In his father’s shadow

Since Dale Earnhardt died racing at the Daytona 500 in 2001, the pressure cooker on Dale Earnhardt Jr went up by about a million times. This is a story about truly living in your father’s shadow…A lot of kids live in their father’s shadow. Some live their lives as doctors because their father’s a big time MD on Park Avenue, while others live their lives turning their minds to puss on Wall Street because their father wanted little Johnny to be the next head of Citigroup. Dale Earnhardt Jr always wanted to be a race driver like his daddy.

Since Dale Sr went to the Great Racetrack in the Sky after crashing in the Daytona 500 in February 2001, ‘Little E’ has no father figure, and sometimes it seems as though he’s on his own in NASCAR world.

He’s constantly compared with his father, an all-time great who won six Winston Cup championships and was involved in endless incidents, which usually involved the opposition eating the trackside bar and himself in Victory Lane. If ever go to a racetrack, never ask if Dale Jr will ever be the same as his father, because people will lose breath telling you the #8 of Junior simply isn’t the same driver as the #3 that Senior drove. Heck, even his own stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt told the press that he’s more a sports personality (he DID appear in two Super Bowl ads this year after all) than sports star.

It doesn’t help that while Dale Jr, while stuffing his wallet with record merchandising sales and endorsement, hasn’t exactly stuffed the trophy cabinet, winning 17 races in seven full seasons, but hasn’t yet taken home the coveted championship. Dale Sr won his first in his second, and went onto to win five more. Got enough pressure, Junior? Already people are talking about Junior ending his career without winning the Championship, paling away from the public consciousness in the face of better teams like Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Racing and Dale Earnhardt’s old team, Richard Childress Racing.

Now, Dale Earnhardt Sr must be in heaven asking what when wrong when he watches Battle Royale continuing to rage over the ownership of HIS team, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. Last week at Daytona, Junior told the US media that he wanted majority control of the team. His stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, is still refusing to budge, accusing her stepson of being more sports personality than sports star. Junior’s rumoured to be fed up by the fact that she never attends a race, and the rumour is is that if things don’t work out, DE might leave DEI and bolt for RCR and drive the #3 car.

But even before his father died, people were drawing comparisons between older and younger `Es’. But since that fateful day in 2001, it’s been a million times worse. When I first went to Bristol Motor Speedway in 2005, people seemed to live vicariously through Senior’s life. They were dress head to toe in Dale Sr’s trademark black, and will wax lyrical about one of most infamous moves, where he put rival Terry Labonte into the wall at that very track on the last lap of the Sharpie 500 in 1995. And you probably get the feeling that they – and the thousands of media who scrutinise Junior’s every move – will probably be the same people who moan about the time last year when Dale Jr gave Carl Edwards’ the shove in a Busch Series even last year, giving him the win and Edwards the wall.

But Dale Earnhardt Jr not only inherited his father’s love for racing round tracks at 200 mph, but also got his fans, too. Almost every fan of #8 was a #3 fan before February 2001. “I loved his father before him, and I love him now,” fans tell you. And those fans are great for the Budweiser car- they lead NASCAR Nation in merchandise spend. However, there are those who still can’t let the memory of Dale Sr go, buying the all-important merchandise by the boatload, and also sporting moustaches mirroring him in a tribute to hard knuckle — possible white knuckle — racing. And helped by the fact he’s not ugly, Junior became a central figure for the sport, appearing in two Super Bowl ads this year and raking in millions as the `face’ of stock car racing.

But it’s on the track where Dale Earnhardt Jr’s becoming a reflection of Daddy.

After an awful 2005, he looked like a competitor again, not only lodging one win, 10 top 5s and 17 top 10s in 36 races but also becoming a solid competitor on every track – not just the `restrictor plate’ ones like Daytona and Talladega. In 2007, he’ll be mentioned as a competitor in the same breath as Mssrs. Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson.
But the question is is this: will Dale Jr knock his rivals off the track if they come between him and Victory Lane?

The answer seems to be in the heavens.