Sons Of Racing Legends Rarely Live Up To Their Famous Fathers

Cory Hartley by Correspondent Written on October 21, 2009
NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' at the NBC Studios in Los Angeles, Ca. Monday, October, 29, 2001. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

 

Having grown up in the south, I have had the chance to be apart of Nascar far beyond just being a fan.

I have had family that actully worked for many teams and myself been apart of the sport. Something that I have seen time and time again is that the children of the top stars rarely live up to their fathers status.

More often than not these children have had the oppertunity to follow their footsteps and dont learn what it takes to be a champion.

Families like the Petty's, Earnhardt's, Wallace's, and Martin's have great careers and thier respective offspring have never lived up to the expectations.

When the elders work so hard to win time and time again, the children are given their rides based on family and not skill.

Such cases as Kyle Petty, Dale Jr., Steven Wallace, and Matt Martin are all examples. While they may win some races, if they make it to the big leagues, that doesnt mean they will ever accomplish what the generation before them did.

Richard Petty, Dale Sr., Rusty Wallace, and Mark Martin have all had stellar careers but their children were given their rides and never took the time to learn the skills.

Some exceptions would include the Allisons, if Davey hadn't died he probably would have won more championships.

So given that Kyle Petty had a long respectful career he never won a championship.

Dale Jr. may have a chance at it but not likely. Steven Wallace hasn't made it to the big leagues, and Matt Martin quit racing due to the pressure on him at a young level.

These people were given every chance to be great and had the greatest teachers to learn from but haven't learned what it takes to be a Champion.

Unfortunately this has kept good drivers from reaching the top, kept others in bad equipment or losing sponsors to them based on the name recognition.

It's sad to see such talent go to waste because everything was given to the family members of all time greats and nothing was learned or accomplished with thier opportunities. 

 

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written on October 21, 2009 Opinion


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