That sound you’re hearing from legions of Budweiser-red-wearing fans each week can only mean one thing – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back in championship-contending form.

Or is he?

It’s likely too early for a definite answer to that question, but based on performance alone in the first four races of the 2006 Nextel Cup Series season, he certainly appears headed in the right direction.

Earnhardt Jr. and four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon – two of NASCAR’s biggest stars – both missed the Chase for the Nextel Cup last season.

After four races – including a season’s best third at Atlanta last weekend – Earnhardt Jr.’s average finish is 12.25. His team has gotten off to a better start only once before in 2004.

In 2004, Earnhardt Jr. won two of the season’s first four races and had an average finish of 10.5. He went on to qualify for the inaugural Chase.

“This has been a good start to the season. Our cars are better, the people are better, the attitudes are better, everything is just better,” Earnhardt Jr. said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in seventh place in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings.

“I think the cars are driving better this year than they were in ’04. That was a great season, but we definitely had our problem tracks, and when it was bad, it was really bad.

“We’ve been to two of those problem tracks already this year (California and Las Vegas), and we were a top-15 car each time.”

A late-race pit road call for four tires over two gave Earnhardt Jr. an 11th-place finish at California, and he was running in the top 15 late at Las Vegas until he was penalized for speeding on pit road during a late-race caution and finished 27th.

Regardless, Earnhardt Jr. finds himself seventh in points entering Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway – one of the driver’s favorite tracks.

He has finished in the top 10 in each of his last three Bristol races, including a victory in the 2004 Sharpie 500. In his last eight races there, he has six top 10s, has led 707 laps and has an average finish of 7.1.

“The thing about Bristol is, you can be really good but still caught up in a wreck. That’s probably the main concern. Even if you’re the leader, it’s hard to miss wrecks sometimes because of all the lapped traffic,” Junior said. “That’s just Bristol. You can’t take a break at any time. The moment you think you’re doing good, it’ll jump up and deal you a nasty blow.”

Although he’s run near the front the season’s first three races, Earnhardt Jr. was particularly impressed with his team’s third place at Atlanta, especially since he had to battle from the rear of field after experiencing tire problems twice during the race.

“The top five (finish) gives us momentum. We were happy with the way we ran at California and Vegas, but it didn’t really give us momentum like a top five does,” he said.

“Obviously, I’m really happy with the way we performed at Atlanta, especially given the setbacks during the race. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect it. Atlanta has always been a good track for us, just like Bristol has always been pretty good for us.

“We’re excited about the schedule coming up, and I think we’ll be getting a lot more top fives and – hopefully – wins.”

If so, the number and the volume of the red-clad fans in the stands is sure to grow.