the title is pointing toward the 88.

That's just a feeling. It's not like I'm on the phone to the sports book and laying down serious coin on the 88 to win the title. Just a feeling I have, that might turn out to be true.

NASCAR racing is full of confluences on a yearly basis. Dale Sr.'s Daytona 500 victory to kick off the 50th anniversary season of NASCAR is one of them, and so is Jeff Gordon's triumph in 1994 at the inaugural Brickyard 400. Not saying anything about anything, but...

It feels like that kind of year again. Junior is winning races. He seems happy, he's running well. He doesn't have that many more shots at the title remaining, in all reality. It would be good to add another title to the Earnhardt fold.

And just so you know, that would be the eighth...which also happens to be the number used by Ralph Earnhardt, Dale's dad and Junior's grandfather, and by Junior when he started in the series. 

Sorta ties it all together, huh?