Cheerleader Carter pumps up 2 team to win, title contention.

In the closing laps at Martinsville, my thoughts turned to 's new crew chief, Larry Carter, and I couldn't help but think about my first win as a crew chief in 1988.

A lot like Carter, I had been in the sport for eight or nine years, and I really and truly had never been to victory lane as a crew member, much less as a crew chief. Up until that first win, there's always a little voice haunting you. It says, "Can you really be part of a winning race team at this level of competition?" When you win, that voice kind of goes away, but a new one says, "Are you for real? Can you win a second one?"

Carter worked with at BACE Motorsports last year, and they definitely had some good runs, especially in the latter part of the season when they made the move to Hendrick motors. Moving to Penske could have been a make-or-break career move. If he hadn't won, he could have been Wallace's next fall guy. By winning with Wallace in their eighth points race together, Carter is on the NASCAR map. At about 6:15 or 6:20 p.m. ET on Sunday, his stock went up by leaps and bounds.

I don't think anybody realizes how big a move it was for both parties. Penske Racing had 53 wins, and had 54 wins. They were getting a guy -- to my knowledge -- who had never even been to victory lane, and he was going to become the crew chief to help break a drought of nearly three years. I'd say a lot more people were betting against Carter and Wallace than were betting for them to succeed.

Wallace is as good as he is because he's a confident person, and I think that's one reason why he and Carter complement each other so well. Carter is a good cheerleader. He pumps up people. Wallace compared him to former crew chief Buddy Parrott, who would find a positive out of two broken legs. Wallace has been hunting for someone like that because he's always said there's no room in his organization for people who don't have a positive outlook.

If you go on to win 60 or 70 races, you'll never forget that first win. You cherish it. But on Monday morning, you've got to get ready for the next one because you've got to be in Talladega five days from today. Carter is experienced enough to know NASCAR is a humbling sport. I won the Daytona 500 with Dale Earnhardt and broke his victory drought for arguably the biggest win of his career. We went to Rockingham the next week and used a provisional to make the race.

I think the whole world of NASCAR -- competitors, fans, everybody -- was proud to see Wallace get back to victory lane. I think we knew it was coming. Since he won Fontana at Fontana in 2001, he's had some good runs, but it's been hit and miss. He'd run well in one race and then run poorly in the next six races. This year, the consistency is there. When you're consistent -- as good as he's been leading laps this year -- you know one day it will fall your way, and you'll win a race. It would have been a huge surprise to me if Wallace had won a race in 2002 or 2003, but it really wasn't a surprise this year because they've been strong all year long.

Now the 2 team realizes today is gone. Tomorrow is coming in a hurry. They may have lost today, but they think they'll kick your butt next week. When you and the people around you have that attitude, you better believe that's championship caliber team.