Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Junior "Dissed"

It is hard to believe but Kannapolis, North Carolina, hometown to Dale Earnhardt Sr., has "dissed" their legendary hero by taking down all of the banners flying throughout the community recognizing “The Dale Trail”.  

NASCAR Scene reports that the banners were removed at the request of exceedingly wealthy businessman David Murdock, who is trying to redevelop Kannapolis from its blue collar roots into a high tech hub. 

Although he helped sponsor “The Dale Trail” and even had a statue of Dale Sr. erected in the center of town, he now feels it is time to move on and end this tribute to one of the most famous and beloved drivers in all of NASCAR history.

Apparently, Mr. Murdock wants the town to spotlight a new theme—“Home to Science”.  Even stranger, Mr. Murdock urged the Dale Sr. tribute banners be taken down to impress town visitor Oprah Winfrey, who obviously has other fish to fry now that her premier candidate, Barack Obama, is solidly in the hunt to be the next President. 

This move was not without controversy, however, as many in the town voiced their disapproval.  One town council member called it disrespectful of the family and of Martha Earnhardt, who is still an active member of the community.  NASCAR fans would most surely agree.

But Dale Sr. was not the only one to be "dissed".  The US Navy just announced that they would no longer sponsor the Nationwide series team of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for the 2009 season. 

Citing the tough economic times, this branch of the military just could not justify its spending on NASCAR.

The loss of the sponsorship is a real shame for up and coming driver Brad Keselowski, who has had a breakout season so far, giving Navy their first win in the series.  This will also be very bad news for all of the fans who just enlisted with the Dale Jr. Division of the US Navy.

Thankfully, Dale Jr. has maintained his sense of humor through it all, always seeing the bright side of life.  In his response to the Navy’s leaving his team, he noted that these were tough economic times for all teams.  And if Junior has trouble getting a sponsor, it really is tough out there. 

Junior was also one of the only Sprint Cup drivers not to totally criticize the race at the Brickyard this past weekend.   Earnhardt, who finished 12th in the race, noted that fans could claim bragging rights to being at one of the most miserable NASCAR races in history.  And he thought it was “kind of cool” to be running all those short sprint laps after all.

At a time when both Earnhardts are not getting the royal treatment they deserve, it is good to see that the younger Earnhardt, who is quite frankly better than any banner in carrying out the family legend, can still keep it all in perspective.