Pete Rondeau’s hands didn’t grip the steering wheel that night at Darlington Raceway. His foot didn’t press harder on the accelerator. His eyes didn’t scan the track, looking for the checkered flag that was about to wave.

No matter. Rondeau was in the race car, his voice riding along in the ear of driver Regan Smith for their improbable win in the Showtime Southern 500 on Mother’s Day weekend. It was the best of victories for both because it meant so much for many of the same reasons.

“It was my first win and it was Regan’s first,” said Rondeau before boarding a flight to New Hampshire for this weekend’s Sprint Cup Series race at the speedway in Loudon. “This race team has that old-school mentality. Everyone is family and that’s what I was missing.”

To know Pete Rondeau is to cheer for him. He is the Saco native and graduate of Modified racing at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway who was teamed with Dale Earnhardt Jr. to start the 2005 Sprint Cup season. The soft-spoken but blunt Yankee crew chief and NASCAR’s most popular driver, the troubled heir to the Dale Earnhardt legacy.

After 11 races, Rondeau was dumped. Junior wasn’t listening to Rondeau any more than to previous crew chiefs Tony Eury and Tony Eury Jr., who were family. Six years later, Earnhardt Jr. still hasn’t met expectations while Rondeau’s return to racing has been blessed.

When Rondeau and his driver met with the media after their victory at Darlington, Rondeau refused to gloat.

“I’m Regan Smith’s crew chief now,” he said. “I don’t (feel) any vindication from a few years back. I guess a lot of things go around, some come around.”

Thursday, he punctuated a phone conversation with light chuckles. He had called promptly at noon, the arranged time. I asked him what it was like being Pete Rondeau now.

“Oh, it’s the same. We don’t venture too far away from where we started.”

On this trip back, he planned to return to Beech Ridge Saturday night after Smith’s last practice session at New Hampshire. “I’ll be sliding in the back gate to see some old friends. My mom and dad always said never forget where you’re from.”

Tom Oliver of Scarborough raced Rondeau in the Modified division back in the 1980s.

“He knew early he was not going to make a career driving,” Oliver said. “He’s a real laid-back individual and that’s the perfect personality for a crew chief. Even back then he was working on his own stuff and he was good.

“Racing was a hobby for me. Down South, racing is a business. I don’t care for the politics of NASCAR and that hurt Pete when he was with (DEI). Now he’s on top of the world and Earnhardt is still struggling.”

Rondeau is one of three Maine-born men serving as crew chiefs in Sprint Cup, NASCAR’s top series. All three have another connection: Earnhardt.

Richard “Slugger” Labbe, also from Saco, was crew chief to Michael Waltrip at DEI when Waltrip won the Daytona 500. Labbe is now Paul Menard’s crew chief in the Richard Childress Racing stable.

Steve Letarte of Cornish was Jeff Gordon’s crew chief but moved to Earnhardt’s team this season with Hendrick Motorsports.

Crew chiefs have less security than NFL coaches and face more pressure from car owners who must keep sponsors happy. After DEI, Rondeau spent five years working in race shops far from the speedways. He told himself he would pick the time and the place of his return.

Smith had a good run in qualifying on Friday. He starts today’s race in 11th. He’s got three top-10 finishes and was leading late in the Daytona 500 before another fresh face, Trevor Bayne, pulled off that stunning win.

Last July, Smith went to Loudon with a wrist broken in a crash at Sonoma. He hurt it again in New Hampshire for his worst finish of 2010.

“It was an issue. He definitely struggled,” said Rondeau. “But he’s bounced back at all the tracks he’s struggled. He wants to learn and he gets a little excited in the race car but it really is refreshing working with him. He’s such a hard charger.”

Smith had a contract with DEI but was released in a cost-cutting decision before his promise was realized. He and Rondeau were picked up two years ago by Furniture Row Racing, a new, single-car team out of Denver, far from the politics and intrigues of the race shops clustered near Charlotte, N.C. The team has an agreement with Childress for engines and another with Tony Stewart’s team for the pit crew on race day.

Yes, Rondeau celebrated after the win at Darlington, one of the oldest NASCAR speedways.

“There’s not too many better places to win,” he said. Congratulations, especially Maine, flooded his Facebook page.

“I’m not a Facebook guy myself,” said Rondeau, chuckling again. “But that was nice. I appreciated it.”

Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:

ssolloway@pressherald.com

Twitter: SteveSolloway