After last Sunday’s second place finish in the season opening Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt Junior was one happy guy.
He hadn’t won a race in well over a year, lost his crew chief and cousin during the 2009 season and finished lower in the driver standings then he ever had in his career.
Daytona, and that second place finish, marked the beginning of what NASCAR’s most popular driver hoped would be a turnaround for his Hendrick Motorsports team.
Earnhardt headed west to Fontana hoping to continue validating the turnaround he hopes will bring him back into contention.
It wasn’t to be though. On lap 182 of Sunday’s Auto Club 500 as he started to take off from the pits after a stop, Earnhardt spun the tires on his No. 88 Chevy. The half shaft in the rear of the car snapped ending his day. He would finish 32nd.
Earnhardt said the problem started before the pit stop however.
“Down in the center of (Turns) 1 and 2 I just got back to the gas and the car felt like it had a flat tire,” a clearly dejected Earnhardt said. “I don't know. Something's going on there where we're chewing that stuff up and tearing it up. We've got to figure out why that's happening they think it's a material issue, so we'll just have to see."
That material issue may have also affected teammate Jimmie Johnson in last weeks Daytona 500, as he suffered a similar issue.
Prior to the season, Earnhardt admitted that one of the problems he had was in sharing information among his Hendrick Motorsports; a problem he said was dealt with in the offseason.
Obviously frustrated, Earnhardt was in no mood to answer when asked Sunday why if the teams were indeed sharing information did Jeff Gordon quickly moved his way to the front of the field while Earnhardt who started next to him, didn’t.
"We're two totally different teams.” he said. He then denied that the teams weren’t sharing information. “Of course we are. I can't build the cars. What do you want me to do? I just drive them."
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Comments
Jr will always have excuses for being a poor driver.
Why did Jeff Gordon move to the front and Jr didn't? Simple, he's a better driver. Jr may be MPD, but it isn't because of his driving skills.
Jr will always have excuses for being a poor driver.
I read that he no longer wants to be called "Junior". He just wants to be called Dale. I suggest he switch over to his actual first name, which is Ralph. That way he can run in the back and nobody will notice. He could still use the Dale Earnhardt name when he was selling something, lord knows we wouldn't want him to go broke. A switch in car numbers might also help him fade into the background at the track. In fact, he could start just skipping the racing stuff altogether and only focus on promoting products and running bars. Maybe he and Danica (a match that is truly made in heaven), could tour the country making personal appearances and selling their autographs. Ralph could sign pictures of he and his dad and Danica could sign pictures of herself taking a shower. Their road manager and MC could be good old DW himself.
Same old garbage written and bashers bashing. Not news....just the same old lies. You are one of the best at this Greg.
The real Jr. showed up at California. Ran mid pack all day and finally broke his car.
Jr said in his last interview that he prefered to be called Jr Dale sounds strange to him. Also if you were listening on the radio he was pitting early because there was something wrong with the car so don't say he broke it in the pits that's not true, fair's fair.
Looks like it's time for a new crew chief, or maybe he needs more engineers working on his car or......oh right- they already tried that.
What would make that car run better........is a different driver.
Go away Dale, please- just go away.
Does anyone know what happened to Dale's brakes in qualifying...? I was watching the race on my nascar.com tracker on the computer and I could see that he lost speed 'before' he pitted. Marybeth PS. On a more positive note, in just another 2 years and 34 races he can go to a team that can put him in a safe & competitive car. :)
Why dont you bashers get a life and worry about your drivers? Fans such as myself will stand by Junior no matter what the result. Who knows, maybe with enough bad luck at HMS, Junior will finally go where he belongs and is destined to be- RCR in the 3 car. He needs to be with people that will have his back, unlike Rick Hendrick's organization. Going to HMS is the only thing that I fault him for. Junior with RCR is how it should be.
