No. 88 is on the lookout for No. 1

For the Junior Nation, this is the race at just the right time.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., still seeking his first NASCAR Cup win in nearly two years, returns Sunday to what is arguably his best track, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

The most popular NASCAR Sprint Cup driver has five victories (out of 17 career Cup wins) at Talladega, where Earnhardt loyalty always runs deep among the race’s 160,000 spectators. His late father, seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt, also won a record 10 times at Talladega, NASCAR’s longest track at 2.66 miles.

“The fans have been really great to us there,” Junior told reporters this week. “They’re ready for a win.”

Excitement about Earnhardt’s prospects jumped this year after his much-publicized departure from the team his father started, Dale Earnhardt Inc., to the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports.

He turned up the buzz by winning the first race of the year in February, the non-points Budweiser Shootout exhibition race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Through the first eight races, Earnhardt has finished in the top five three times, in the top 10 six times, and he’s third in the overall Cup standings.

Earnhardt, in fact, is higher in points so far than the other three Hendrick drivers, including reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson (who’s fourth) and four-time champ Jeff Gordon (13th).

Yet Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet still hasn’t reached Victory Lane. If there’s one track where the drought should end, wouldn’t it be Talladega, where Earnhardt, 33, also will be making his 300th career Cup start?

“You could say that,” Earnhardt said. “We’re going to have a good chance this weekend, and I’m motivated by that. But I’ve felt that way all year, really.”

A two-year winless streak is “definitely a stat you are aware of and reminded of,” he said, but added: “It’s not a whole lot of pressure. I still drive for a good team.”

Danica Patrick, who finally got her first IndyCar Series win in her 50th attempt last week, sympathized with Earnhardt’s dry spell. “Dale Jr. is still that same driver that everybody loves and cheers for,” she said. “He’ll get it. It’s something that happens to a lot of drivers.”

But Earnhardt gently told his fans that if he doesn’t win Sunday, there’s always the next race.

“They have to keep reminding themselves to be patient for that win to come, because they’ve wanted the opportunity for their driver to be running well each week, and they have that now,” he said. “I feel like a win is around the corner.”

Despite Earnhardt’s record at Talladega, the high-banked track is always treacherous and unpredictable -- owing to its status as one of the two speedways (Daytona is the other) where NASCAR mandates the use of carburetor restrictor plates.

The plates are a safety measure to keep the cars at about 200 mph, but they also keep the field’s 43 cars bunched in freight train-like packs.

That means a driver must be adept at working with others to “draft” nose-to-tail in order to pass cars, and Earnhardt’s drafting skill -- learned in large part from his father -- is among the best.

“Talladega is not a race track where you can do it all on your own,” said two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart, who has finished second at Talladega six times but never won. “You’ve got to have help.”

Earnhardt’s help this year will include new teammates Gordon and Johnson, who have won three of the last four races at Talladega.

But they’ll also be some of his toughest competition in the final laps. Gordon is a six-time winner at Talladega, and he won both the spring and fall races there last year.

And with “plate races” comes another threat: Crashes that can take out several cars at once because they run so tightly together.

Some drivers will intentionally hang back until the end in hope of avoiding such a melee -- but not Earnhardt.

“I want to be up toward the front anyway to stay out of any accident that might be happening or could happen behind me,” he said.

Besides, “you’ve got a lot of fans in the stands,” Earnhardt said. “They want to see that car take the lead.”

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james.peltz@latimes.com

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NASCAR SPRINT CUP

Aaron’s 499

When: Sunday, 11 a.m. PDT

Where: Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Ala.

TV: Channel 11.