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BROOKLYN, Mich. -- "Finally," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said after winning his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in more than two years.

Finally, his fans shouted. Finally, no more questions about the drought.

OK, so, when is he going to win again?

Earnhardt suggested that the next couple of months -- other than the series' second stop at Daytona -- might not give his fans as much to celebrate about compared to later in the season.

"The summer stretch, we've never really been smoking hot," he said. "I think I have real potential, and the races specifically in the Chase are good tracks for me."

As for the summer, Earnhardt admitted he's "hit or miss" at Pocono and that his goal for the upcoming two road course races -- including Sunday's event at Infineon Raceway -- is a top-10 finish, which he has never done there.

Unlike Tony Stewart, who often bunches his victories when the weather turns hot, Earnhardt's victories typically occur early and late in the year. Only three of his 18 career victories have come in June, July or August. It has been three years since he won in those months, when he beat the field at Chicagoland Speedway in July 2005.

That past doesn't make Earnhardt boastful that he will rack up several victories, but he won't discount anything.

"We'll see with this equipment and this opportunity ... with these motors and these cars, we may turn that around and really surprise ourselves throughout the summer, but, I guess, I'm in a maintain mode," he said after a fuel-mileage gamble gave him Sunday's victory. "I'll be really happy if I can be as consistent as I've been the first part of the season."

Earnhardt's victory was his 11th top-10 in 15 races this season. Only Carl Edwards has as many top-10 results. Earnhardt's total is one more than series points leader Kyle Busch, but Busch has three more victories.

It appears Hendrick Motorsports is slowly closing the gap on Joe Gibbs Racing's stable of Denny Hamlin, Busch and Stewart. Earnhardt teammate Jimmie Johnson led the most laps Sunday before he finished sixth.

What's key is that horsepower is pivotal at Michigan, and Johnson's performance shows that Hendrick is gaining on the Toyotas, particularly the Gibbs cars and the Red Bull Racing car of Brian Vickers, who finished fourth.

Work remains for Hendrick, though. Jeff Gordon finished 18th. He ran in the top 10 in the first half of the race but lost ground and never recovered. Teammate Casey Mears never was a factor.

Earnhardt, who's third in the points race, has led the team most of the season, surprising because he's the new guy. Car owner Rick Hendrick applauds how Earnhardt and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. have seamlessly acclimated themselves to working at Hendrick.

Hendrick said he "never dreamed" the transition for those two would be so easy.

"We've had a lot of fun," he said.

It can keep going now that Earnhardt has scored his first points victory since May 2006. No longer does he have to hear questions about when will he win again. Same for Hendrick.

"Now ... we can focus on running for the championship," Hendrick said. "I think this will take a little pressure off, a lot of pressure off."

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com