June 6, 2011
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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The recent economic downturn has drastically affected NASCAR. Everything from television ratings and ticket sales -- to the amount of sponsorship dollars being pumped into the sport have all seen a significant drop. However, the sport is finally trending back upward for two reasons -- reasons that have nothing at all to do with the economy.
The cause for the upswing is simple. Dale Earnhardt Jr., is finally having some serious success. Not only is he currently ranked fourth in the point standings, but he is contending for wins.
He came agonizingly close to victory for the first time since 2008 last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway when he ran out of gas on the final lap. Yet instead of being bitterly disappointed and despondent as most drivers in his situation would have been, Earnhardt was instead encouraged by the way he ran and finished the race. Earnhard also finished second to Brad Keselowski at Kansas Speedway this past Sunday.
"To be honest, I know there will be disappointment about coming so close tonight but our fans should be real happy about how we are performing and how we are showing up at the race track. How competitive we are. We've definitely improved things and we want to keep getting better and better," Earnhardt said in a press conference after the race at Charlotte. "I think they are pleased with our efforts and pleased with the results so far this year and I'll be the first to admit we need more, but this is going in the right direction. I felt like a true front-runner tonight. I've felt like that several times this season, but Charlotte is a true test. The 600 is a true test of our team and we performed well all night long."
"I think that we came close to winning that race and we’ve done it a couple times this year and that makes me feel more confident in us having that opportunity again more often throughout the season," Earnhardt was quoted as saying in a recent press conference at Kansas. "I feel like that if we just keep doing that then the luck is going to fall our way and we’ll get to victory lane one way or another."
After his second place showing at Kansas, Earnhardt was glowing about his opportunity to win.
It's so hard to pass here. It's awful hard to pass. Worst I've ever seen it," said Earnhardt. "And so starting where we did, it just wasn't easy. We finally got to right outside that top 10 and was looking good for the last 100 laps. I went to searching for more speed and busted my butt up there on 3 and 4, and tossed us in all the spots we worked for all day. But it also gave Steve the chance to play the strategy game where you gotta pit when that caution came out that we came and got fuel. We put ourselves in a one stop scenario where everybody else didn't pit. They can't give up the track position because it's so hard to pass.
"So they stayed out there knowing they'd have to come down to pit road twice. That was the game that we took, and the race could have went, could have had a caution and changed everybody's strategy, but it worked out for us and right to the end. We had a good car. We just didn't have a second place car not at all, but we had a top 10 car."
It would appear that Earnhardt has really meshed well with new crew chief Steve Letarde because the No. 88 team is off to a great start this season with no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
Earnhardt has completed 4,340 laps this season, more than any other driver in the series. His average finish this season of 10.3 ranks him third behind only Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is by far the most popular driver in NASCAR. Whatever success that he has is in turn -- success for NASCAR.
The other significant change that has been a shot in the arm for NASCAR is the threat that Danica Patrick may be coming to NASCAR full time next season. Rumors have been running about whether or not Patrick would commit to NASCAR on a full-time basis ever since she first began racing part-time in the Nationwide Series.
However a couple of weeks ago, espn.com broke the story that she would in fact be racing a full Nationwide schedule next season. Patrick immediately called the report speculation and claimed that there was no truth in the rumors.
Both Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Danica Patrick are media sensations. Neither one of them will ever lack for sponsors or popularity. Any success that either one of them have is always great for their respective series. It would be a major coup for NASCAR if Patrick decides to move to stock car racing full-time.
The only question is -- would Junior Nation be able to contend with Danicamania?
If you would like to learn more about Matthew, please check out his web site at matthew-pizzolato.com.
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