How Does Dale Jr. Compare To "The Intimidator"?

With his 30th place finish at the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was officially dropped out of contention for the "Chase For The Championship". It marks the second time in three years that Dale Jr. won't make the cut for the 10-race playoff. It's also fueled some criticism of the driver, and questions as to why he hasn't been able to win a race the entire season while his father was able to amass seven championships over his career. But how much more success did Earnhardt Sr. have at the same stage in his racing career as Dale Jr. is at now?
Obviously NASCAR had changed quite a bit in the 24 years between when Earnhardt Sr. started in '75 and Dale Jr. joined the ranks in '99. However, it's still about having a fast car, getting around the track and pulling off quick pit stops. In that sense, things are pretty much the same.

In putting this comparison together, I realized there were a few different ways it could be done. I could take numbers strictly from between the ages of 24-31 for both drivers, or I could throw out Earnhardt Sr.'s first 3 years when he didn't race much and start counting his stats at age 27 when he participated in the same amount of races as Dale Jr. did at age 24(5 races). I ultimately decided to use the stats from when they both started at age 24, and compile a winning percentage. Here is what I found:

Dale Earnhardt Sr.(between the ages of 24-31): 128 races, 7 wins, 5 poles, 47 top fives. Won roughly 5% of his races, placed top 5 in roughly 36%.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.(between the ages of 24-31): 255 races, 17 wins, 6 poles, 69 top fives. Won roughly 6% of his races, placed top 5 in roughly 27%.

As you can see, at roughly the same stage both Dale Jr. and his dad put together similar statistics. Though Earnhardt Sr. did win his first championship at age 29, whereas Dale Jr. is still searching for his first.

All in all, Dale Jr. isn't too far off of the pace of his father, and his contentious relationship with his stepmother has to have been a burden on him over the past few seasons. It will be interesting to see how he performs with his new team. Rebounding all the way back to winning a championship next season would be an ideal way to shut up his critics, and draw more favorable comparisons to "The Intimidator" and his seven titles.

Pick A Number, Any Number. Except For 8.

It looks like Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a decision to make regarding his car for next season. It also looks like the tension between Dale Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt will continue for the forseeable future. Junior's stepmother, Teresa, owns the rights to use the number "8" on cars run by her DEI team, and Junior's new team, Hendrick Racing, wasn't able to acquire those rights.

Hendrick was unable to reach an agreement to acquire the number from DEI, owned by Earnhardt's stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt. Family history with "8" dates to Earnhardt's grandfather, the late Ralph Earnhardt, and has been carried by Junior for his entire Nextel Cup career.

DEI had first right of refusal to continue its lease of the number from NASCAR, which technically owns all numbers assigned to cars.

So Dale Jr., who has been using the number eight for quite a few years, and chose it because his grandfather had used it, won't be allowed to use it next season. And it sounds like Hendrick Motorsports did their best to secure the rights, but that Teresa Earnhardt wasn't willing to budge.

"Obviously, he has a tremendous history with that number, and we know how important it is to his fans. Unfortunately, we couldn't reach a point where the terms made sense, and now we have to move forward with other options."

I have a feeling that when Marshall Carlson, general manager of Hendrick Motorsports, says "we couldn't reach a point where the terms made sense" what he really means is "Teresa Earnhardt wouldn't stop being a bitch for a few minutes to let Dale Jr. keep his old number".

And for those of you that, like me, thought he could just take over his dad's old #3, he would have to strike a deal with Richard Childress Racing.

The No. 3, carried by the late Dale Earnhardt Sr., remains under the control of Richard Childress Racing and has not been retired officially.

This is just another occurence that causes many NASCAR fans to dislike Teresa Earnhardt, and it will be interesting to see how Dale Jr. responds. I'm hoping that he persuades Ricky Rudd's team to let him use the #88 as a way to show his disdain for his stepmom's actions.

Budweiser, The Biggest Loser In The Earnhardt Feud

By now, I'm sure that you've heard about Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaving DEI for Hendrick Motorsports. In case you missed it, Dale Jr. signed a five year deal with Hendrick last month.
It was reported today that because of "agreements in place" Budweiser will no longer be able to sponsor Dale Jr. It effectively ends a relationship that Budweiser has spent 10 years building.

Budweiser is the "official beer of NASCAR", sponsors the Bud Shootout, and up until today had their logo splashed all over the car of one of NASCAR's most visible drivers. The sponsorship was so strong that one point Budweiser produced a special edition "Dale Jr. Eight Pack". No, not 6 or 12, but 8.

Now, they won't be able to reap any benefits of whatever success Dale Jr. is able to attain at Hendrick. Even if he doesn't win a lot of races, he'll still be focused on every single week because of the move from DEI, and his new partnership with former rival Jeff Gordon. Budweiser has spent a lot of time and money to become synonymous with NASCAR and Dale Jr., and stand to the lose the most with his recent move to Hendrick Racing.

Ironically, as I was typing this post I looked out the window, and across the street there's a Chevy Trailblazer with a #8 Budweiser flag attached to the window.