Comparing Dale Jr. To His Father, Off The Track

NASCAR fans, like those of other sports, are tremendously loyal to their favorite driver.  They wear the numbers, watch religously, and cheer in good times and bad.  When children, or even grandchildren, of drivers have begun racing careers they are instantly compared to their fathers, older brothers, or grandfathers.  Pettys, Bakers, Jarretts, Wallaces, Earnhardts and more have had to prove themselves worthy of carrying their own name.

So many people have compared Dale Earnhardt Jr. to his late father, especially while he was trying to recoup from dissappointing finishes the last few seasons.  They often compared his ability to draft or "see the air" to his father's ability at NASCAR's restrictor plate tracks, Daytona and Talladega.  They have even compared his less aggressive style to his father's aggressiveness that got him the nicknames Ironhead and Intimidator.

Junior's inability to be 'Dale Earnhardt' has often been discussed, but almost always in reference to their on track talents, not their off track successes.  So just how does Dale Jr. compare to his father from monday to thursday?

In Earnhardt's later years he was known as one of NASCAR's best business men.  Earnhardt owned car dealerships, was part owner in a minor league baseball team, started and ran a multi-car NASCAR Sprint Cup team (Winston Cup at the time), and had by far the most successful merchandising machine selling Dale Earnhardt, #3, and DEI merchandise by the millions.

Dale Earnhardt's marketing business was eventually sold to Action Performance, which is currently owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc. and International Speedway Corp., owners of most of NASCAR's tracks, marketing and more.  His head of marketing that helped build his empire was Joe Mattes.  Where does Mr. Mattes currently work?  You guessed it, as VP of Merchandising and Licensing for JRMotorsports.

JRMotorsports began as a management company for Dale Earnhardt Jr., but has grown into a merchandising company and Nationwide Series racing team combined.  In 2006, JRM began running Nationwide series races and since has begun the NASCAR careers of both Danica Patrick and 2012 Sprint Cup Chamption Brad Keselowski.

Whether you are a fan of the 88 on the track or not, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had a huge amount of success off the track.  He has appeared or done voice work in movies like Talladega Nights and Cars.  He has appeared in music videos for Sheryl Crow, Jay-Z, Nickelback, Three Doors Down, Trace Adkins and more.

Ok, so you say that has all come because of his last name... Yeah, probably, but he has taken that opportunity and ran with it.  His enjoyment of NASCAR history was the foundation to his ownership of Hammerhead Media, a production company that produced his show Back In The Day which aired on the Speed Channel and Shifting Gears which aired on ESPN2.

Earnhardt Jr.'s latest ventures include opening two large-scale bar/nightclubs in both Charlotte, NC and Jacksonville, FL called Whiskey River and two car dealerships in Tallahassee, FL which he ownes in conjunction with Rick Hendrick.

No, Junior will never win seven championships.  He may not win the first one. But whether you believe he is worthy of driving a Cup car (I do) or not, he most definitely learned much from his father off the track as well.

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Danica Looking For Restrictor Plate Redemption

Danica Patrick's first full time season in NASCAR's Nationwide Series started out with a bang.  Literally!  Bang! Right into the wall.  She won the pole for the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and, considering her short restrictor plate resume, many people were optimistic that she could finish very high.  Everything was in place for her to become the story of the year in NASCAR.

Bang!

After leading some laps and trying to stay out of trouble she received an ill-timed, although well intentioned, push from her teammate, rookie driver of the 88, Cole Whitt.  Her damage from the turn 3 wall ended her day and put a cloud over her start to her full time NASCAR career.

Although there are many people who like Danica, many of them female fans and drooling males, there are droves who think she is overrated and not deserving of such a high profile opportunity in NASCAR, let alone all of the attention.  The never ending "Danica Watch" during the Daytona races by the sportscasters was enough to drive some detractors mad.  However, I have maintained that Patrick does have some strong tracks to make some statements at this year (nope, I'm not a female fan, and not drooling...currently).

Restrictor plate tracks are definitely a place I feel Danica can do surprisingly well.  In her two Daytona races last year she averaged a 12th place finish and even led 13 laps in the summer race.  Although many were concerned with how she would react to the close quarters racing with bumps and shoves a plenty, Patrick has adapted fairly well to NASCARS high speed tracks.  Considering how she has adapted at Daytona, February's race not withstanding, one should think she would do well at Talladega, where handling is even less of a factor and the trioval area is much easier to navigate.

One thing is for certain, a good finish this week at Talladega would help Patrick forget the beginning of this 2012 season and possibly in, if not close to, a top 10 spot in the Nationwide standings.  No doubt, she should be much closer to the top 5, which is where her teammate, Cole Whitt is (6th).  Points aside, I would love to see her finish better simply to hear those that can't stand her complain about her coverage!

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Why The Dislike For Danica?

Among NASCAR faithful, there are always discussions as to who the best is, who is strongest on certain types of tracks, and who is getting close to winning. Rarely do fans and commentators alike flat out say that someone is undeserving of a ride. However, this is exactly what some people are doing/have done with the talk of Danica Patrick getting a limited ride in 2012 with Stewart Haas Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.