I knew this was going to happen again. Just wait till about Richmond or maybe Darlington. Dale Jr and Hendrick Motorsports what just a bad fit. Dale Jr belongs with RCR. If you look at the last 2 or 3 seasons, all you see is just one lousy win. That is it. His Hendrick teammates are atop the standings and running in the top 10 each race, while he is in 32nd 4 laps down. That's not good.
By the way, poor drivers don't win 2 Nationwide championships, plus Sprint Cup races at Dover, Atlanta, Michigan, Richmond, Phoenix, Talladega, Bristol, Texas, an All Star Race, and oh by the way,,,,the 2004 Daytona 500!! Now I know that some of you will have some clever little comments, but guess what?? That won't change any of the facts that I listed above! Point proven-he might not be the best, but he is NOT a poor driver.
You people that make comments about "How come Jr. Did'nt immediately go to the front like Jeff Gordon?" sound so dumb. Clearly one car was better than the other. Guys don't win 18 sprint cup races on several different styles of tracks when they don't know how to drive. Maybe they can't get the car figured out and Jr might have a big part in being at fault for that, but the guy can drive a car. So here's my question for Gina, and all the other Jr bashers out there. When there is no mechanical issues in the equation, and Dale Jr is running higher than Jeff Gordon in a race, does that mean that Jeff Gordon is a worse driver for that instant? I believe that it was only maybe 4 or 5 races ago where that was the case. Although his CC ran him out of gas, Jr did run higher than Jeff Gordon for virtually the whole Texas race last fall (Just one of many examples).
To FDL: I used to be able to run the mile in the 5 min. range. That does not make me a great runner today. Ralph Dale Earnhardt JR used to win races. That does not make him a great driver today.
Us die-hard Jr fans are guilty of trying to find every excuse as to why Jr is running bad. Most of the time it is actually a reason that is out of his control, and when it is driver error, we usually admit that too.
As for the Jr bashers...You all sound so ignorant when you try to justify why he is a sub-par driver, by pointing out the fact that he was lower in running order than another driver, or by saying that he got lucky and was pushed to a good finish, or saying that he finished 40th so he must suck. When you fail to read further into things and fail to realize that you are blaming Jr for things that are clearly not his fault. That is when your ignorance is on display the most! Dale Jr has, and always will own up to his mistakes. You can all keep riding the Jr bashing bandwagon, then when he actually performs well you will keep looking stupid.
JR
You used to be able to run the mile in the 5 minute range. I find that highly doubtful, but, the only thing that made you stride was your muscle. Dale Jr has not lost any skill. Dale Jr's car is not running as good as it used to, compared to the field. Just like your body is not as able as it used to be. Start training hard enough and I bet you could get yourself back to running that 5 minute mile. Give Dale Jr a car that runs good and he can get back to winning those races he used to win. When he led laps and ran away from the field early in the Kansas race last year, Did Dale Jr have an instance of that skill he used to possess, and then just magically lost it when the team screwed up on pit road while he was leading? Or was it later in the race that he lost it when his engine blew??
Jr. sure didn't drive like his Daddy on this past sunday! Not even bump drafting would have helped. Another long year shaping up for Jr. Nation. Winning 2 Busch titles over 10 years ago is yesterday's news. There have been many Busch champions much like Jr., who never had success long term in Cup. Just under half of Jr.'s Cup wins were on plate tracks at a time when DEI had a huge Aero/HP adavantage. Verified when a driver with equal talent to Jr., Mikey Waltrip, won the only races of his career in the same DEI cars. Facts that to this day stare Jr. nation in the face, but they continue with their delusions.
Oh sorry...I forgot about those races that Mikey won at Bristol, Richmond, Texas, Phoenix, Dover, Atlanta, Michigan, and Texas. Oh yeah, he didn't do that! That was Earnhardt Junior! M.Waltrip and Junior aren't even comparable. It is obvious that Junior is and always has been a much better driver than him. You bashers are going to have to do better than that!
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