Dale Jr.

It's been 3 years, over 100 races since Dale Jr. won a race. I have been really hard on the guy, and his fans I know, so I thought maybe I'd take some time and explain myself and say why I don't think the fans favorite driver is all that good. Too be honest I don't really hate Jr. I don't like the media attention he gets, or the fact that everyone loves the guy, when frankly he hasn't done jack crap in career.

First of all, Jr. used to be good, he's won 18 races, (one more than my favorite driver Denny Hamlin) but all but three of them were before 2005. In case you didn't know July 18th, 2004 Jr. was in a crash at Infeon raceway in California. Driving a Corvette he hit the wall and the car suddenly burst into flames. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGR0KWLs51c, you can watch it here. Now, a good source of mine says that wreck changed Jr. and since then 6 wins for him, so something has changed in him. That crash is pretty scary is may make you think your not long for this world especially when your dad died while you were finishing a race in front of him. Maybe, Jr. made it a point then I'm just gonna count my cash and be a sponsor guy and screw being good, which makes sense in a way. NASCAR is the only sport people keep paying you no matter how good you are. If for instance a pro sports team struggled as much it's fans would stop going to games, buying merchandise, or watching on TV, but in racing it's different Jr. is by far the most popular and I'm guessing as long as he's driving he always will be.

That last thing is my whole driving force behind my Jr. ripping, how can fans continue to support a loser, forcing the media to shove him down our throat. Anytime he gets a top 5, the guys calling the race go nuts, he gets in the lead the entire stands get up and cheer. Hell a few weeks ago Jr's nationwide driver Aric Almirola got up front at the race I was at in Iowa and all the fans cheered, are you f'n me? This blind loyalty really bugs me especially when talented guys like Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick don't get nearly the camera time or the sheer number of fans. I get that the guys dad was possibly the best ever, but that didn't work for Kyle Petty he's not universally loved. Darrell Waltrip spends the entire Fox season of races saying it's his week to win. I guess I'm trying to say most guys who don't win in 3 years don't get talked about unless their doing something right, Jr. this year is 3rd in points and has come close to winning, but that's this year, he was a non-factor the last 2 years.

The other thing that gets under my skin is the advertisements, Jr does commercials for everyone, he's the freakin Peyton Manning of NASCAR. It really makes me think he just wants to count his money and not care about racing, once again this year excluded from that. His points finishes match up with other guys people won't even know, but somehow everyone loves Jr. These points keep coming back up, the results don't reflect the fan base or the dollars he's pulling in. Jr. is close to winning this year, and frankly I hope he does so I don't have too keep hearing how close he is or the number of races it's been since then. When he does I'm sure all 4 million of his fans will celebrate and whatever network airs that race will jump for joy b/c the ratings will be huge, and sportscenter will lead every day with a story about the streak ending, it'll be great. I actually fear the Cubs winning a world series but Jr. winning I'm not affraid of, just get it done 88, PLEASE.