LOUDON - Dale Earnhardt Jr. nailed down his first Sprint Cup win since 2008 last month at Michigan International Speedway.

He comes into this afternoon's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway trailing only points leader Matt Kenseth in the Cup standings, and has a couple of elusive targets — a first win here and a first Sprint Cup championship — squarely in his sights.

Yes, life is good these days in JR Nation.

Earnhardt Jr. hopes things are even better by this evening.

“I've been looking forward to coming here for the race,” he said. “I feel like this is one of my better tracks. I just hope to eventually get to Victory Lane one day. This weekend is as good as any.”

Earnhardt Jr. joins a crowded field of contenders, both for the Lenox race today and for the 2012 Cup championship.

He qualified ninth for the race and starts his No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevy alongside Tony Stewart, who pretty much owned this track last season and rode that dominance to his third Cup championship. Stewart was second to his Stewart/Haas employee and teammate Ryan Newman in last July's race and came back and won September's event.

Kyle Busch sits on the pole for today's race and Kasey Kahne starts beside him.

The dozen drivers at the front of the pack today are either all but locked into the Chase, like Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson, are in decent shape, on the bubble or getting desperate — see Jeff Gordon and Kahne — with only eight races remaining before the Chase to the Sprint Cup begins at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 16.

Stewart and Johnson, who have won the last seven Cup championships between them, may be favorites to win the title, but just about anyone who manages to squeeze his way into the Chase will have a decent shot.

“I think it's as wide open as it's ever been,” said Frank Stoddard, the Woodsville High graduate who is in his second season as a Cup owner. “It's the first time where we've had a couple guys who are outside the Chase right now who, if they get in, could win it.”

Stoddard puts Jeff Gordon, who is 17th points and starts eighth today, and Kahne, 16th in points, in that category.

“First, they've got to get in,” Stoddard said. “If they do, they're my two picks to move right to the top. They've both been real fast.”

So have guys like Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski, whose three wins this year match Stewart's series-leading total.

“We want to get more wins,” Keselowski said. “I don't just want to be in (the Chase). I want to go out there, make a run and have a shot at winning it.”

Earnhardt Jr., with the help of crew chif and Maine native Steve Letarte, is excited to be contending again.

He finished well outside the Chase in 2009 (25th in points) and 2010 (21st) and Letarte arrived and they started back last season. They slipped some later in the year, but have come back strong this time around and been both fast and consistent.

Only once this season has he finished lower than 17th in a race and that was a 23rd at Sonoma.

He was 17th and 15th in the two races last year, but had a pair of tops tens in 2010.

Not every driver loves this one-mile, hard-to-pass-on oval with its slight banking.

Earnhardt Jr. does.

“It is different,” he said. “It's not really a short track and it's not your typical mile and a half. Yeah, it's different and it's fun.”

He likes the 301-lap distance of the race, too.

“The race is a bit short so there is urgency all the time, which is fun,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “There is excitement all the time inside the cockpit which is fun. Every lap and every car you are around is important because the race is so short. You have to race really hard all day long because every position, even in the first hundred laps, is the one you might not get back in the next 200 laps.”

Earnhardt feels good about today, good about the way things have gone so far this season and good about where they're heading for the rest of this year. ... And beyond.

“I feel awesome to be in second in points,” Earnhardt said. “I feel like we have made a good statement on how strong we are as a team. ... We feel like we have a solid idea and a solid foundation as a team to do well and try to win the championship.”

They'll attempt to take the next step toward a title this afternoon.

Allen Lessels covers motor sports for the New Hampshire Union Leader and the New Hampshire Sunday News. He may be reached at alessels@unionleader.com.