Talking to reporters after Dale Earnhardt Jr. win in Michigan, his crew chief, Steve Letarte, whether Letarte was relieved or glad that the four-year winless Earnhardt in the band was finally complete.

"Both", Letarte said.

NASCAR, probably feels the same way that it is very popular Earnhardt ended lines of the 143 races in which he was unable to reach victory lane. Although the reigning Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart, who finished second in the Earnhardt on Sunday, said that "this is not a national holiday," which Earnhardt won again, this is not bad news for either the prime stock car racing series.

Just at the growing popularity of NASCAR in recent years has leveled off in one of the many theories for the rollback that the legion of Earnhardt fans rose to the disappointment of not seeing the driver in the dispute.

This year, though, Earnhardt was strong in almost all the 15 races so far. He has 12 top-10 finishes than any driver, and it is the second in the standings championship title, just four points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

Proven ability to Earnhardt, to win again, along with his hopes of a strong name, can give new impetus to NASCAR, which is still suffering from poor attendance at many tracks, and whose TV ratings are off about 5% on average this year.

"You know that when the younger defeated it will be great for the sport," said Jeff Gordon, four-time Cup champion and teammate Earnhardt Hendrick Motorsports at the address.

It is difficult to overestimate the popularity of 37-year-old Earnhardt, son of the late Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR legend revered who won seven championships.

Earnhardt Jr. regularly receives the loudest applause during the administration of prerace driver, and when his Chevrolet № 88 in the lead in the race, he is cheering from the stands, which can be heard roaring cars.

"I know there was a lot of people who were happy today," said Earnhardt children of the nation. "I can say - I felt the fans."

Previous Earnhardt victory also came at Michigan International Speedway in 2008, and this year he received a berth in the 10-race NASCAR Chase for the Cup playoff title, but finished last among the 12 contenders Chase.

After missing Chase in 2009 and 2010, Earnhardt made the playoffs again last year, but finished seventh.

"There were a couple of two or three years ago when we were far from competitive," said Earnhardt. "I was the driver."

During the lull that his fans, he added, "would like to know why we were not competitive and they wondered what was missing. But they never doubted me."

With 19 wins in his career, Earnhardt has not won more than one race in a season since 2004. But his second chance this year are strong, especially in three weeks, when the series moves to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, where he won twice.

"It feels good to win, and I enjoy it", Earnhardt said after the race of Michigan, "and in a day or two I'll be craving the next."