June 7, 2010
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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The 2010 season began very well for Dale Earnhardt Jr. He rose to as high as seventh in the points after a couple of strong runs early in the year. As the season has progressed, things have begun going downhill for NASCAR's most popular driver and are on the verge of spiraling out of control.
Before the Pocono race, he had fallen to 17th position in the points, 54 points behind the cutoff of making the Chase. While that certainly is not insurmountable at this point of the year, one has to question whether or not Earnhardt can turn his season around.
Qualifying for the Chase is always hotly contested and right now, several other drivers are on the rise, while it would appear that Earnhardt is fading. And it seems that it is an ongoing cycle during his tenure at Hendrick Motorsports. He usually starts the season strong, but fades down the stretch.
Last year, Earnhardt was the only driver in the Hendrick stable not to qualify for the Chase and it could be that history may repeat itself this season. Yet, what is the problem with the No. 88 team?
“As we continue to get outpaced by our teammates, we have been getting more honest about where we feel our weaknesses are and what we need to work on,” Earnhardt was quoted as saying in an examiner.com article by Jeremy Dunn.
Earnhardt has certainly proven that he's capable of winning races and Championships; he has 18 career victories in Cup and two Championships in what was then the Busch Series, now the Nationwide Series.
Midway through last season, Rick Hendrick made a crew chief change, hoping that would provide the spark that would ignite the team, but so far no tangible results have been seen.
Earnhardt's talent as a driver should not be in question. He's proven that he can win. Rick Hendrick is a great car owner with the best equipment in the garage and has won the last four Championships in a row with Jimmie Johnson. Sometimes however, drivers and teams just don't click, and it has nothing to do with the driver or with the team. So what then would be the best scenario? Is it time for Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports to part ways?
Questions have already begun to rise as to who is going where at Hendrick Motorsports. It was recently announced the Kasey Kahne has signed with Hendrick for the 2012 season, but his plans for next year have not been decided yet.
Mark Martin has one year left on his contract in the No. 5 car, the ride that Kahne is supposed to take over in 2012. There is speculation the Kahne will go to Stewart-Haas Racing, a Hendrick affiliated team, for a season.
Next year would be the perfect opportunity for Earnhardt to cut ties with Hendrick and start over somewhere else. After all, it appears that Hendrick may have already signed his replacement.
Any team would jump at the opportunity to sign NASCAR's most popular driver, if for no other reason than the sponsorship opportunities that it would bring. On the other hand, if Earnhardt's performance doesn't soon improve, how much longer will his marketability hold up?
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