It is understandable that some fans and reporters would be unimpressed by her IRL career. One win in seven seasons is hardly impressive. To make it worse, she had nothing but horrible finishes in her first partial season with JR Motorsports in the Nationwide Series- all but one finish was outside the top 20.

But even so, it is unlike NASCAR to outright say someone is undeserving of the ride. That is what Kyle Petty, former Sprint Cup driver and son of the “King” Richard Petty, said as a commentator on Speed during Sprint Cup coverage on Friday. Petty inferred that there were other drivers more deserving of the ride and that she (Patrick) has not yet beaten Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch in the Nationwide series.

One might remind Mr. Petty that there were several drivers on Sunday that could not beat Edwards or Busch on Saturday. Those would include J.J. Yeley, David Stremme, Erik Darnell, Jason White, Andy Lally, Landon Cassill and others. Not to mention half of the Sprint Cup regulars for that matter. In fact, I’m not sure even Kyle Petty ever beat Kyle Busch or Carl Edwards. I’m not saying he or the others aren’t good drivers, it’s just not practical to say that unless a driver beats NASCAR’s current best in the NNS that they should not get a ride in the Cup series.

Now don’t get me wrong! I do not think Patrick is going to take NASCAR by storm, at least, not on the track. I do not discount her and say that she should do more to prove herself than say Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish, or any others who have attempted the move to NASCAR.

In my previous posts I showed how Patrick has improved her finishes in 2011 over 2010. She has not posted a lower finish on any return trip to a track which shows she is adapting and learning. Will she be able to step into a Cup ride and immediately compete for top 10’s? There aren’t many Cup drivers that could do that if moved to another team, so how is that a sane assumption?

If anything, NASCAR fans and reporters should allow Patrick to make it or break it on her own. Don’t hold her in contempt simply because she seemingly gets some “passes” off the track due to her looks and her sex. Would Paul Menard have been given a ride at DEI if he did not come with his father’s sponsorship money? Would Kyle Petty have made it to the Winston Cup Series had his father not been the “King”? No. But that does not mean that the two could not drive, nor does it mean that they were unworthy of a ride.

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Danica Patrick: The NASCAR World Awaits!

From her courting of NASCAR in 2008 to her limited seasons in 2010 and now in 2011 with JR Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Danica Patrick has been sought after by NASCAR fans and owners alike. Her fan base, sponsor backing, and her ability to place a female in NASCAR’s Cup Series make her a worthy investment.

Now, with Carl Edwards solidly at Roush Fenway Racing, Danica is far and away the highest sought after driver in both the Sprint Cup and the Nationwide garage.

The past year and a half, rumors have run wild that she was going to move to NASCAR full time and leave her IRL career behind. Yet at the end of 2010 she resigned with Andretti Autosport to drive for owner Michael Andretti. Now rumors are spreading that she will be signing to drive full time with JR Motorsports full time in 2012 and possibly will be driving a limited Sprint Cup schedule for Stewart Haas Racing, a close ally of JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports.

Many fans and commentators were very unimpressed by Patrick’s performance, both in IRL and in her first partial year in the Nationwide Series. In IRL she has only had one win in 7 years of racing and her highest season finish is 5th. In her 2010 Nationwide Series stint she had only 1 finish out of 13 inside the top 20: the last race of the season at Homestead.

Many commentators felt she would not pursue a NASCAR career due to a lack of ability to get good finishes in stock cars. Many bloggers said she was a hack and could never compete in NASCAR.

It seems as Danica Patrick was on the edge of giving up on NASCAR, something began to click. With veteran crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and driving coach Johnny Benson, former Sprint Cup driver, coaching her on NASCAR’s tracks and stock car driving styles and lingo, Danica became more and more comfortable.

With 6 races left in her 2011 season, Danica has posted 1 top 5, 3 top 10’s, and only 1 race outside the top 20. Probably more impressive is the fact that at every track Patrick has returned to in a Nationwide car, she has always finished better than the time before. At Daytona she has finished 35th, 14th, and then 10th. At Chicagoland she finished 24th then 10th when she returned. At Phoenix she finished 32nd in 2010 then finished 17th in 2011. And most impressively, at Las Vegas she finished 36th in her first year and 4th this year.

Say what you want, Patrick’s ability to settle into stock car racing is promising. Whether you like her or not, you cannot argue with the numbers. Granted, the Nationwide Series is not Cup racing, where I am sure she will have more difficulty. But the fact is that she IS competing at the Nationwide series with a short time in the car.

The next question for Patrick, who is rumored to drive an Indy car for only the Indy 500 next year, is will a full time schedule with no IRL propel her to compete at an even higher level. She will have to show a little more ability and nerve in her Sprint Cup appearances if she wants to be taken seriously at that level.

I, for one, won’t doubt that she can do it. I mean, have you ever told a woman she “can’t” do something?


Follow JD on Twitter @the_Bumpdrafter

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