JOHN HALL
nascarfrontpage.com

After years of growth, NASCAR is experiencing declining TV ratings and lower attendance on race day. There are several factors that contribute to this dilemma, not the least of which is a struggling economy. There is another glaring reason, however. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not having the success many fans would love to see.

While Dale, Jr. has shown signs of improvement this season, he is still 16th in points, 4 spots out of the Chase. It seems he runs into bad luck every week. He cuts tires, has mechanical issues, or just plain gets shuffled back in the waning laps. It is not for lack of talent, as he has shown he is capable of winning at this level. Whatever the reason, NASCAR would benefit immensely if Earnhardt returned to the level of competing for the win week in and week out. People would surely tune in on a Sunday afternoon to see the excitement of their favorite driver consistently running up front and contending for the win.

So what is NASCAR to do? They can’t manipulate rules or do anything to give Earnhardt an advantage. In fact, they have to go out of their way to make sure they don’t make any rulings or decisions that could potentially benefit Earnhardt Jr. because such rulings are always viewed with skepticism by certain fans and even drivers. If the 88 is the first car a lap down and eligible for the lucky dog, any caution for debris better be for an object the size of the Dover Monster!

This presents quite a quandary for NASCAR. The one driver whose success can provide a ratings and attendance boost for the sport is the one driver who can’t be the recipient of any decision which could be viewed with any semblance of impropriety. Does NASCAR meet with Rick Hendrick to discuss the benefits of a successful Earnhardt? I’m sure Hendrick doesn’t need to be reminded that he is providing equipment to the most popular driver in the sport and most fans would love to see that equipment cross the finish line before anyone else’s.

Adding to the problem is who is actually winning the races while Earnhardt Jr. is struggling.

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Various Sources

What could be the hottest collectable car of the summer, if not the entire 2010 season? Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet.

If arrangements go as planned, Earnhardt will run the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet for JR Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on July 2.

Sources have told FOXSports.com that Earnhardt will revive his father’s famous No. 3 in a collaborative effort initiated by JR Motorsports with Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. A formal announcement is expected on April 29.

According to team sources, a Hendrick Motorsports engine will power the car.

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David Newton
ESPN.com

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sank into the leather couch in the rear of his No. 88 hauler earlier this week and reflected on the good things — from finishing second at Daytona, to seventh at Bristol despite a speeding penalty — that have happened five races into the 2010 Sprint Cup season.

Then he jokingly was reminded of the real bonus: He gets more time with the media as a Chase contender.

“I just got to watch my mouth,” Earnhardt said with a smile.

Yes, Earnhardt is back in the top 12, in eighth place heading into Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway.

For the first time since 2008 he gets to park in the front end of the garage (haulers are lined up by points), and reporters won’t have to chase him down after practice or qualifying because of NASCAR’s mandatory interview session for top-12 drivers.

This is good for the fans who thirst for Earnhardt’s insight. This is good for the media who enjoy his wry sense of humor and brutal honesty. This is good for NASCAR, which sorely needs its most popular driver in the spotlight.

It’s good for … OK, not for everybody.

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Jeff Gluck
sbnation.com

The man who gave Brad Keselowski his big break in NASCAR won’t offer any advice but indicated the young driver still has a lot to learn.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Keselowski – his former protégé at JR Motorsports – has “an awesome amount of talent and a terrible amount of confidence.”

“It’s been working for him and he doesn’t see any reason to change,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday after qualifying at Bristol. “Everybody has to change some and he’ll learn at his own pace. And that’s what he’s doing.”

Earnhardt Jr. said he hadn’t spoken to Keselowski about the Carl Edwards incident at Atlanta other than to express his relief that his friend emerged unscathed after the now-infamous wreck.

“That wreck scared the shit out of me,” he said. “Knowing Brad as good as I do, you don’t like seeing guys involved in terrible accidents. I told him I was glad that he was OK. I never tried to tell Brad what to do when he drove our cars; no point in me trying to tell him now.

“He’ll have plenty of advice from everyone else, it looks like.”

Earnhardt Jr. said that like anyone who enters the sport, (Keselowski is not technically a rookie but is in his first full season), the Penske Racing driver will discover he doesn’t know it all.

“Everybody does it differently,” he said. “Brad really has a lot of talent. … He’s just overzealous to prove it and to be there in front every week where he thinks he needs to be. It’ll all be OK.

“He’ll get to learn a lot of lessons in his rookie season – every rookie does – and he’ll probably be glad to tell you guys all about it at the end of the season. And I’m sure his tune will be just slightly different than it is right now.”

