You don't think so? Think again. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is a driving force behind NASCAR. As a matter of fact, he is one of the major forces driving NASCAR right now.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is a race winner for this year. Most of the fans in the grandstands wear Dale Jr. colors. Do you disagree? Go to a race and see for yourself.
The facts are obvious. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is the greatest thing that has happened to NASCAR in about seven years. Without Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the sport would have suffered irreparable damage, and that's a fact.
Jeff Gordon won the Cup in 2001, the year that Dale Earnhardt died. Dale Earnhardt won the Most Popular Driver award that year, posthumously.
Pretty much ever since then, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has won that award. Dale Earnhardt was a legend not only to his fans, but the people that worked with him in the garage every week.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is second in points going into the second Pocono race of the season. He's running well, he's finishing consistently, and he's on track to gain points on the first place driver, Kyle Busch. This year, it's Dale's championship to win or lose. It's that simple.
Kyle Busch is setting a pace that's going to be hard to beat. Still, Dale Jr. is doing just what he wanted to do but couldn't last year, which is being consistent.
Let the chase begin, and may the best driver win.
4 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Kelly Crandall 11 months ago
I agree with everything you said. And as a Jr. fan I would like nothing more than to see him hoist the Sprint Cup at the end of the year, it's something that all of Jr. Nation has been waiting for since he began racing in 2000. BUT, in order for Jr. to accomplish that, he needs to run better than just being consistent. He needs to really step it up and win some more races because right now it's gonna come down to Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson.
I just feel like the 88 team really needs to heat up more and be more dominant during races and especially in the Chase to really go after this championship. And I know that they are working hard to do that and that they've been working hard.
Keep on rollin' Jr.
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L.J. Burgess 11 months ago
There's nothing about NASCAR that needs to be "fixed" that a better economy wouldn't resolve. If NASCAR has peaked in popularity then it's a natural progression that all sports suffer sooner or later. Baseball had it's hayday as the nation's pastoral pastime until our defeat in Vietnam left us wanting for a semi-violent outlet for our national impotence that continues to this day.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a cool NASCAR personality because his father was a cool NASCAR personality, it just so happens that he is also a driver, perhaps a somewhat overrated driver but an occasional winning driver nonetheless. Kerry Earnhardt gets no love because he's not a Junior nor the cool personality his father and sibling are/were. As far as the grandstands full of Jr. colors? Americans buy into anything shiny and flashy...that's why the economy here is tanking. We tend to salivate on cue when told to by the media and marketing industry and they loves them some Jr.. If we went with true proven talent and success for the long haul then the stands would be full of No.24 gear right?
When one is born of the loins of a top 10 or 15 NASCAR driver like old Ironhead and one has the marketing value and smiley face such as Jr. has one really doesn't need to back it up with results...Anna Kournikova comes to mind as an example.
But I think this is where personal pride comes in. Kyle Busch, Jr. and Jimmy Johnson are in position to win this year's Cup and Jr. is certainly the most desperate for the win. With the re-organization at HMS designed solely to bring Jr. this Cup, it's going to be a long time coming if he fails again this season.
Now that Mark Martin has come on board with Alan Gustafson as his crew chief, HMS resources will shift to the No.5 car. Rick Hendrick has chosen to be the savior of close but no Cup drivers that he likes and the flavor of the year in '09 will be Martin's last shot at a title.
Junior is a good, solid, winning driver but he's no better than his peers. He's in there with Newman, Kenseth, Jarrett, Kyle Busch and Edwards but falls far short of Jimmy Johnson, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon in performance.
I like Junior but I don't see him as the face of NASCAR nor it's savior. If there were no Junior, NASCAR would have rolled on like the locomotive it is, same as if there were no Earnhardt Sr. Am I in the minority? Of course...but someone has to be logical rather than emotional at times right?
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Ria Martin 11 months ago
I am a Junior fan... NASCAR survived with out Senior and would survive without Junior.
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Ron Van Lew 11 months ago
I never try to bash a writer or an article so I am going to do my best not to here. If you think JR. is the driving force behind NASCAR you are nuts. Yes he has millions of fans but what in over 7 seasons has he brought to the table? Not a championship to date. Dale JR. is popular without question. But you also have to wonder how long his popularity will be there if he continues to fail at winning a championship. The "newer"NASCAR fan and the old SR. fans I would tend to think make up a majority of his fan base.
To say JR. is the greatest thing to happen to NASCAR is very shortsighted to say the least. I think safety improvements to make sure drivers and fans do not lose their lives are the greatest improvements to NASCAR. Just think if these improvements were in place when SR. passed away would these improvements given him a much better chance at surviving that crash? Yep. Look at some of the horrid end over end crashes that Ryan Newman,Mcdowell, and Sadler among others have walked away from.
To sum it all up. NASCAR will and could survive without a driver who has yet to win a championship after 7 plus years. And I think there is going to be 11 other drivers that will have something to say on who wins the title at the end of the year.
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