Earnhardt

Get while the getting's good. Strike while the iron is hot. Get them before they get you.

Those may be clichés, but for Dale Earnhardt Jr., they illustrate where he's at right now as he hopes to continue his recent string of strong starts and finishes.

For much of 2002, with the exception of his April win at Talladega, Ala., Earnhardt's season has been fair at best. Certainly it has not been what fans of the No. 8 Chevrolet expected after his previous two years on the Winston Cup circuit.

But with the way Earnhardt has performed in recent weeks -- winning the pole and finishing 10th at Michigan, and starting on the outside pole and finishing third last Saturday night at Bristol, Tenn. -- don't be surprised if his momentum continues in Sunday's Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C.

If anything, Earnhardt could be in the midst of mounting a late-season surge. The 25th race on the schedule, the Southern 500 marks the start of the final third of the campaign. His finish at Bristol lifted Earnhardt one spot in the standings for the second straight week. He now sits 15th, 65 points behind teammate Michael Waltrip and 224 points behind 10th-place Jeff Burton.

Elliott Digs Darlington

As he prepares for his 100th career race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn't the only driver hitting a milestone in Sunday's Southern 500. Bill Elliott, who is enjoying his best season in years, will make his 50th career start at Darlington. While the egg-shaped oval has the reputation as one of the toughest tracks on the circuit, Elliott has been able to tame it. Elliott leads all active drivers with five poles there -- including the first of his career in 1981 -- and also shares the lead for most wins among active drivers with Jeff Gordon, each driver having won five times. But wait, there's more: Elliott leads all modern-era drivers in top-fives (20) and top-10s (32) at Darlington, with an average finish of 9.16, also tops. And it was also at Darlington that Elliott won the first Winston Million bonus in 1985 for winning the Daytona 500, Winston 500 at Talladega and the Southern 500, earning him the nickname of "Million Dollar" Bill. "(Winning the Million) was a pretty big deal back then," Elliott said. "It was the first time that it was done and that created a lot of excitement about it. Things got a little out of hand leading up to the race but we kind of got them under control by the time we got to Darlington, the media and all the attention. We just tried to concentrate on the car and doing what we needed to do. It's definitely a highlight in my career and one people still seem to talk about." It's no surprise Elliott is one of the few drivers who actually like Darlington. Still, Elliott knows Darlington can be graceful one day and a mean old cuss the next. "Darlington can be tough," said Elliott, who in his last two starts there finished 10th in March and fifth in last year's Southern 500. "It helps if you've been around it a few times. "I don't know what it is, but I always seem to have better runs at the Southern. This race is one of the bigger ones on the circuit, but like I said after Indy, no one race is more important than another. We just have to keep doing what we're doing. If we do that, then we'll continue to be competitive and put ourselves in position to win races." -- Jerry Bonkowski

If Earnhardt is able to continue to capitalize when good fortune shines upon him, finishing the season in the top-10 isn't out of the question.

"The momentum is back on our side, and we're really working well as a team right now," Earnhardt said. "I think we all have stepped up and it's paying off.

"Two good runs in a row is something we haven't had since early in the season. With the way Tony (Eury Jr., car chief) and the guys are working, it should stay that way the rest of the season. The points have gotten away from us for this year, but we're going to end strong and work toward living up to the championship expectations in 2003."

Earnhardt was fifth in the standings after his win at Talladega. But as quickly as he shot up in the points, Earnhardt began a freefall through the next 13 races that dropped him as low as 17th.

It's not hard to understand why: In that 13-race stretch prior to Michigan, Earnhardt posted seven finishes of 30th or lower, including four in a row at one point. Even worse, in those same 13 races was just two top-10s and another top-20.

But with what Earnhardt and his team have been able to accomplish in the last two races, and with some of his favorite tracks still to come -- including Talladega, Richmond, Va., Dover, Del., Phoenix and Homestead, Fla. -- reaching the top-10 seems attainable.

As for the business at hand, Sunday's race at Darlington holds added significance for the young Earnhardt. Not only did he finish fourth there in March, but Sunday will mark his 100th career series start.

In the past, he may have dreaded attaining such a milestone at a track like Darlington, which has a history of bringing even the best to their knees. Perhaps more than any other track, Darlington and its odd 1.366-mile egg-shaped surface presents a variety of challenges. It's no wonder many drivers call it the hardest track to beat.

Earnhardt used to think that way, but after his showing in the spring -- including leading 10 laps late in the race -- he hopes he's lost an enemy and gained a friend.

"I used to dread going to Darlington," he said. "The people at the track even gave me a trophy for saying the surface is full of nothing but shells and garbage.

"But we have really concentrated on making the car behave the way we want it to for more than a few laps. Your tires lose grip just by rolling them across the pit lane, so the challenge is to not burn them up on the first lap or two after a pit stop when you feel like a superhero zooming past cars on old tires.

"You have to make the tires last for a full run or you can fall so far back you have no shot to win. The spring race here was our best run ever, and we were in the hunt for the win from the start to the finish. I think we learned a lot, and we'll apply that this weekend."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.