Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Says "No More Excuses!"

During media day at Daytona International Speedway Dale Jr. offered the following evaluation of this season by saying "No More Excuses."

Indeed the fuzzy faced warrior knows what he has to do this season.  Should he and team 88 fail in attaining wins and making the Chase, Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged Rick Hendrick would have to do what he needs to do as well. 

Jr. made jokes about his beard.  His family hates it, so for him it makes it all the more rewarding to annoy them with it.  He did shape it up a little prior to coming to Daytona.

His attitude is relaxed and confident.  He is happy with all the changes that have been made and just like all the other drivers, expects to do well this year.

We may just see a rejuvenated Dale Jr. and perhaps McGrew will give him better horses to ride this year in the Sprint Cup Derby.  NASCAR fans are counting on it.

During Budweiser Shootout practice Jr. ran some 40 plus laps and ran out of gas just as the red flag came out indicating they are serious about strategy and gas mileage with the car.

Jr. quite possibly will have a take no prisoners attitude this year since he knows he must do well. It may be the year we see the driver adored by Jr. Nation back in racing form.  If his rough hewn look is an indication, we just may see some serious driving and winning from the son of the Intimidator.

Perhaps lineage will still play a big part in getting Earnhardt Jr. back on track.  During the winter he spent a lot of quality time with family and stayed closer to home.  It may have been his winter of content with lots of time to evaluate himself and what he needs to do as a NASCAR driver.

There really are no more excuses for him and his team.  He really has nothing to lose after the abject 2009 season.  It would be hard to do much worse. 

Dale Jr. may just come out of the box and kick ass on track starting in Daytona.  Should he be mediocre at Daytona it might be an omen for the rest of the season being really good.

Conjecture reigns supreme at this point.  It can be bantered back and forth as to will he or won't he perform this year and does he care?

Dale Jr. is a race car driver and he does care.  He does want to win and finish well just as he as shown he can do in the past.  We will see after the season really gets started in California how he and his team will perform.

In an ideal world for Earnhardt Jr. fans the only acceptable excuses would be from Jimmie and Chad as they explained why they finished behind Jr. in the Chase this year.