First off I am neither a Dale Jr. hater nor a Jr. lover but rather a Jr. sympathizer and I wonder if the pressure put on him by NASCAR,Jr. Nation and the media don't have him headed in the direction of a total meltdown.
The pressure a driver puts on him or herself to win each week in NASCARs top 3 series must be huge let alone having to deal with the pressures and expectations of a whole nation. I don't know how many articles I've read lately that contain the phrase "NASCAR needs Dale Jr. to win a race". Does anyone really think that NASCAR will cease to exist if Jr. never wins another race? Are race fans going to stop going to races,stop watching races on TV and stop buying souvenirs altogether just because Jr. hasn't won a race? Probably not,although that might happen for a totally different reason.
I'm not saying that NASCAR has ever intentionally done anything or changed any rule to help Jr.,but they've done some things that don't look very good,2 that come to mind are 1.Changing the chase format from 10 to 12 after the 1st year when Dale Jr. ended up 12th in the standings after Richmond and didn't make the chase.2. The way the Daytona incident was handled I'm not blaming Jr. or Brian but I think the incident would have been handled differently by NASCAR if it had been any other car other than the 88 that was involved.
Maybe it's just me, but when I see Dale in TV interviews this year whether it be prerace,postrace or the middle of the week he looks tired, like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and he has no fire left inside him. I hope Jr. can learn to deal with these pressures because NASCAR does need Dale Earnhardt Jr. just the same as it needs every other driver it has.
One last thought,when Kyle B. takes pokes at Jr. are they really aimed at Jr. or is he taking jabs at Rick Hendrick for giving Kyle the bums rush?
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