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Nascar and Racing

Junior's Free Ride With Fans Must End

Posted Jun 05, 2009 4:32PM By David Whitley (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports

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There's been a lot of hubbub recently over Dale Earnhardt Jr. becoming the Frank Sinatra Jr. of NASCAR. However you feel, everybody should agree on one thing.

Thank goodness the Junior Nation wasn't running the show back in 1776. If it had we'd all have British accents and be curtsying before royalty.

Junior fans obviously believe in the Divine Right of Kings. Nothing else can explain why Earnhardt Jr. still sits on NASCAR's throne.

In the last 112 races, he has won once. That's 12 fewer checkered flags than Kyle Busch, 20 fewer than Jimmie Johnson and only one more than Stevie Wonder.

If he were a baseball player, Junior would have been sent to the minors a year go. If he were a football player, he would have become an Arena League tackling dummy. If he were a basketball player, Isiah Thomas would have traded for him.

But he is Little E, so he still rules everything in NASCAR, except the winner's circle.

Earnhardt has been voted the sport's most popular driver six straight years. Unless he is spotted on a bin Laden videotape, he will probably make it seven in a row this season.

dale earnhardt jr. fanJunior Nation, pardon the rest of the world if we just don't get it.

Everybody understands the legacy part. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was beloved in life and has become Elvis in death. His son would naturally inherit a lot of the love, hopes and dreams.

If only he had inherited more of his father's driving ability. Forget dad, too bad he doesn't have Kyle Busch's skills.

That comparison infuriates Junior Nation, a large portion of which is in serious denial. At first Earnhardt's problems were caused by the evil stepmother who seized control of the family racing business.

Then Junior escaped her clutches last year and signed with Hendrick Motorsports, the best team in the business. It has produced Johnson, Jeff Gordon and even turned 87-year-old Mark Martin back into a winner.

All that, and Earnhardt was barely in the top 20 season in this season's standings. That led to last week's removal of his crew chief/cousin Tony Eury.

Yeah, it was all his fault.

Part of it undoubtedly was, just as part of the problem was Teresa Earnhardt, just as part of it was the fact the dog ate Junior's homework. A lot of people share some blame, but the man behind the wheel admits you don't go 1-for-112 without some contribution from the driver.

"There really isn't one thing you can put your finger on as to why it didn't work," Earnhardt said. "I take full responsibility for making some mistakes along the way, especially this year. ... I would definitely say that I haven't been on my game."

But is his best game good enough to justify being proclaimed the King of NASCAR? Something about that contradicts what the sport is all about.

If you cut open NASCAR's heart, it would bleed red, white and blue. Daytona is "The Great American Race." NASCAR Moms and Dads vote for traditional values.

Fans flout their independence from those other stuffy leagues. Drivers aren't raised with a sense of entitlement. Guys go to work and come home dirty. It's Americana, which is why there was a near revolt when Toyota started running those darned Japanese cars around our homeland tracks.

All that makes racing a sport our Founding Fathers would be proud of. Yet Junior Nation's attitude would leave Thomas Jefferson scratching his head.

His "all men are created equal" was a direct rebuttal of Divine Right. It's the belief that a monarch is appointed by God, and any attempt to depose him will be considered heresy.

It reached it zenith with the House of Tudor and House of Stuart. We fought the Revolutionary War to escape King George and his divine lineage. Now the most American of sports has given us the House of Earnhardt.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Photos

    Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team manager Brian Whitesell, left, and interim crew chief Lance McGrew, right, watch from the pits during the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

    AP

    Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s interim crew chief Lance McGrew watches from the pits during the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

    AP

    DOVER, DE - MAY 31: Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet, races Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 31, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    DOVER, DE - MAY 31: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, races David Ragan, driver of the #6 UPS Ford, and Jeff Burton, driver of the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 31, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

    Getty Images

    Mark Martin (5) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) head into turn one during the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

    AP

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. waits on pit road prior to the start of the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

    AP

    Scott Speed, left, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., right, talk during driver introductions before the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

    AP

    DOVER, DE - MAY 31: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, stands on the grid prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 31, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

    Getty Images

    Members of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s pit crew work on his car before the start of the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400 auto race, Sunday, May 31, 2009, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

    AP

    DOVER, DE - MAY 31: Joey Logano, driver of the #20 Home Depot Toyota, races Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 31, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

    Getty Images


Dale Sr. ruled NASCAR, and his son will inherit the kingdom no matter what he does. Or doesn't do, like win.

The thing is, Junior never really asked to be King. He has no choice because of his bloodline and the fact millions of fans want to be his loyal subjects.

That's put untold pressure on him over the years. I'd feel sorry for him if he hadn't made $35 million last year living the royal lifestyle. Imagine what Junior would make if he wasn't batting .010 in his last 100 plate appearances.

Maybe his revamped team will turn things around. Or maybe what we have here is just a good driver with a great name.

That would be enough for his Nation to keep him on NASCAR's throne. But our Founding Fathers, Earnhardt's father and even Jr. would prefer he get the job the old fashioned way.

By earning it.

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