Drivers, start your engines
NASCAR season kicks off today with Daytona 500 at noon.
DAYTONABEACH— Dale Earnhardt Jr. will celebrate the15- year anniversary of his first Cup start as he always does, trying to avoid all the clutter in his rear- view mirror.
There are the legion of followers who adore him yet cling to the ghost of his father and still weep when the bittersweet memories become unbearable. There are the legion of haters who dismiss him as a child of privilege and peg him for a guy who would be working at the local Pick ’ n Save if not for the family name.
There are the suits in the NASCAR marketing community who see him as a precious commodity— worth $ 11million in yearly endorsements. They embrace him just like all those fans in theNo. 3 t- shirts who loved his daddy so much.
The ride, understandably so, has been overwhelming at times. Earnhardt contemplated chucking it all shortly after his father died on the last lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001. But he has pushed on because this is whohe is. Aracer’s son. Now pushing 40, Earnhardt continues chasing the impossible: He will never be better than his daddy, whowon seven Cup titles and is a NASCAR icon. But he is just as beloved in many ways. Witness all those votes for NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver, a distinction that he has claimed for the last decade.
The NASCAR heavens will part if Earnhardt wins the 56th Daytona 500 on Sunday. Samething if Austin Dillon wins. There’s daddy’s ghost, again, popping up. Dillon is driving theNo. 3 Chevy, the same number
that took Earnhardt on so many wonderful rides.
That’s the thing about stock- car racing and Daytona:
All roads lead back to Earnhardt.
“Every once in a while when you look at the numbers in front of you and you realize howlong you’ve been doing it,” he said. “I’m enjoying myself, and if I’m doing enough to be relevant in the sport for another10 years, thatwould be nice.”
Som uch has happened since Earnhardt finished 16th at Charlotte in1999 in that first start. Beyond the tragedy of losing his father, Earnhardt has carved out19 Cup victories. Yet he has not won since Michigan in June 2012.
There are the near misses such as running out of fuel on the last lap of the Coca- Cola 600 at Charlotte in 2011. And then there’s Daytona, where he has finished second three of the last four years.
“That is nothing to be ashamed of,” Earnhardt said. “I still feel like that we’ve runwell enough at these tracks formeto continue to come into them with confidence, and just in myself, regardless of the car.”
This year will bring a different dynamic, and no surprise, more drama in the Earnhardt narrative.
Crewchief Steve Letarte will be leaving after this season towork as an analyst when NBC takes over as one of NASCAR’s TV partners next year. They will part on amicable terms, but the decision still has to sting.
The role of crewchief is complicated when dealing with Earnhardt, whohas struggled with other voices in his earpiece. He clicked with Letarte fromthe getgo in 2011. Earnhardt has finished no lower than 12th in points in each of the last three seasons.
Much of that had to do with Letarte’s ability to pumpup Junior’s confidence and not let him get down on himself during those inevitable rough rides.
“If those guys have a bad year, everyone will blame [ Letarte],” said Kyle Petty, a NASCAR analyst for Fox Sports. “The Junior Nation will look to point fingers somewhere and they will blame Steve if things don’t gowell.”
Success is all relative to perspective. Earnhardt’s popularity exceeds his ability to deliver on the track. Earnhardt isn’t a mid- packer by any stretch. But fans always want something more.
Popularity breeds expectations.
It’s been a decade since Junior won at Daytona. President GeorgeW. Bush flew in that day to hang with the boys in the NASCAR garage.
Perfect fit. One of the first families of American politics witnessing the passing of the torch in NASCAR’s iconic family tree.
“This has got to be the greatest day ofmy life,” Junior said that day.
“Well, I think that you never forget exactly what that day is like,” Junior recalls10 years later. “We come here every year and it all floods back to you as soon as you come back for Speedweeks each season. It’s very fresh, and you’re constantly reminded… how important that victory is.”
Another Daytona 500 beckons Sunday, with the obvious implications:
All roads lead back to Earnhardt.