Read the debate intro and Loyal Homer’s argument that Dale Earnhardt Jr. deserves his NASCAR ride.
It’s not popular to say, but I feel I’m stating the obvious – Dale Earnhardt Jr. does not deserve a high profile ride in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series for one reason – he is not a very good driver.
Car owner Rick Hendrick was recently quoted as saying, “This is the most pressure I’ve felt in racing,” when referring to the pressure to turn Junior into a winner.
And, that’s the point right there – turn Junior into a winner. Why is everyone so eager to turn him into a winner? Because he’s not a winner. He must be transformed into one… and that simply isn’t happening.
Consider Junior’s history with his now former crew chief Tony Eury Jr. (Hendrick finally fired him at the end of May). That tandem was responsible for three consecutive finishes of 27th or worse, including an embarrassing 40th place finish at NASCAR’s biggest “home game” of the year, the Coca-Cola 600.
Here’s the truth – in a sport where everything has a sponsor’s logo slapped on it (this comment is brought to you by Mountain Dew, by the way), a team cannot afford to suck, or worse, look as if they do not care. That’s a quick way to lose respect and sponsorship money (in that order). Hendrick did the right thing in jettisoning Eury Jr., but that simply is not enough. NASCAR has to realize that Junior just is not a good race car driver, and they cannot afford for the most popular driver in the series to not be up to the standard of driving set by the rest of the field.
Good race car drivers are competitive – even when they don’t have the best car – regardless of series. Look at the 2009 Formula One season and Ferrari driver Felipe Massa for evidence of that. Even though Ferrari has struggled mightily this year – as much as a second and a half off the pace per race to start the year (which is an eternity of F1) – Massa has willed an inferior car to fifth in points and his first podium finish (third) of the year last weekend at the German Grand Prix. There are countless other examples, but the point is clear – good race car drivers find a way to be competitive even when they’re chasing the car all day… or all season. Junior simply hasn’t done that.
Perhaps you’re thinking that he just isn’t a very good driver in Sprint Cup cars. Wrong. The only time he’s ventured out of his comfort zone he raced Chevrolet Corvette’s in Grand-Am and the American Le Mans (ALMS) sports car racing series. He raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona with his dad in 2001 and raced at Sonoma (a NASCAR track, mind you) in 2004 in the ‘Vette. While the sister car to Junior’s car won the entire 24-Hour racing event (a BIG deal), the Earnhardt Corvette CR-5 suffered many “spins” – you can guess who the culprit was. In his defense, though, driving out of the pits can be tricky. In case you missed it, here’s what Junior did to the Corvette (and the wall) in WARM UPS before the ALMS race at Sonoma. He got out safely, but proved his skill is overmatched in a true racing car.
Here are the facts – he’s never won a championship. He’s only had one season with more than three wins. He’s had only three victories in the last four and half years. Of his 18 career wins – in a career spanning 10 seasons – seven of his wins have been on restrictor plate tracks, where speed and ability often take a back seat to luck and friends.
Bottom line, Dale Junior is likable and marketable – but not a good race car driver. It’s the classic case of young potential never becoming real talent, and Dale Jr.’s drive should go to someone who actually has a chance to compete week in and week out. It’s not tenable to have the star of a sport be a failure. The unfortunate fact is that his failure is a big reason the sport’s audience is dwindling. Until NASCAR finds a way to minimize Earhardt’s influence, they’ll continue to watch ticket sales fall as quickly as the doors swings atop Junior’s pit box.
