What Do You Get a Dale Earnhardt Jr. Fan For Christmas?

December 11, 2007

By Brian Watkins

Brian Watkins

The NASCAR off-season, short as it may be, is often filled with questions. Many pertain directly to the sport itself, such as “Will my drivers crew change?” -- “What changes will NASCAR implement to keep things fresh (and controversial)?” -- and “Is it too early to jockey for a parking spot at Michigan with good drainage?” This year many friends and family members of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans also have questions, the biggest one being, “What do we get our Earnhardt Jr. fan for Christmas?”

I’d like to say that I have the answer to that question, but alas, being the husband of a Junior fan, I’m in the same boat. Do I get her something “8ish”, one last piece of the #8 legacy or do I find the latest and greatest #88 item even though the car has yet to hit the track in competition?

There are plenty of options for both flavors of Junior.

Online retailers aren’t much help as they still offer items from both careers. Maybe once the new season starts the “old” Junior stuff will be, literally, a thing of the past. Until then it seems no one can decide which Junior number to settle on. Even a trip to the official Dale Junior online store really isn’t much help as they have a large collection of both #8 and #88 shirts, die casts, hats and anything else you can imagine having a Junior moniker on it.

While the selection is broad and being the official store and the quality is assuredly excellent, the mixture of #8 and #88 fare makes the shopping decision all the more difficult. So instead of pondering over gifts that are available, I thought I’d come up with some Junior memorabilia that isn’t on the shelves but should be.

1...A commemorative, banged up #5 Chevy die cast with Junior behind the wheel.

2...A commemorative, banged up #8 Chevy die cast with Junior behind the wheel.

3...A 1/16 R/C DEI #8. While these are readily available at big box stores, my version would be a bit different. When you take the brand new toy out of the box for a spin, a manufacturing defect will render it useless for a minimum of an hour at random intervals. The packaging would tout the unique features of the car -- features such as “With Real Unexpected Smoking Engine!” -- “A Left Rear Wheel That REALLY Falls Off!”

As a back-up to the built in defects, if during play no defects occur, the car will inexplicably crash into the nearest wall.

4...Limited edition Dale Junior and Theresa Earnhardt “Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots”

5...A Dale Junior Victory Lane Fantasy Diorama (Sorry, I couldn’t resist)

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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