The Frontstretch: The Good Guy Lost : Why Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Could Pay A Long Term Price For His Win Gone Sour by Thomas Bowles -- Monday May 5, 2008

Go to site navigation Go to article

Two years. 731 days. 17,500 hours.

And counting.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. stood despondent by his car Saturday night, watching in vain as another car, another driver pushed its way to Victory Lane. After weeks of coming oh-so-close, the newest member of the Hendrick Motorsports stable found himself four laps from returning to the very same spot in which he’d celebrated career win No. 17: Richmond International Raceway’s Victory Lane. The rubber stamp performance was within reach; the checkered flag that would quiet the critics, stop the clock, and throw the monkey off his back, all in one full swoop.

Instead, what many distraught Junior might call “a well-trained monkey” named Kyle Busch – who also doubles as the hottest driver in NASCAR these days – collided with Junior’s No. 88 rear quarterpanel going into turn three. The physical force was all too real, the results merciless for the driver to control; three seconds later, Junior’s car was in the wall, Busch’s car was leaving the crime scene, and Clint Bowyer was busy taking the trophy from them both.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.‘s car was a mangled mess after contact with Kyle Busch late Saturday night at Richmond.

As the dust settled and the race finished, you’d expect the frustration from a man who just lost to boil over. Heck, even Mr. Rogers would have thrown a couple of ill-timed swear words in the midst of performing a chokehold around Kyle Busch’s neck.

But in the midst of it all, Junior’s anger was drowned out amidst the continuation of his record drought. No amount of emotional outburst was going to keep that zero in the win column from changing any more than it would have caused rain to come down in northern Georgia.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Try as he might, the clock won’t stop.

“I was in position for a win,” said Junior, choosing his words carefully as if his very existence depended on the proper utterance of each syllable. “I ran hard and got wrecked.”

“Just disappointed.”

And like that, the good guy was reduced to pile of mush, Superman weakened by his kryptonite that came in the form of the man he replaced. Kyle Busch has made no secret of the fact he wants to prove former boss Rick Hendrick wrong for letting him go, and it’ll take fans months to even try and let go of the possible conspiracy theories that result from a wreck like this one. Of course, Busch was quick to throw water on the fire of any such nonsense.

“For us to go on the way that we have since all of this has gone on has nothing to do with [leaving Hendrick], any of that stuff,” Busch explained. “Thinking I did it deliberately [is] beyond insane.”

“I make mistakes, certain people have to pay for them, and unfortunately today, the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), they have to pay for it.”

What Busch didn’t mention is how steep the price may be. Ten of Junior’s seventeen career wins have come at three tracks: Phoenix, Talladega, and Richmond. This was the final leg of a triumverate in which the fast-starting No. 88 expected to get at least one win, making Junior’s streak a non-issue heading into the middle of the summer. Phoenix was close, but no cigar; an empty fuel tank proved a partial culprit in handing the win to teammate Jimmie Johnson. At Talladega, it was a case of wrong place, wrong time; leading 46 laps, Junior was helpless when perennial drafting partner Tony Stewart lost it in front of him.

And Richmond?

You be the judge. But the verdict is in; no matter who or what is at fault, Junior’s win column will continue to stay marked at zero.

Moving forward, that’s going to be problematic. Of the next seven tracks on the schedule, Junior has a points-paying Cup victory in just one (Dover), while having a history of being wildly inconsistent in several others. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible for the No. 88 to get shut out of the Winners’ Circle; the team has run consistent enough, as Junior’s 15th place finish Saturday night was his worst since California in February. Now third in the points, the No. 88 team stands just 104 out of the top spot, far above where most prognosticators placed them at this point in the year.

But Junior knows this year isn’t about putting points on the table. 20 Top 10 finishes won’t obscure the two criteria in which the most important season of his career will be judged by the non-biased public: the number in the win column, and how this season compares to a certain little 23-year-old tearing up the circuit in the No. 18.

