In a NASCAR season where family has meant so much - the late Adam Petty becoming a fourth-generation driver, and the battles between Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Father's Day weekend was almost perfect for Dale Earnhardt.

Almost perfect.

Saturday, Earnhardt's eldest son, Kerry, drove his Monte Carlo into Victory Lane in the ARCA 200 at Pocono Speedway - this just his fourth career ARCA start.

Monday, one day after the Winston Cup race was postponed due to rain and fog, it looked as if it would be the Intimidator's day.

After a strong pit stop with just laps to go, Earnhardt came off pit road in first-place, with the race clearly in his hands. Or so it seemed.

With about a quarter-mile to go, Jeremy Mayfield gave our beloved late-race paint trader a dose of his own medicine, tapping him just enough to send him up high. Mayfield, Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd then passed. Earnhardt finished fourth - when it looked like he had it in the bag.

Are Earnhardt fans upset about Monday's finish? Sure they are. I know I am. But that's racing. And I know Earnhardt would've done the same thing.

But here's the point of this column. Win or no win, No. 3 is back.

Earnhardt fans far and wide have reason to celebrate this year, and if I were Bobby Labonte, I wouldn't want to look in my rear view mirror.

So what I'm saying to the Earnhardt Army is this - let's look at the big picture.

Our hot-lap hero came into this weekend's race trailing points leader Labonte by 98. With a near-win, and 13th-place effort from Labonte, Earnhardt ended the day still second in the season points race, but only by 57.

So again I say look at the big picture. Monday was anything but a loss.

Just as long as Earnhardt finishes in the top 10 or better in each race - something he is more than capable of doing - fans of the famed black No. 3 Monte Carlo will have reason to celebrate at the end of the season.

But what exactly is the reason for Earnhardt's - please don't call me 'senior' - resurgance? Is it having Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the tour? That has to be what it is, Earnhardt may be NASCAR's most fierce competitor, and he doesn't want to be shown up by his son.

Could be.

Is it that he could finally distance his name from Richard Petty, winner of 200 NASCAR races, by picking up an unprecedented eighth Winston Cup?

Could be. Maybe it's a little of both. Or just maybe the Intimidator is being driven by a desire that only he knows.

But whatever the case, Earnhardt fans have reason to be happy. So we welcome Mr. Earnhardt back to the world the world of championship contendership.

He hasn't won a title in six years. He hasn't realisticly challenged for the title since 1995. But something is different about this year. The smile hidden behind his mustache has always been there, that's Dale. But his competitiveness is back. Drivers are talking about their fear of the Man in Black again.

So don't push him to win every race, just take them one at a time. I don't care if he wins another race all year, just so long as he finishes strong. If wins were that important, Tony Stewart and Earnhardt Jr., the only pair on the circuit this year besides Mayfield now to have more than one win, would be running away from the field. But no, Stewart, who had won the last two races, is sitting in seventh-place, 264 points out of the lead. And Little E, he's not even in the top 10.

So be a little upset about yesterday's fourth-place finish. Just remember the big picture. As the season winds down you'll begin to understand the picture being painted. [[In-content Ad]]