ESPN’s Mike Massaro Speaks With Dale Earnhardt Jr. About His Move to Hendrick Motorsports
What are the expectations for you at Hendrick?
“To win. I think the expectations will be for us to contend for championships and to be there year after year, contending for those championships. I would not dodge the pressure or dodge the opportunity to put myself in the best situation just because of the fear of failing to do that.”
What about your relationship and your fans’ relationship with Jeff Gordon?
“I think that we can still have a healthy rivalry within the walls of Hendrick Motorsports. I race him with respect. I never run into him, he never runs into me. We get aggressive, and we get upset with each other on the racetrack, but rarely. My fans and his fans can still draw a line in the sand between each other.”
What will people say if you don’t win?
“He wasn’t as good as his daddy. There is no argument there. I’m sure in a lot of people’s eyes if I don’t win a championship I will have failed. I do want to win a championship, I want that trophy, you know. I want to have that for myself.”
What would your dad say about this situation?
“He would be mad that I’ve left DEI, he would be upset that situation went down. But I believe at the end of the day that he’ll be proud of everything that I’ve ever done … that I was my own man and I made my own decisions.”
On not going to Richard Childress Racing
“Put yourself in my shoes. That was not my number, that’s my dad’s number. The things I struggled with there were the constant comparisons to my father, the constant discussions about my father and I don’t think I could’ve been that close to it for all those years, you know what I’m saying?”
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He’s a 100% right, he’s not his dad, he races nothing like his dad, he is way to nice
of a racer so damn straight he didn’t need to go to RCR, and his dad got me in this sport,
not him. I would like to know how popular Jr would be without that last name, because
a driver with only 17 wins hasn’t done enough to grab that popularity. A driver who
wouldn’t spin someone out to win is not someone I want on my team because that shows
he is content with 2nd place. thats a big problem with NASCAR today.
The connection for me between being a fan of Junior and his name is simply something I have stated on other boards too, he may not be the top driver in the world, and he doesn’t even claim to be. But, he’s got strength (emotionally) that most men in this world don’t have. How many of you know someone that could watch his dying father be cut out of a wrecked car one week, go back to work doing the same thing that killed your father the very next week. I know it was because he knew that if he didn’t go back then, he might never go back. People make excuses for other drivers having a poor race because of things going on off the track bothering them. Can anyone compare their problems to what Juniro must have been feeling in July 2001 when he returned to the very track that his father was killed on and won that race. He makes tough decisions and doesn’t blame everyone else when something goes wrong. He’s REAL, he’s a fun loving southern boy and he’s never pretended to be anything else. He’s be the first one to tell you that he’s not as good as his father was, the only people that claim he thinks he’s that good are haters. He’s down to earth and knows who he is and doesn’t try to fit in some modle. NASCAR was built by the southern boys, not transplants that look and act more like they belong in Hollywood than behind the wheel of a stock car.
AMEN TO THAT
It helps that he’s a cutie too!!
WAAAAAAAA!
I can’t measure up to my Dad!
Anonymous
Jun 19th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
WAAAAAAAA!
I can’t measure up to my Dad!
What kind of name is that? You don’t even have the guts to use your own name. You need to grow up.
Ya’ll just have to ignore anonomus(yeah i’m still a dumb rednack and still can’t spell it Anonymous) always running off at the mouth but ain’t got the cojones to use their name.
To all the folks that post in this thread I’m very sorry. That was a blatant attack on the mystery man and I apologize. Not to u tho anonomus.
By the way can’t no one measure up to Jr.s Dad..
i will be dalejr fan know matter you he goes with . he is my best nascar driver.
mr. thompson how do u know who posted that statement? jr. shows his integrity on the track every time he gets behind the wheel, he gets an unfair , bad wrap because of his name,,he does not control who his father was,,he was just blessed!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that he is not at DEI and since he didn’t go to RCR.. Jr can make his own name he
doesn’t have to be as good as his father for people to like him.. I’ll be glad when all
the bandwagon Fans Jump ship and us true Jr fans will be here to cheer him on.
thank you, METTA,,,,,WELL SAID!
cathy if you will read the post above mine it was aimed at Anonymous he was bad mouthing jr so i was rattling his chain
Enough already, JR did not want to compete with his fathers records/past on a weekly basis at RCR and that’s what would have happened. Hendrick will give him a fresh start to prove he can win if given a good car.
Michael Andretti didn’t mind following in his father’s footsteps. Of course, he KNEW how to drive, there’s a difference.
Jayson, only three drivers have won more races than Junior in the last seven years. At hendrick motorsports he can be his own man.
I sorta wish JR would read this but know the chances are nil —
anyway, to JR,
i believe you have things BACKWARDS darlin! you said,
““He would be mad that I’ve left DEI,
he would be upset that situation went down”
If anything is true, your daddy would be most upset that your
birthright was kept from you for a PRICE, that he trusted his
wife, your stepmother, to do what he wanted and what she knew was
the right thing to do and she held out for dough ray me MONEY!
I truly believe he would be proud of you for being your own man–
not taking shit from her and showing everyone that you are the son
of the man and can make it on your own!!
Wishing you only the best!!
mare
hey jayson.
in the OLD NASCAR, you could spin someone out to win a race. you do it now, and any points you’ve earned get jacked from you.
It doesn’t take talent to wreck someone. I actually think Jr. is a far more respectable driver than his father. I won’t say he’s necessarily as talented/gifted as Sr. (but as good as the competition’s talent was back then it didn’t have as much depth in the field as today, all with similar levels of experience at the Cup tracks, all with equal equipment and as much of a capability of winning) was, but he’s not as much of a jerk behind the wheel either. Real racers can race hard and still be clean. Sr. was about winning at all costs… but you’re not truly a “winner” if you can’t win without taking out your competition to do so. All you really are is the biggest loser to finish first…
I respect Jr. behind the wheel far more than I ever respected his dad behind the wheel… and I’ve watched Cup since the early 80’s when DW and Bobby Allison and Cale and Neil and Benny and the King were all racing. I still remember Dave Marcis’ last win vividly. I remember watching Ron Bouchard win, a name a lot of people probably don’t even remember. The so-called old school fans that talk about how you could spin someone out to win forget what NASCAR was like before Sr. came to the scene. It generally was less of a demo derby, esp. since they’d beat the snot out of you if you took them out (i.e. Donnie Allison and Cale).
Moral of the story… I support Jr.’s decision. He did what he felt he had to do. I wish him good luck at HMS and wherever or whatever he does into the future. He’s definitely his own man and that’s the best part about him IMHO.
I agree, remember he’s Dale JR, not Dale.
Not a fan of his, but hey, I got tremendous respect for the guy
he wanted a winning team. Not a meaty oker team
meaty oker? Is that a fat person from Tulsa? Or maybe a steak house?