 | | Dale Earnhardt Jr.: "If you're not in the race car, you don't know what the hell's going on out there." Credit: Craig Jones/Getty Images |
By B. Duane Cross, NASCAR.COM
May 30, 2005
12:23 PM EDT (16:23 GMT)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 195 Cup starts under his belt. He's won 15 times, finished in the top five 55 times and has 84 top-10s. So why the outrage over a guy who has won 7 percent of his races, and is struggling to find his bearings this season? Being the son of a stock-car legend is enough of a burden, but for fanatics to heap on the expectations of a victory each week ... well, that's insane. It's too much to assume -- even for a top-tier Cup team. Ponder this: After his first 195 Cup races, Dale Earnhardt had 13 victories, 70 top-five finishes and 113 top-10s. ... Considering the level of competition is higher now than the late 1970s - early '80s, Junior is holding his own when it comes to carrying the torch. No one can imagine what it's like to be "Junior" -- the face of a sport, heir to an empire. It's not like he can swap his Wranglers for a pair of Levi's and try to go incognito. He lives in a bubble, one that some are waiting to pop. After a 33rd-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 -- mere days after a crew chief swap that many believe the driver necessitated -- the naysayers' fires are sure to be stoked to the nth degree. Maybe especially after a 33rd-place finish ... and punting teammate Michael Waltrip out of the race on Lap 246. "We were real tight with the race car," Junior said. "We got to working on it, and it was real fast before we got into Michael, and I was pretty happy with it at that point. It still needed a little more work, but you saw how it turned out. It was anybody's race. I felt like we were in real good shape right up until the accident." That accident drew the ire of Tony Eury Sr., Earnhardt's uncle and former crew chief. "I don't know what [Earnhardt's] problem is with Michael, but it'll be fixed [Monday] I'll guarantee it," said Eury, DEI's director of competition. "He acts like he's friends with [Waltrip], but every time he gets around him on the racetrack he ends up wrecking him." We'll leave Garage Mahal matters for those involved, but one piece of unsolicited advice: Junior is still growing as a driver. He's going to make mistakes, like Sunday night. "I'm feeling really confident right now, real good about my team," Junior said. "We had a tough night, but the car was real fast before the crash. As long as the cars are fast, I've got to do the rest, and [Sunday] I slipped up a little bit." Given the enormous pressure he's under, a few slips are acceptable. Then again, a few more slips and the issues facing DEI -- and Junior -- will be magnified even more. "Hopefully everybody can come to terms with it one way or another," Junior said of his on-track run-in with Waltrip. "I know some guys on Michael's team are probably upset and don't really know. I mean, if you're not in the race car, you don't know what the hell's going on out there, so I can't expect anyone to understand what exactly was going on at that moment and time, and how we all came together and wrecked. "The people that understand, they'll move on and we'll try to get better next week." Which is what everyone should do for Junior -- move on, give him some room to breathe, let him grow into whatever type driver he can, not the one everyone wishes he was. Flags • Red -- Mark Martin finished 28th on Sunday and ended a series-best 33-race streak of running at the finish that began at Michigan last June. The last time he failed to finish was at Pocono, where engine troubles relegated him to 36th. He has been running at the end in 46 of the past 48 races. • Yellow -- Kurt Busch had his second DNF of the year, finishing 43rd. This was the third time in his career that he finished 43rd in a race. He finished 43rd in both races at Michigan in 2001. Busch dropped from fifth to 10th in points -- but still holds a 47-race streak of ranking in the top 10 since Rockingham in February 2004. • Green -- Bobby Labonte, who finished second on Sunday, posted his 11th top-five finish in 25 races at Charlotte. Labonte scored his first top-five finish since he was third at Pocono in June 2004, and moved from 31st to 24th in the point standings. Quote, Unquote "The 99 ran into the back of me going down the backstretch and I'm not taking anymore of his bull. If he wants to mess with me, we can calm him down -- I guarantee you that."
