Dale Jr: Intimidator or Intimidated?
7 Comments Quote selected text Published March 18th, 2010 in NASCAR News
Dean McNulty - If there is an enigma in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, his name is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Here you have the sport’s most popular athlete, followed everywhere he goes by a sea of green-clad fans clamouring for nothing more than a nod in their direction. One would think that after 10 years of that kind of idolatry Earnhardt would be comfortable in his own skin. But that isn’t the case.
Earnhardt is shy to the point of being phobic. He would rather chew razor blades than answer questions in public and, if truth be known, he has said himself that he might have been happier being a plumber where the only place you would see his name would be on his shirt pocket. But that was never going to happen for the son of the great, late Dale Earnhardt.
Being a stock car driver is part of Earnhardt’s very DNA. His father matched him up against his older half-brother Kerry and his sister Kelley, as a teenager on the short tracks around Mooresville, N.C. and when he came out the winner he inherited a ride in the family’s No. 8 Chevrolet.
And when in the first race of his sophomore Cup season his dad was killed trying to clear the way for his son to win the 2001 Daytona 500, his world changed instantly and dramatically. Junior, as he was and is known, would never again be able to find a moment of peace when in public.
Expectations that would make Charles Dickens shudder, were suddenly placed on his slender shoulders. He was anointed by his father’s fans as the one who would and could build on a legacy that had already attained iconic proportions. And when Junior went on to be among the best of his class it wasn’t enough.
The pressure was on him to be the best of the best. There was no arguing logic with his devoted fans. His father won seven Cup championships therefore Junior must also win seven championships. Unlike the sons of Mickey Mantle and Gordie Howe, who never came close of their fathers’ prowess, Junior looked as though he might just break out at any time and take a run at history.
Because he hasn’t. He is now being portrayed by many as an underachiever at best and an outright failure at worst. The sad thing is that none of it is Junior’s own doing.
Some of what you say is correct. The green clad I don’t see at my track. For a man who doesn’t like to answer questions in public he handles himself very well. When the interviewer asks stupid questions or starts getting personal, that is what he doesn’t care for. As for not meeting expectations, it was not his longtime fans that put him under pressure, dare I say media. As for not living up to them, we longtimers no why and who is responsible and are not upset with him. The Jr. haters are going to love responding to this article. But then it is a slow press day.
How about IRRITATED, which is what I would be if I was jr. This is a perfect example of someone using Jr’s name to get attention. Its no secret when you mention this guy people pay attention, and what better way for someone to get there story, use JR and you will generate readers and viewers. Stories like this are part of the problem with placing Jr under so much pressure. The media is responsible for using his name to build hype and then after awile fans start believing the hype and expect for superman to bust into his cape and take over, well it hasnt happened, yet these article are still written. Instead of people letting go of Sr, they have relocated there hopes in JR. Hoping Jr would carry on the legacy of Sr, well I think it was obvious from the onslaught that Jr is a completely different person then his dad was. Yet the media has promoted him to be the 2nd coming. For one they use the incident with his dad like this story cause it a tug at your heart strings story that gets peoples attention, then they follow it up with excuses of why he has yet to perform like his dad. Like in the article above saying when Jr went on to be among the best in his class, it wasnt enough. Well of his 10 years in the series he has only finished in the top 10 4 times, he hasnt been among the best very much. Its the media placing him among the best, his stats over his time in the series dont show him being among the best. If the media and some fans accepted Jr for being Jr, and forget all about Sr when it comes to Jr, let jr be himself then teh views maybe a little more realistic. Im not bashing Jr, but the media has whored this guy and his name out to get attention to there sites and there broadcast.
The last statement speaks volumes about this writers intentions in this article. On one hand the writer says Jr was ” among the best” then he says because Jr hasnt lived to the expectations its not his fault. Well if Jr was among the best at one point with DEI a at one time a good team, then goes to HMS the series dominant team and still is not doing whats expected tehn whos fault is it. I get the arguement over him leaving DEI and wanting to go to a better team. Well he is at the better team and same result. SO whos fault is it?
From rowdys quote above …The last statement speaks volumes about this writers intentions in this article. On one hand the writer says Jr was ” among the best” then he says because Jr hasnt lived to the expectations its not his fault. Well if Jr was among the best at one point with DEI a at one time a good team, then goes to HMS the series dominant team and still is not doing whats expected tehn whos fault is it. I get the arguement over him leaving DEI and wanting to go to a better team. Well he is at the better team and same result. SO whos fault is it?
I agree with above statement.. I am a jr . fan , mark martin and brad k too..
but if you have all the sponsers , one of the most dominant teams money can buy and you start on the pole and cannot even hold the first lap ?
well there is something wrong there with driver , guts or something .. everytime I watch it is like he waits and waits there is no tomorrow go for it . Well I am anxious to see what happens without the dumb wing. He will be racing for a long time and I hope he gets better but not sure he will ever win a championship.. but mark martin hasnt either .
Rowdybush .. now dont get to excited here but I think personality wise kyle is a piece of crap cry baby.. behind the wheel 95 % of the time he is the one that runs like dales old man. .. pedal on the floor move or I ll move ya against the wall or in the fence you can count on one thing from kyle he will not back down.. His attitude is not worthy,, but driving he can do that ..
Craig, he was instructed by his cc to take it easy, don’t run it to hard (or something to that effect) the cc then went on to say it was a long race. Did you not hear the cc last season tell him that he was not racing to win, but to help mm win. The list goes on and on. Now there are those of us just waiting to see what happens and trying our best to keep quiet.
Craig,
I agree with you about Kyle he does have a bad attitude sometimes but on the other hand I like seeing a Guy who is disappointed with 2nd place and a Guy who shows his emotions, I hate seeing the get out of the car and change to a corporate puppet like Edwards.
As for Jr I agree with you there to. Although I do t wanna say he has no guts but I feel he has a racers version of writers block. Do I think he will ever dominate or win a championship, hell no. I do think he is capable of more, but I dont think he is as good as he is made out to be. Again the media whores his name out to get attention and that is a lot of unprovoked stress on him.
I wouldn’t want to live in the shadow of any great person, the children of these people
never get to be themselves, not all of them want to follow suite. So what are we teaching
our children………..why are they expected to be this, that and the other. They should be
be able to be themselves, but we all know better and the media can be ruthless at times.
I sincerely hope for Jr.’s sake he can get it together, otherwise they need to leave him alone.
He is his own person, so give it a break.
The media “SUCKS”. Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, but sometimes people need to think
before they start bashing someone. Yes when you are in the public eye you have to behave a
certain way and I think for the most part these guys do well compared to other sports.
I wish them safety, this is a tough sport and very dangerous, so I respect what they do and
how they run.
hey rowdy I agree with all … and BB454 he might be a team guy and all last year but it would seem now is the time for the[ lay it on the line] issue
I am a fan but unless he can put his car in the top five not top 15 for 6 or 8 races all I can do is say I like the guy.. I cannot say man he is great.
This aint t ball there is no glory for the m, waltrip spot in the back row.
IT seems to me he has passion and talent and if races long enough will win races . But it just might be a curse as much as a blessing having a famous father that cast such a long shadow over him. He will just have to go out have fun and let us couch q .b. s shoot the sh..