Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Earnhardt Jr. - I’m Just A Human Being
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the most popular driver in NASCAR...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 26, 2010   Martinsville, VA
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having a better season in 2010, already in eighth place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings. (Photo: Getty Image)
There was a time when Dale Earnhardt Jr. was bored with sitting in front of the media and dealing with their pesky, often repetitive questions. As a top point performer, he was required to appear for a media availability at each race, and he remembers complaining to his public relations director about it.

No more.

Earnhardt Jr. has returned to the Sprint Cup top 12 – he’s eighth heading into Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and Friday he was more than happy to appear before the assembled media to respond to questions.

“I’m glad to be in the top 12,” said Earnhardt Jr., smiling. “I’ll come in here every damn week if I have to. After this spell I’ve been in, I’ll put up with it.”

Earnhardt Jr. is eighth in Sprint Cup points. He’s running better, although not as well as he – and his massive fan base – expects.

He hit the news in a big way again last weekend when he was nailed with a pit-road speeding penalty by NASCAR. That resulted in an expletive-laced response from Earnhardt Jr. on the team radio, and he and crew chief Lance McGrew had a few uncomfortable moments during the tirade.

“I have a right to feel how I want to feel and to get upset about what I want to get upset about,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday. “I’m just a human being.”

Often, it seems, people expect him to be more than that. Superman, maybe.

“Throughout my career, people have said I didn’t have focus,” Junior said. “Especially when my dad was alive and out there running like he was, everybody would compare me to him and say I lacked the determination and willpower he had. He wore it on his sleeve, and I don’t really do that.

“But even after he passed away I still got, ‘I don’t have focus’ and this, that and the other. That’s sort of followed me throughout my career. So anytime somebody says I laid down or insinuated that I might, it sort of pissed me off.”

Earnhardt Jr. said the 88 team continues to make progress but isn’t close to where it should be. His last win was in June 2008.

“We haven’t turned a corner,” he said. “We’re maybe turning the corner, but we haven’t quite got there yet. We’re approaching it, maybe. We’ve got a lot to fix still. I think the next 10 races will surely reveal where we’re still weak and where we need to work as a team.

“I think we showed at Fontana and Atlanta and Vegas where we need to be better. We got sort of fortunate last week (finishing seventh at Bristol despite the penalty) to get enough of a finish to get in the top 12. I have the confidence we can fix it. But I know we need to be better.”

Jimmie Johnson, Earnhardt Jr.’s teammate, said Junior is better this season because “He is letting people push him, and he is pushing himself in areas that are not comfortable, and that's helping him a lot this year. Lance – I don’t know the exact words, I know Lance jumped on him about ‘buckle down, don't lay down on me’ and being pushed like that. That pressure sparks things in people. He kept his composure, stayed up on the wheel, drove up and got a top-10 finish.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

Tunnelheads, Pick Your Starters! Win Weekly! Win Monthly! Win The Championship!
mike.hembree's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Hembree

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.