With seven races remaining until the start of the 2011 chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, it’s beginning to look like déjà vu once again for NASCAR’s most popular driver, and time has been slowly creeping on him. No longer is Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. comfortably sitting within the top-10 in points, instead he finds himself fighting to hold on to the final position until the green flag waves in Chicago to start the chase.
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[/media-credit]A mere seven points is the lifeline between another disappointing season, or in his case a possible major fail when you look back to five races ago when he was on top of the world sitting third in the point standings. The 51 point lead was enough to keep his fans planning ahead for a possible return to the post season party, which he hasn’t been a part of since 2008.
The roller coaster ride that Earnhardt has endured while driving for one of NASCAR’s most successful organizations, is enough to give his legion of fans an ulcer the size of the heart this 36 year-old Kannapolis, North Carolina native drives with. Fan loyalty, along with anyone else who has taken an interest trying to dissect what is happening with Earnhardt, have come up with some pretty good explanations as to why he is having so much trouble trying to get win No. 19 along with a possible championship.
There will always be those who will either show some compassion for what he is going through, and just like a double edged sword where the sharpest edge is the one that does the most damage, which comes in the form of the harsh comments from the nay-sayers. It’s not hard to look around and see that Earnhardt is NASCAR’s most popular driver, but the only advantage with that accolade was the fact he got a free entry into this season’s all-star race.
Other than that it hasn’t helped him to add to his win column, or more importantly get the consistency back he had while driving in the early years for Dale Earnhardt Inc. A lot has changed since Earnhardt came over to HMS, along with the excuses why this third generation driver can’t put together a solid season and prove that he is legitimate championship contender.
In reality there is no magic wand that can be waved over his team, and sugar coating is no longer an option, as well as the hypothetical scenarios that are talked about each time Earnhardt finishes outside the top-10. Hendrick Motorsports has given Earnhardt the ingredients he needs to succeed in the sports top tier series, and how many drivers in the sport today have gone through three crew chiefs in the past four seasons to try and help improve their driver?
Possibly the only ingredient missing that Hendrick cannot give him is luck, and now is the time Earnhardt needs to borrow the lucky horseshoe from his teammate Jimmie Johnson that Kevin Harvick so reluctantly said he has hiding where the sun doesn’t shine. Heading into Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, Earnhardt will need as much help as he can get whether it be in the form of a horseshoe, or asking lady luck to shower him with a special blessing.
Either way something good needs to come within reach of the team in order to keep him from falling outside the top-10, and a possible chase berth, which could go a long way in putting into perspective the success he had earlier in the season. “We’ve got good cars. We’ve got a really really good team. We should be running better than we have been the last couple of week and we know it. We are just going to try and work really hard to get back where we were earlier in the season. It shouldn’t be that difficult,” Earnhardt said at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
With only two top-10 finishes, and a best finish of sixth in 2006 in 11 starts, crew chief Steve Letarte has his work cut-out if he expects to keep his driver focused enough to get past these next three races. “Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) runs well there, but the big thing we need to do is qualify better. The track is very, very hard to pass at.,” Letarte said during this week’s pre-race media release.
Letarte also added that, “Hopefully the tire will hold on. Pit strategy will be important. Indy is kind of like Daytona (Fla.) and Talladega (Ala.).” If you aren’t fast when you come off the truck, it’s very frustrating. It’s hard to find speed there. So we are trying to find some speed and make sure we are fast. We need to qualify well and start towards the front of the pack.”
Without being the breaker of bad news, stats or past performances don’t lie, and the next three races are crucial if Earnhardt expects to regain the momentum he had before his last five finishes of 21st, 41st, 19th, 30th, and 15th almost knocked him out of the top-10 in points. In 23 starts at Pocono, Earnhardt only has five top-five, and seven top-10 finishes, and Watkins Glen is no better with two top-five, and three top-10 finishes in 11 starts.
One race at a time and a touch from Lady luck could bring the Nation to their feet, and give them the hope they have been waiting for since his last chase appearance three seasons ago.
BTW, thank you for the invitation to be a writer for SM, and I certainly wasn’t referring only to SM. As a matter of fact SM is one of the better sites. There are many who are much, much worse.
Who else has had three CCs in the last four seasons? Matt Kenseth had three in one season.
If Dale Jr got half the praise given any other driver instead of the smashing he gets, perhaps you would see a change. The media is so blinded they cannot see the truth. Under McGrew, it was pure hell. I listen to Jr’s incar all race every race. Lance didn’t have a clue how to adjust the car or call a race, and every comment from Jr about the car brought a smart-ass remark from LM. The cars were abysmal. So much so that Mark Martin has not driven one of them this year. MM has had new cars for almost every race this year, and look where he is in points. Check the facts. Last year it was all Jr’s fault, and this year it couldn’t possibly be MM’s fault, so whose fault is it?
Let’s assume that things would have played out differently and Junior wouldn’t have been wrecked by others at Michigan, Sears Point or Daytona. Junior looked to have a finish around 10th at Michigan, so that would have gained him 11 points from where he finished. Who knows where he would have finished at Sears Point since he was knocked out so early in the event, but I think they could have finished AT LEAST around 20th or so. That’s an addition 21 points. Then Daytona had McMurray not been foolish, Junior was probably around 10th so that gains him 8 points. The deal with Kentucky might have been Junior’s fault and the inconsistant tire deal at New Hampshire was unavoidable by the team. Without the bad luck and stupidity of other drivers, Junior should have at least an additional 40 points or so. He would have 617 points and be 7th, 47 points ahead of the top 10 cutoff.
Now nothing has been said about these incidents like the childish food fight between Stewart/Vickers, but these are facts that have altered Jr’s year. Yet it’s still all his fault according to the media. He has had 2 or 3 new cars and all the rest are JG’s old cars. On the other hand Jeff has had almost all new cars. So don’t give me that line about Hendrick giving Jr every chance. There are things you are not even considering, but those don’t mean a thing to the media. It’s so much easier to just bash him without facts.
Do you wonder why we get so angry with the media. It is simply a case of monkey see, monkey do. None of you have the guts to really get the whole story. There are facts going back to 2008 when Jr first arrived that would blow your mind, but obviously nobody cares but Jr fans. Jr himself will never tell the whole story.
It’s like fighting City Hall. You all have the say, and we have none. But I’ll tell you one thing for sure. You will never, never, ever destroy the loyalty we have to this driver.
Sorry but I don’t assume anything especially when its already happened, and NASCAR is not about playing ,”Back to the future” just to please Earnhardt’s fans.
What happened has already happened, and even if you could play your fantasy scenario game. There is no telling that something else might have happened to keep your driver from a better finish.
If that was the case I’d like to go back to 2001 and assume that Earnhardt would have allowed Mikey and Junior fight there own battle, then the chances are he would still be here today. Luck is part of racing and some days you have it, and some days you don’t. Its the nature of the beast that affects ALL drivers.
SM is always looking for writers. So don’t sit back and say the media, which in this case your are talking about us here at SM didn’t give you a chance.
Sorry, but the reply box wouldn’t work. I would never be a writer for Nascar, because there are drivers I like and drivers I don’t like. It would be too difficult to be fair and unbiased. If I couldn’t be fair and base my reporting on facts, I would be just like the media is now.