Right now, Junior’s got that dreaded “needs improvement” on the report card on both counts. Despite leading laps in eight of ten races this season – more than anyone except Denny Hamlin, whose total is helped exponentially by the 381 in which he paced the field Saturday night – Junior hasn’t been able to put it all together in each race’s final segment. In the meantime, the man he replaced has been lighting up the circuit; Kyle Busch has won seven races this season within three different series, all while taking the lead in points with his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. If the Chase started today, both drivers would make it but Busch gets the upper hand; with 20 bonus points for his wins, the 23-year-old is running circles around the team who fired him in every which way he can.

Now? Busch will be circled with death threats and countless harassment by “Junior Nation” for months to come; “win to spin” is not a traumatic event one gets over anytime soon, especially when 72-race streaks are involved.

And counting.

“The wins will come,” Junior said last week at Talladega. “I know that. I want them to, and we are going to have to keep talking about it until they do.”

But for now, they haven’t come. And Kyle Busch has won. Apparently, we’re at that point in the comic book movie where the good guy reaches some sort of crisis; the villain is wreaking havoc on the world he’s left behind, and our hero has to figure out what to do to find himself and reload for the upcoming climax.

Hopefully, Dale Jr. has a few more bullets left in the arsenal. Because he just used up three good ones over the matter of a month … and there’s no going back.

 

©2000 - 2008 Thomas Bowles and Frontstetch.com. Thanks for visiting the Frontstretch!

Travis Rassat
05/05/2008 09:38 AM
permalink

I personally think that the worst thing that Dale Jr. has going for him is Tony Eury, Jr. I understand Junior’s comfortable with him, but I think Eury is holding him back. He demonstrated that at Daytona with a really bad call (or lack of any call, depending on how you look at it), and again at Bristol.

Sometimes, it’s best to not mix family and business together.

Johnboy60
05/05/2008 10:17 AM
permalink

I am not a fan of Dale Jr., but I have to say that Kyle Bush is a punk and needs to have his butt kicked! It took Jimmy Spencer to straighten out his brother and someone is going to have to step up and do Kyle! I for one hope someone puts his butt into the wall every race!

Mike in NH
05/05/2008 10:54 AM
permalink

Go to YouTube and look up the incident at Kansas last year where Dale Junior took Kyle out of the race – and in that one, Kyle finished 41st, not 15th – then maybe you’ll have a little better perspective. You can call Kyle a well-trained monkey if you want, but when it comes down to it, right now, he’s the better racer. He’s made the new car do things that other drivers wish they could.

And though I like Junior as a person and as a racer, the behavior of “Junior Nation” is an example of why I’ll never consider myself one of them.

Chill out everyone – he’s in a heck of a lot better position than last year, and he’ll win this year. Count on it.

Pete in FL
05/05/2008 01:25 PM
permalink

Kyle could have saved his car by backing off and come in second. Instead, he wrecked Junior by turning right and punting him into the wall and then coming in second anyway. Some of the blame for Kyle’s stupid behavior can be placed on DW and the other commentators who talk up “Wild Thing” and “This cat is just exciting” Kyle doesn’t need any encouragement to drive with no regard for anyone else.

KBfan
05/05/2008 02:14 PM
permalink

Pete in Fl— why should KB back off? Jr could have done the same and settled for second. No they both wanted the win and were racing hard.

Kevin in SoCal
05/05/2008 03:17 PM
permalink

I hope Dale Jr breaks Jeff Burton’s streak of most races between wins. Now that anticipation of being so close yet so far would be exciting! It was like last year when Michael Waltrip went so many races without qualifying, and everyone wondered when he would race again.
Pete, put down the can of Amp and realize what you’re saying. You actually think a race car driver is going to slow down when he has the lead car in his sights and is catching up to him? Busch was right there with him with 3 laps to go and had every right to try to make a move on him. If Dale had crashed out Kyle, would you be singing the same tune? I doubt it.

aircrewman
05/05/2008 04:43 PM
permalink

Rowdy is setting the pace of a new era….I think it is refreshing, his Driving style??? well agressive, risk taking and fun to watch…hardheaded ? yes BUT I knew of another man with a hard head I think they called him OLE IRONHEAD,,,RING any BELLS?????

