When Dale Earnhardt Jr. Talks, People Listen An Opinion
February 15, 2006
By Rebecca Gladden
Rebecca Gladden
In the 1980's, there was a series of television commercials for a now-defunct stock brokerage firm named E.F. Hutton. The ads featured a noisy crowd of people who suddenly fell silent when a Hutton client was about to reveal his broker's advice, and ended with a voiceover announcer pitching the popular catch phrase, "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen."
In present-day NASCAR, the same can be said about Dale Earnhardt Jr.
As the 2006 season launches, Earnhardt's thoughts and predictions attract intense interest from media personnel and fans alike. Why?
Simply put, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the franchise.
There is no arguing the size of Earnhardt's fan base or the revenue stream its loyal members produce. In 2005, Junior led all drivers in merchandise sales and accounted for approximately 25 percent of all drivers' licensed product sales - a remarkable statistic considering how many other big-name competitors participate at NASCAR's Nextel Cup level.
Junior has also won the fan-voted Most Popular Driver award three years in a row.
Perhaps early on a lot of the attention lavished on Dale Jr. was because of who he is - son of racing legend Dale Earnhardt, seven-time Cup champion. But Junior has carved out his own niche in the sport, winning 16 races in six full-time Cup seasons and finishing as high as third in overall points in 2003.
This year, however, much of the focus on Earnhardt Jr. relates to the question of what he failed to accomplish last year. Earnhardt did not qualify for NASCAR's ten-race playoff period known as the Chase for the Championship. He led just 169 laps and ended the season in 19th place, his lowest points finish as a Cup driver. He was also involved in a controversial crew chief swap with then-teammate Michael Waltrip prior to the start of the '05 season and changed crew chiefs twice more during the year.
Earnhardt's struggles in 2005, as well as those of four-time Champ Jeff Gordon, have sparked considerable preseason speculation about how the two will fare in 2006 - prompting reigning Champ Tony Stewart to complain last week about the media's focus on the two racing stars. "I think it's time to get over that aspect of it and let's be realistic about this," he told the Tampa Tribune. "There's more than just those two guys in the sport."
Nevertheless, Earnhardt continues to be at the epicenter of NASCAR media interest and fan popularity - and he's has had plenty to say recently about his past, present and future as a racecar driver. At times introspective, at times humorous, Dale Jr. fields interview questions with surprising ease and unwavering candor:
The past …
On the swap that sent cousin and long-time crew chief Tony Eury Jr. to Michael Waltrip's team: "It's real easy to sit here now and think, 'Man, what a mistake and what were you thinking?'. It's bigger than anything that you guys know about it. It's bigger than the sport and my success as a driver. It was about me and my cousin not getting along. That was more important to me. It wasn't about trying to be more successful or winning more races or being a champion. I didn't want to get to the point where I couldn't stand my cousin anymore."
On his racing struggles in 2005: "You know, we didn't have any success on the racetrack, but I learned a lot. It was something that had to happen. That was an unfortunate season that I had to experience, for some reason, to really get back - to really mentally get back to where I needed to be … You don't learn much from success. Obviously, you learn a lot when you make mistakes."
On missing the Nextel Cup Award's Banquet in December: "I talked to the powers that be. They said that we didn't have to go to New York, so I didn't have to make that trip. Then we got thrown under the bus by (NASCAR Vice President) Hunter. He pulled the 'Dale Earnhardt' card on us, said we should have been there. But they were the same people who told us we didn't have to go."
On the amount of attention paid to the fifth anniversary of the death of Dale Senior: "It's good he's still on people's minds. People still miss him. I still like to see the 3's, the stickers in the back of everybody's pickup truck and stuff like that … I don't mind talking about him, but there's some questions that are hard to - not hard to answer, but you get tired of answering them. There's no real answer for them."
On his father's legacy: "I want his legacy to be sort of a John Wayne type or a Clint Eastwood style legacy … When he worked, he did a good job. He'd give you everything he could give you. He'd try to do his best. He was respected, well-mannered, treated people the way he wanted to be treated."
The present …
On trying for a good starting spot in the Bud Shootout (by randomly choosing a bottle cap with a low number on it): "I worked real hard in the off-season pulling off bottle caps. I'm hoping that helps."
On the perks of fame: "Fame is a lot of fun. Fame gets you into boxing matches, football games and cool stuff. I mean, you get to do pretty much a lot of cool stuff, meet a lot of cool people. Obviously, I don't take advantage of my fame as much as some drivers do. But I do enjoy it."
On the role of the TV commentators in the booth: "We rely on those guys to paint that picture for the fans, and if they're sitting there painting me as an a--hole, you know, that's no good for me."
On the issue of bump drafting in the Bud Shootout: "It's a necessary evil, is what it is. You can't race restrictor plate racing without doing it. You have to do it."
On the strength of his Daytona 500 car: "I got the car to beat over in the garage for the 500. It's the fastest car. It won't run fast in qualifying, but that's the way we built it. We built it to race good. A lot of guys build their cars to go fast by themselves in a straight line. That's not how you win."
On what he does to pass the time during Daytona qualifying: "I look for hot chicks in tube tops. You know, you people watch a lot. You talk to your crew, to look busy. You look at people's cars. Still at that point, you probably haven't seen everybody's paint schemes."
The future …
On how his team will do in 2006: "I think we're going to come into the Chase being top three in the points. We'll have six or seven wins this season, if not more. If we lose the championship, it won't be by much."
On whether he would one day like to assume the leadership reins at Dale Earnhardt, Inc.: "I'd love to take over at DEI. Me and Teresa will talk about that when the time comes. We'll talk about that before the time comes, obviously. That's not in the near future."
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. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.
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