Tough business, this racing deal.

Never mind the ever-increasing travel, a schedule that seems to expand every year, and the inherent dangers that lurk around every turn from Daytona to Dover.

Think of another sport that boasts a losers-to-winners ratio of 42 to one.

Every week there’s one triumphant winner standing in a corporately sponsored victory circle, baptizing the by-standers with Gatorade before diving from the roof of his car into a mosh pit of nattily uniformed crew members.

Around the corner, the second-place finisher regales a television audience of millions and a sea of tape recorders with a well-rehearsed ode to the company whose name is emblazoned across the chest of his firesuit and the ubiquitous “boys back at the shop.”

Rarely does the pasted-on smile mask that driver’s deep conviction that finishing second is akin to having his wisdom teeth removed without anesthesia. And using aluminum foil instead of gauze during the healing process.

In this performance-driven profession, a driver is only as good as his last race.

That being the case, although Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte and Kevin Harvick all enter Sunday’s New England 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway among the top seven drivers in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings, they feel about as chipper as the lobsters being dumped into boiling water at so many sponsor meet-and-greets.

Matt Kenseth leads the points parade by 165 points, the seventh-largest margin at the halfway point of a season in NASCAR’s modern era. The Ford driver’s lead grew as the three aforementioned Chevrolet stalwarts saw their respective afternoons unravel last Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

Earnhardt endured one of the worst days of his season, finishing 38th after a lap 206 crash he said might have been a blessing.

“The car was just too loose. I about crashed in every corner after our last pit stop,” said Earnhardt.

Turning around the Budweiser team’s fortunes isn’t a given at NHIS, a place Earnhardt (and, no, he isn’t alone) never jotted at the top of his list of favorite haunts.

His best finish here: ninth in July 2001. Last summer’s race, marked by widespread driver disdain for track conditions, was Earnhardt’s closest brush with success to date. He led three times for 43 laps before winding up 23rd after he was caught up in a late wreck with Todd Bodine.

“We were much better at Loudon last year. They’re resurfaced the turns, so we’ll have to respond to the changes,” Earnhardt said. “I think we’re a team that is equipped to take advantage of changes. We’re smarter with our set-ups. We’re able to adapt to whatever a track throws at us.”

Unlike last year, when the lingering effects of a crash and a midseason slump kept Earnhardt in the doldrums throughout the second half of the season, the son of the late seven-time series champion maturely approaches the Chicagoland setback as a lesson learned.

“We’re still having a career-best year for the team. (Kenseth) is having some kind of all-time, best-ever season,” said Earnhardt. “We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Six laps after Earnhardt’s day at Chicagoland went south, Labonte left the race in what was one of the most frighteningly fiery Winston Cup wrecks of recent vintage.

Said Labonte, a former series champion enjoying a resurgence at Joe Gibbs Racing this season: “(I smelled) like a barbecue pit, but I feel fine. You hate to see it, but all the safety stuff in the car worked great.”

Labonte has never failed to finish a Winston Cup race at NHIS, but he’s never won, either. Friday’s rained-out first practice and qualifying took away an opportunity to see how his driving style will respond to the newly paved, widened turns.

“It gives us another option for making passes and makes for side-by-side racing,” Labonte said. “That’s what we’re all hoping for, I think.”

Harvick ran out of gas with three laps remaining in his bid for a third straight victory at Chicagoland. That fate has also struck many would-be winners at NHIS, where a shorter-than-usual race distance and the enhanced importance of track position persuade many crew chiefs and drivers to gamble with fuel mileage and tire wear on their final pit stop.

Although his best NHIS finish is eighth, Harvick has led hundreds of laps in Busch and Craftsman Truck competition at the Magic Mile. He’ll start Saturday’s Busch event from the pole.

“I’m a big fan of flat tracks. They bring diversity to the schedule,” said Harvick. “You always have to be able to adjust.”

That goes for the mental gameplan, as well.

For at least three drivers, and just about anyone else in the field whose name isn’t Ryan Newman (the Chicagoland winner), the most crucial component in Sunday’s race isn’t

a generous fuel tank, a sturdy set of Goodyears or a stout motor.

It’s a short memory.

Kalle Oakes is sports editor. He can be reached by e-mail at koakes@sunjournal.com

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