Dave in Millville
05/05/2008 06:45 PM
permalink

The race was exciting. Both guys were going hard for the win. You have to know that Kyle runs loose and if he dives into the corner, he’s coming up the track. We don’t pay to see anyone shoot for second. Many pundits thought Junior would have a year of adjustment. Well he’s adjusted. He’s 3rd in the chase. Quit crying about it and move-on. As for Kyle Bu Sh…you only need to add a pair of l’s and “it” and it describes his reckless driving.

Bill W. T.
05/05/2008 06:48 PM
permalink

You earnhart jr, fans are idiots!!!! Can someone please tell me why NA$CAR’S “most popular driver” is someone of inferior talent? I am a “SMOKE” fan, that’s who should be the driver to have the title of “most popular”, but if not him, then someone with talent and the ability to show that they are not only competitive but a “winner”…. i.e. gordan, johnson, kenseth, edwards… and I don’t even like those guys (hate gordan, johnson and all hendrick organization, cheaters all the way to the top-forgot about rick cheating the government and having to go to prison???), but they show talent. And thats what Kyle shows talent, the incident was just a racin’ thang… NO DRIVER should lift to avoid a wreck going for the win!!!
Every driver is frigin’ worried about running into or upsetting earnhart and his “kool-aid drinking” “nation” fans that it makes me so mad every week, just last week at Talladega “THE BEST DRIVER”, “SMOKE” said over his radio, after jr. hit him, let jr. know he did nothing wrong…THAT’S B.S., would sr. have ever came over the radio and said that, I think NOT!!!
Everyone needs to quit trying to drive on egg-shells around this mid-level talent driver and being worried about the consequinces of his fan base if you do something to him.
Real race fans keep this in mind…….
LIFTERS ARE LOSERS!!!!!!!

Pete in FL
05/05/2008 10:32 PM
permalink

Kyle should have lifted because he would NOT have wrecked the Race Leader. He was in too “hot” and created a problem where he was going to wreck. You can like or dislike the drivers involved all you want, but it takes some intelligence to race, not just b*lls.

racinsince55
05/05/2008 11:02 PM
permalink

Pete in FL

If I am a team owner and a driver going for a win backs off in the final laps, he’s not my driver for much longer.

IMO, Mark Martin could have been the best NASCAR ever had if he had the “Checkers or Wreckers” Mentality.

I wouldn’t trade 1 Kyle Busch for 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr.s.

Never, ever be satified with second place if you could have possible won the race

marc
05/06/2008 07:16 PM
permalink

Pete in FL “Kyle could have saved his car by backing off and come in second. Instead, he wrecked Junior by turning right and punting him into the wall and then coming in second anyway.”

Forgotten what they taught you in high school drivers ed haven’t you? Or, are you too young to have attended yet?

First of all the LAST thing any race driver wants, or needs to do when the rear breaks loose is to either brake or back-off the gas. If they do it will result in a spin nearly every time.

But you don’t have to believe me, you can take the word of a driver with the experience to comment on the matter

“Where the real trouble begins is when the inside car looses rear grip, typically a result of braking and turning left at the same time. The inside driver, in this case Kyle Busch, instinctively turns right, a move that often has dire results just as it did Saturday night.”

Don’t believe him? Ok how about the words of a cartoon character which may be closer to something understandable to some people.

quote Doc Hudson – “I’ll put it simple: if you’re going hard enough left, you’ll find yourself turning right.”

 

Contact Tom Bowles

Recent articles from Tom Bowles:

Did You Notice? ... Six Things We Learned About NASCAR In January: Part I
Did You Notice? ... Bad Boos, Crew Chief Questions, And 2012's Top Priority
Did You Notice?... What Other NASCAR Stars Have To Fight For At Homestead, A Stylin' Corvette And Quick Hits
Did You Notice? ... Cookie-Cutter Cautionary Measures, Wasted Crew Chief Shuffles And A Junior Surprise
Did You Notice? ... Cash Over Loyalty, Three Winless Drivers Who Could Cash In And System Shutdown

If you want to know more about Tom Bowles or to view all of his articles here at the Frontstretch, check out his archive and bio page.

Want even more Tom Bowles? Check out Tom's archive at SI.com.