-- Dale Jarrett, on being hit from behind by Carl Edwards Around the Track  |
| Inside the Numbers |
| Most wins at Charlotte |
| Driver |
W |
Races |
Pct. |
| B. Allison |
6 |
43 |
.139 |
| D. Waltrip |
6 |
55 |
.109 |
| D. Earnhardt |
5 |
48 |
.104 |
| R. Petty |
5 |
64 |
.078 |
| Bud. Baker |
4 |
57 |
.070 |
| J. Gordon |
4 |
25 |
.160 |
| J. Johnson |
4 |
8 |
.500 |
| F. Lorenzen |
4 |
18 |
.222 |
| M. Martin |
4 |
41 |
.097 |
| D. Pearson |
4 |
46 |
.086 |
|
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• Jimmie Johnson became the first driver with three consecutive victories in the Coca-Cola 600. It was Johnson's fourth victory at Charlotte and his seventh finish of seventh-or-better in eight races at the track. • The 21 lap leaders in the Coca-Cola 600 is a record for the event. The most leaders in a Cup race is 26 at Talladega set in July 1986 and April 2001. ... The 22 caution periods in the Coke 600 is an all-time record in a Cup race. • Jeff Gordon, who finished 30th on Sunday, posted his fourth DNF of the season. No other driver in the top 10 in the point standings has more than two. He dropped from third to fifth in the standings. Up Next Dover International Speedway • Eight active drivers have multiple victories at Dover: Bill Elliott (4), Jeff Gordon (4), Mark Martin (4), Ricky Rudd (4), Ryan Newman (3), Rusty Wallace (3), Jimmie Johnson (2) and Tony Stewart (2). ... Bobby Allison and Richard Petty hold the track record with seven. • Mark Martin leads all active drivers with 17 top-five finishes, followed by Ricky Rudd (14), Bill Elliott (12), Jeff Gordon (12), Dale Jarrett (12), Bobby Labonte (11) and Rusty Wallace (10). ... Dale Earnhardt holds the track record with 19. • Ricky Rudd tops all active drivers with 26 top-10s, which ties Richard Petty for most all-time at Dover. Only two other active drivers have at least 20 top-10s: Mark Martin (22) and Rusty Wallace (20). Sunday will be Rudd's 54th start at Dover, which will tie Dave Marcis for the most races all-time at the track. Did You Know? |  | E-MAIL | |
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Rusty Wallace has been running at the finish in 25 consecutive races, the longest current streak. ... Greg Biffle is the only driver to lead at least one lap in nine of the 12 races in 2005. ... Dale Earnhardt Jr. has ranked among the top 10 in points after just three of the 12 races. He ranked first in the standings after 12 races one year ago. ... Only Ryan Newman has started every race this year from a top-10 starting position. He has 19 consecutive top-10 starts, since Kansas last October. Bobby Issac set the record of 66 consecutive top-10 starts between September 1969 and March 1971. Fantasy Perspective • Jimmie Johnson swept both races at Dover in 2002 for his second and third career victories. However, in his past four starts there, he has two top-10s and two finishes of 32nd or worse. • In nine starts at Dover, Kurt Busch has just two top-10 finishes. His best finish at the track was a fifth-place finish in September 2004. • Tony Stewart has finished 11th or better, including two victories and nine top-five finishes, in 12 races at Dover. He has completed all but one lap, scored more points and led more laps than any other driver during that 12-race period. |
| Top Drivers at Dover Since 1999 |
| Minimum six starts |
| Rank |
Driver |
Races |
Avg. Finish |
1. |
Tony Stewart |
12 |
4.3 |
| 2. |
Ryan Newman |
6 |
6.5 |
3. |
Dale Jarrett |
12 |
11.8 |
| 4. |
Jeff Gordon |
12 |
12.8 |
5. |
Rusty Wallace |
12 |
13.8 |
|
| Fantasy Racing |
NASCAR.COM's Duane Cross takes part in a weekly
fantasy racing segment on 790 The Ball in High Point, N.C.
The season-to-date standings: |
| Player |
Points |
Last Week ... |
| Host Marc Amazon |
200 |
10 for Johnson, 6 for Newman, zippo on Gordon, McMurray, Sadler |
NASCAR.COM's
Duane Cross |
179 |
10 for Johnson, 6 for Newman, zero for Gordon, Kahne, Sadler |
Update anchor
Bill Kimm |
174 |
10 for Johnson, nada for Stewart, Gordon, McMurray, Sadler |
790 The Ball
Listeners |
168 |
10 For Johnson, whiffed Stewart, Gordon, Kenseth, Sadler |
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