Dale Earnhardt Jr.” would slap the s*** out of” his younger self for this reason
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Images via IMAGO)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the modern-day greats of NASCAR. On and off the track he is one of the best ambassadors of the sport and as a pundit, his critical analysis of racing is highly respected. The two-time Xfinity series champion was indicted to the Hall of Fame at the start of this year cementing his position as the voice of the people in NASCAR.
The young Dale Jr. had everything at his disposal to secure the cup championship in his prime years. But he failed to produce runs similar to the ones which got him the Busch series championship. He won 26 cup races in the 19 years he raced at the premier level. The closest he came to the championship was in 2004 when he finished P4 in the point table. He won 6 races that season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. failed to reproduce the same success. A big factor in his failure was the decision to split with his uncle and crew chief Tony Sr in 2004 soon after the best season of his career. He said, “If I could talk to that version of myself — I would slap the s— out of me. I would. I’m so angry with that person, that decision, and that choice to split from Tony Sr.”
The single bad choice had a deeper effect on his career as well as in the life of Tony Sr. He said, “That was a bad, bad choice. I thought in my mind I was going to be better off with someone else, that man I bet you there’s somebody else who can give me better cars … And that decision had an effect on Tony Jr. and Tony Sr.’s life, moving forward, for years. And my life. My career,”.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. could have had more race wins if he had more discipline
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career took a bad turn after his father’s death and though he had successes in the field, off the track he lacked discipline that could have gotten him a better result. Having one of the best cars in the attacks helped him to secure those results. Jr’s regretted the lack of effort he put in after joining HMS in the latter half of his career.
“I could get away with it, being young, and we had great cars. But yeah, what I learned by going to Hendrick (Motorsports, later in his career) was the Hendrick Way. How you prepare. And I thought, ‘Dang, how many more races might I have won had I really been locked in? Eat, sleep and drink racing.,” Dale Earnhardt said.
If Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to put in more effort, he could have won 35 or 40 races in his career. He had the resources at his disposal to develop and get his game to the next level. The lack of commitment he showed sometimes cost him.
“Now, it wouldn’t have been as fun. But I would have probably won somewhere, anywhere between 25 to 75% more races. Maybe 35-40 races. Yeah, for sure. I mean, we had the cars and the ability to go out there and make it happen,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.
Justin P Joy
(3652 Articles Published)