10 years ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. delivered one last Talladega master class

No matter the circumstances surrounding him or his season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was always the favorite when the NASCAR Cup Series raced at Talladega Superspeedway. 

Like his late father before him, Earnhardt Jr. was a master of superspeedway racing. His prowess in the draft turned him into the Pied Piper of Daytona and Talladega, where he could always be counted on to be up front. 

From the fall of 2001 to the fall of 2004, Earnhardt Jr. won five Talladega races, including four in a row, and finished second in the two races that he didn't win over that stretch. After watching Dale Earnhardt Sr. win at Talladega 10 times, it appeared his son was well on track to break his father's record and become the winningest driver in the history of Talladega Superspeedway. 

But as the years went on, Earnhardt Jr.'s Talladega success dried up. He still had fast cars, ran up front and led laps, but the finishes, especially the wins, weren't there anymore. For whatever reason, the Pied Piper of Talladega had seemingly lost his magic touch. 

That was until May 3, 2015, when Earnhardt Jr. delivered one last Talladega masterclass for the world to see. 

Going into the 2015 Geico 500, Earnhardt Jr.'s 2015 season was an up-and-down affair. He sat eighth in the points nine races into the season, but his five top-10 finishes had been countered with two finishes of 36th or worse. In his first year with new crew chief Greg Ives, Earnhardt Jr. hadn't been able to get back to victory lane after winning four races in 2014. 

Unsurprisingly, Earnhardt Jr. and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates were fast all weekend. In his second-to-last Talladega start, Jeff Gordon won the pole, while Earnhardt Jr. qualified fourth. Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne also led laps, with Rick Hendrick's four-car fleet combining to lead 167 of the race's 188 laps. 

On Lap 161, Earnhardt Jr. restarted on the inside of race leader Cole Whitt. With help on the inside from his teammate in Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. got to the lead and parked his Chevrolet at the top of the racetrack. 

Within a matter of laps, nearly the entire pack had migrated to the top lane, a staple of mid 2010s superspeedway racing. With two laps to go, Denny Hamlin finally broke up the single-file train, forcing Johnson to block and allowing Earnhardt Jr. to slightly pull away. 

As a few cars - including Gordon - spun on the backstretch, Earnhardt Jr. was able to block Johnson and a hard-charging Paul Menard on the exit of turn 4. When the checkered flag waved, it was Earnhardt Jr. who got to it first, breaking a 20-race drought at Talladega. 

Earnhardt Jr. collected the checkered flag and waved to the approving crowd before driving into victory lane. 

It was a perfect day for a driver who had finally recaptured what it felt like to win at his best racetrack.