Despite failing to win, what Dale Earnhardt Jr. has accomplished this season in two races at Martinsville Speedway might prove to be more important come next year then if he had sneaked into victory lane at the Virginia short track either time.

In April, Junior had a dominant race car but had his chance for victory spoiled with a run-in with a lapped-car late in the day. He bounced back, though, and finished third after leading the most laps. In doing so, he sent the message early in the season that the No. 8 Chevrolet team wasn't going to give up easily. Rather, it would scratch and claw for every position it could as it chased the championship.

On Sunday, Junior finished fourth with what was probably the second-fastest car of the day. He managed to negotiate a couple sub-par sets of tires late in the race, stay calm after a perceived NASCAR screw up could potentially have ruined his day and sent the message that -- even with his championship hopes all but dashed -- this team is no less motivated to perform and compete for the checkered.

Junior had cars capable of making it to victory lane for both races at Martinsville, but it'd be hard to say he's failed by not winning either time. He's put everyone in the Cup Series on notice that he and the rest of the No. 8 team is a lot more mature and intent on being a championship contender for a long time.

"We've worked and worked and improved little by little, and I feel like we're really gaining in areas where we need to be gaining," Junior said. "I would be really upset and disappointed if I couldn't fix something that was broken, but it seems like every time we find something or an area where we need to improve, we can improve on it and we find a way to do better there. I feel like I'm with a team that can make things happen and win championships. That was one of the things that I based my decision to (re-sign with Dale Earnhardt Inc.) on, was whether they could win the championships that I wanted to win before I retire."

Junior made a serious bid -- in fact, his first serious bid in four full seasons -- for the title this year. His friend and rival Matt Kenseth has had one of those rare, almost-every-break-goes-your-way type seasons, though, and Junior's left to fend for leftovers. He's 43 points behind Kevin Harvick for second and racing to close that gap in the final four events of the year.

	Earnhardt Jr. is currently third in the Cup standings.

"I'd like to beat Kevin for second and I would like to close on Matt, but he's going to have to have a disastrous last several races (for us to catch him) and I don't see that coming," Junior said. "We'll just take what we can get. We've got some guys that are real close behind us and we could finish as low as sixth or seventh place in the points, so we have to be very guarded and very careful not to make any foolish mistakes and be pretty aggressive at the same time to catch (Kevin)."

Even though he didn't win, Junior's fourth-place finish at Martinsville helped keep some of those guys behind him at bay. He holds a 17-point lead over Ryan Newman, a 23-point lead over Jimmie Johnson and a 63-point lead over Jeff Gordon, who won Sunday's event.

Junior said, overall, he was happy with the day, but the team will have this track circled next season hoping to finally break through and win here.

"We do well here, and I like this track, but we just can't figure how to win at this place," he said. "We've been in the top-five four straight times and the top-10 five races in a row here, but we can't seem to get that final little push to win.

"We were running second when we decided to make the last pit stop (lap 405) because we had a terrible set of tires. There was no way we were going to be able to stay up there or have any chance to win unless we came in and took that junk set off. It was the only chance we had. Then, we had a hard time getting through lapped traffic and didn't have enough green flag laps to come back."

Even if he had, Gordon was in a fast race car and would've been tough to catch had Junior managed to get by Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, who finished second and third, respectively. Plus, Junior was getting tired and didn't mind saying he was relieved the race was over when it was.

"I'm just tired," he said after the race. "It was a long day. I love this race track, it's fun as hell, but damn, it'll wear you out."

Junior was exhausted after the first race of the year at Martinsville, too. But that day, he was so pumped up about the way his team persevered and rallied for a third-place finish that he didn't show it.

"The race here earlier this year was a big one for this team," he said. "We led the most laps, but I think it was more important how we recovered from what could have been a disaster. We didn't let it get us down, we hung together as a team and fought back to third place.

	“	I feel like I've grown up a little. I don't act quite as foolish as I used to. ”
		— Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"We had fun leading for much of the day, but I think the finish really sent a message that we were a team that was going to be in the championship hunt all season. It was big day in the growth of this team."

Really, the whole year has been a big one in the growth of this team. With this 2003 campaign, Junior has officially established himself as a contender. Junior now has the confidence from his team that he'll do whatever it takes to win races. The team now has the confidence from Junior that it will work tirelessly to set him up with a rocket ship every weekend.

That, along with improved communication, has translated into a breakout season that has everyone at the shop wondering just how big next season might be.

"I feel like I've grown up a little," Junior said. "I don't act quite as foolish as I used to, but I don't know if I've gotten any better on the track. My car has gotten better. Maybe we are communicating a little better. (The team) takes me a little more seriously; they put a little more effort into what they do because of how much more seriously I take my job and what's on the line. That all kind of evolves over the years and hopefully, we continue to get better and better and better."

Rupen Fofaria is a freelance writer living in Chicago and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at rfofaria@espnspecial.com.