Driver of the #88 Hendrick Chevy, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Getty Images/Sam Greenwood
It is kind of sad to say, that Dale Earnhardt Jr. just completed the 2009 season in the worst final drivers points position of his 10 year career. He finished 25th in points and that is six spots worse then his previous worst points finish of 19th in 2005.
For Dale Jr., and more importantly his fan base, there are no more excuses. He drives for the best team, he is in the best equipment, and a 50 year old driver, driving the same equipment built in the same ship as his took that equipment and won five races with it.
It seems that Dale Jr. is letting his ego get in the way of his racing. He needs a crew chief that can tell him to shut up, knock it off, and let the crew get the car right. Anyone who listened to Junior’s #88 team communications this year knows that Lance McGrew is not that guy.
Think about it, most NASCAR fans have heard Champion Crew Chief Chad Knaus tell his driver to shut it, or to counter one of his driver’s demands. In fact he did so in the final race at Homestead. It does not seem that McGrew can do the same with Junior. The fact, almost more than any else, is why this team is running so bad.
The great things about stats are stats do not lie. In 2009 Junior’s average start was 22.2, and his average finish was 23.2. That means that as the race went on, and Junior was busy running his mouth to his crew over the radio, the car got worse and worse.
Worse than that Junior has a very difficult time finishing races. For the first three quarters he could get his car towards the front of the field, only to give it all back in the final quarter of the race. His average running position for the 2009 season was 18.4. He ran just 81.5% of the 2009 laps on the lead lap and spent just 44.6% of 2009 laps running in the Top 15.
With those numbers in mind there is no wonder why he had just two top 5 and five top 10 finishes in 2009. He completed 96.7 of the laps run in 2009, but led only about 10% of them. He had five DNF’s, three of them due to equipment failure and two to on the track incidents. In all he won 3.9 million dollars in purse money over the 2009 season.
Given the fact that his three Hendrick Motor Sports teammates finished 1-2-3 in the final points standings calling his 25th place finish an underachievement is a vast understatement. There is something clearly wrong with Junior’s team, or Junior’s head, or with Junior’s ego, and we should pity Lance McGrew who has to figure all of that out.
It may simply be that Junior is burned out. He may have burned himself out, riding the emotion of his father’s death to NASCAR success. If Junior used rage, at the loss of his Dad, to fuel his driving success that well may now be tapped. If he used sadness to drive him, one can only stay sad for so long. Whatever the issue is, Junior and his #88 team have their work cut out for them in 2010.
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