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Gus Haynes
nascarfrontpage.com

Lost in the firestorm of the flip heard around the world are – in my opinion – unanswered questions about one of my favorite drivers; Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Before we begin let it be known I’m a big fan. Not because of his dad, nope. But because of what I saw early on in his late model days and most importantly what he accomplished in the then Busch series. He had no fear and could win with good or bad equipment. It was a race for second place almost every weekend and at first his Cup efforts looked to follow suit.

Now having said that, what happened?

First thing that comes to mind is losing his dad. Traumatic enough without having to witness it.

What else?

Crashing in the ROLEX race and surviving a terrifying fire?

We could stop there as those events would most certainly affect all of us. But let’s keep digging.

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Holly Cain
fanhouse.com

While the verdict is still out from NASCAR officials on whether to penalize Carl Edwards for a dangerous retaliatory crash he caused late in Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, there has been plenty of judgment rendered elsewhere.

Opinions have varied from those calling for Edwards’ suspension to others shrugging off the whole matter with a wink-wink, “boys will be boys.”

On the far extremes, fan reaction on FanHouse has ranged from calls for this to be considered a criminal matter to those who think Edwards’ target, the young driver Brad Keselowski, “had it coming.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who fielded a car for Keselowski in the Nationwide Series the past two seasons, said he didn’t see what happened but was glad Keselowski wasn’t injured.

“What happened there is between them,” Earnhardt said. “I’ve got nothing to do with that.”

Third-place finisher Juan Pablo Montoya didn’t witness the accident either but didn’t sound entirely surprised it happened either. Last year, he even suggested that Keselowski’s team would be well-advised to bring older cars to the track.

“I said that last year because he wrecked a lot of people,” Montoya said. “I’m sure a lot of people wanted to pay him back. And looking at the TV, somebody did.”

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nationalenquirer.com

A bitter feud has erupted between gorgeous female race car driver Danica Patrick and her NASCAR mentor, superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale, 35, is furious that Danica has been telling people she’ll be a better NASCAR driver than he is – and Danica is upset because she believes Dale is only using her to make money and doesn’t respect her driving ability.

“Dale is livid at Danica for talking trash about him behind his back,” revealed a source. “He feels he’s giving her entrance into the NASCAR world and teaching her his tricks – and she’s saying how she can beat him.

“It’s rubbing Dale the wrong way. He hates being bad-mouthed by somebody he feels owes him gratitude.”

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By David Newton
ESPN.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There is some concern at Hendrick Motorsports that the broken axle that left Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a 32nd-place finish on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway could be a more widespread problem.

Earnhardt’s crew chief, Lance McGrew, said the axle of race winner Jimmie Johnson was about six laps from breaking and that issues were discovered on other HMS cars during Saturday’s final practice.

“Oh, absolutely,” McGrew told ESPN.com on Tuesday. “I’m sweating this weekend along with Atlanta, which is historically really bad on axles. To say there’s not a stir about it would be an understatement.”

McGrew said so far no explanation has been found for the extreme wear. He said the problem first surfaced during Saturday’s final practice when the left rear axle on Mark Martin’s car, which shares a shop with the Earnhardts, looked “really bad.”

He said all four HMS teams replaced the axles before the race.

“Ours wore out and [Johnson] barely finished the race,” McGrew said. “There’s no smoking gun, which is aggravating for us. But we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

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By Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 14, 2010

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — It was here on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway that NASCAR’s seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt was killed in a last-lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500. In the years since, NASCAR has invested millions of dollars and untold engineering expertise in making its brand of stock-car racing safer.

Largely because of its radically redesigned racecar, more forgiving track walls and mandatory head-and-neck restraints, there hasn’t been a death in NASCAR’s top series since, though there have been plenty of wild crashes. Over the same time, growing ranks of race fans have groused that the racing has gotten boring.

As NASCAR officials search for ways to inject new life in what was the fastest-growing sport in America just a decade ago, some are privately wondering whether stock-car racing simply isn’t as compelling in the minds of fans now that the element of danger — or, at least, the perception of danger — has been removed.

No fan, of course, wants to see a racecar driver get killed or seriously injured. The mere suggestion that NASCAR loyalists come to see wrecks raises hackles.

Fans come to see the close competition, they’ll testify. They come to see Earnhardt’s son, known universally as “Junior,” beat the pants off Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. They come for the ear-splitting noise and raw speed.

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jamie McMurray held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the Daytona 500 on Sunday, a finish so thrilling it just about made up for a pothole that nearly derailed the Super Bowl of NASCAR.

NASCAR needed two stoppages of well over two hours total to patch a pesky pothole between turns 1 and 2 of Daytona International Speedway. The setback brought the biggest race of the season to a frustrating halt and had NASCAR executives fretting over the potential fallout.

But when the second patch had been filled, the action picked up tremendously as drivers had to race as if the hole could rip open again at any moment, ending the race on any lap. Did they ever.

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