Dale Earnhardt Jr.: "My Accomplishments Speak for Themselves"

We are five races from the chase to Sprint Cup championship.

And just like old news, the crucifying continues throughout the various NASCAR social sites because Dale Earnhardt Jr will not be in this year's chase.

And once again it is because a few just don’t understand what a true NASCAR driver is all about.

The identity that it has taken is like some old crusty re-run that is usually shown around the holiday season.

Dale Jr is almost living the same life as the boy in the plastic bubble; because wherever he goes he is treated like some kind of freak show.

Maybe its time to give him a break, and get back to what NASCAR is really all about and that is treating every driver equally.

Any true fan of the sport tries their best to stay away from the theory syndrome.

Because most of already knows that sooner or later those so-called theories begin to crumble like some year old Girl Scout cookie?

It’s not that hard to realize that truth along with fact, will always withstand the test of time.

And the test of time has once again prevailed in a lop-sided victory for a driver who has done nothing wrong.

But instead he just continues to get more popular because of all the hype that has been very graciously thrown his way, whether good or bad.

Not once has he let his emotions get the best of him, and he has yet to show any negativity towards those that choose to try and send him to an early retirement.

Try as they must, but until they can bring some meat with that argument they’re better off just going back to square one, because so far you have barely made it to square two.

I also found it ironic that most of the negativity thrown at him has to do with his career.

Maybe its time that those who have no idea what the word career means, to take a good long look at what the word means first, before they end up putting their other foot in their mouth.

A career is defined as something that is progressive, or in other words its not one, two or even five years, or the few months that some of you think constitutes a career.

Now to put it in a way that even the most volatile hater can understand, a career has a beginning and an end, and it doesn’t end because a driver is having a bad year.

We can go down the list of the many drivers who are still searching for success, but because they haven’t found it yet, that don’t mean that someday they might.

So to try and gauge Earnhardt’s career off the mistakes that he has made so far this season is lets just say...very ridiculous.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. started his NASCAR series career back in 1996, when he first raced in what was known as the Busch series.

Unlike most of the other drivers that came up through the lower series.

Earnhardt made a name for himself, while at the same time showing that he had what it would take to compete at the cup level, once he felt that he was ready to make the transition.

Now looking at the drivers who participated in the all-star race this season, since after all these were NASCAR’s top drivers that got the chance to compete.

Only eight drivers out of the 21 that were entered have gotten the chance to experience the feeling of winning one of NASCAR’s more prestigious events.

1. Jeff Gordon ('95, '97, '01)

2. Mark Martin ('98, '05)

3. Jimmie Johnson ('03, '06)

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ('00)

5. Ryan Newman ('02)

6. Matt Kenseth ('04)

7. Kevin Harvick ('07)

8. Kasey Kahne ('08)

Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kevin Harvick are the only two all-star drivers with two Nationwide championships a piece, with Earnhardt Jr as the only driver that has back-to-back championships.

All together there were only six Nationwide champions that were represented in the all-star race.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr ('98, '99)

• Kevin Harvick ('01, '06)

• Bobby Labonte ('91)

• Greg Biffle ('02)

• Carl Edwards ('07)

• Clint Bowyer ('08)

Not even Mark Martin who leads the series with the most wins has ever won a championship.

Now speaking of Nationwide wins, where exactly does Earnhardt fit in with the rest of the drivers who have won their share of Nationwide races that also participated in the all-star race?

1. Mark Martin (47)

2. Kevin Harvick (33)

3. Kyle Busch (28)

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr (22)

5. Jeff Burton (22)

6. Matt Kenseth (19)

As Earnhardt would finally get his chance to enter into a world that is set aside for the best that the sport has to offer.

He would immediately make his presence known by winning the Direct TV 500 at Texas, in only his sixth start as a Winston cup rookie.

He would then go on to win the all-star race that same year.

The race was known as the Winston back then, and he won by defeating all the big name drivers while at the same time becoming the first rookie to ever win this prestigious event.

Earnhardt Jr has since put himself in some very good company, while picking up 18 wins that has secured him a spot within the top 10 of active drivers.

Here is the top 10 win list of drivers who participated in the all-star race for 2009.

1. Jeff Gordon (82)

2. Jimmie Johnson (41)

3. Mark Martin (37)

4. Tony Stewart (33)

5. Bobby Labonte (21)

6. Jeff Burton (21)

7. Kurt Busch (19)

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (18)

9. Matt Kenseth (18)

10. Carl Edwards (16)

Out of the 21 drivers who qualified for the all-star race either through a previous race win, by being a past champion, by finishing first or second in the open, or by fan vote.

There were only six past Daytona 500 champions in the field, and once again Earnhardt is proudly represented along with the other past winners.

1. Jeff Gordon ('97, '99, '05)

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ('04)

3. Jimmie Johnson ('06)

4. Kevin Harvick ('07)

5. Ryan Newman ('08)

6. Matt Kenseth ('09)

Along with the past Daytona 500 champions, there were only six cup champions that were also represented for the event.

This is the only list that Earnhardt has yet to put his name on.

1. Jeff Gordon ('95, '97, '98, '01)

2. Jimmie Johnson ('06, '07, '08)

3. Tony Stewart ('02, '05)

4. Bobby Labonte ('00)

5. Matt Kenseth ('03)

6. Kurt Busch ('04)

It’s no big secret that Earnhardt is having his share of problems so far this season, and it’s no secret that he is not performing to the so-called standards that some of you think he should be.

But where does NASCAR state that a driver has to follow a certain set of standards in order to race in the series?

Because from the talk that has been floating around the web, a lot of you feel that he has no business on the track.

Now looking back to what could easily be NASCAR’s top six most important lists of accomplishments.

Isn’t there some sort of validity that all of the negativity that is directed towards Earnhardt, comes without any real merit from those who choose to scorn him.

Especially when he is the only active driver that is missing on just one list?

The last seven years he has not only had to conquer the death of his own infamous father.

But he also had to conquer life itself without that one man that he looked up to as a father, coach, and also a mentor.

So the truth of the matter is, Earnhardt’s accomplishments in the last seven years are all of his own doing.

How do you follow in ones footsteps, when there is no longer that person to lay them down in front of you?

How can you hear those words of encouragement, when they are no longer there because they were taken to the grave when Earnhardt Sr took his last breath?

With the hand that has been dealt to him, little “E” has already shown his fans as well as his peers, that he is very true to who he is.

Earnhardt has made the path that he now follows; it was cut with his own two hands.

“You learn more from your mistakes than you do from your own success, that’s life.”

“You’ve got to deal with it, good and bad.”

“We’ll be all right. I mean, if we make the chase, we make it. If we don’t, we don’t.”

“I’m just going to keep driving and have a good time doing it."

"I don’t really think about carrying on the family racing name, I’m just so proud of my family and, I’m proud of my father and grandfather and what they’ve done.”

A special thanks goes out to Dale Earnhardt Jr for always giving me something to write about.

Whether good or bad, he is still the man on the golden mountain, and there is no driver that can take him down.

To try and say that he is riding off of his dads coattail is probably the most far fetched statement that has been said so far. Especially when Dale Sr died in 2001, one year after Dale Jr came into the series.

And if he is, especially for the money that he brings in where do I find that coattail?