Is it possible that Dale Jr. just isn't an elite NASCAR driver?

Dale Jr. is a myth kept alive by the NASCAR publicity machine and fans of his father. He's overrated and a pretender. He's nowhere near as good as his Dad, but who was? Not really Jr's fault. He's made enough money to live comfortably the rest of his life and someone needs to have the guts to call a spade a spade and tell the guy he's not worth it and cut him loose.

 

Let us not forget that his legend, in his formative years, was fueled by Budweiser in more ways than one.

 

But he is worth it, as far as merchandising is concerned.

As long as he's driving, the suckers will continue to prove P.T. Barnum right, over and over and over again.

 

Ah, but here's the question, and it's semi-related: Would JJ be as good without Chad Knaus? If he had Joe Sixpack as his crew chief, would he be as dominant?

 

You could say the same about Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham during Jeff's dominant run. Jeff Gordon has proven to be pretty good without Evernham, but not as dominant. I think the same thing would happen if Knaus/Johnson split up.

As for Dale Jr., he'll be in that seat because he generates revenue. He's like NASCAR's Danica Patrick. All style. No substance.

 

A great driver with a piss-poor crew chief will still win races, and a great crew chief can get a crappy driver to victory lane every now and then. But to win cups, and dominate the way Gordon and Johnson have, both have to be elite in their respective category.

But, how about this: What would happen if Evernham and Johnson were paired together, along with Knauss and Gordon in their primes? Would they all be able to duplicate their successes?

 

Gordon has won 33 races with two different crew chiefs since he and Evernham split. It's not the 49 wins that they piled up in seven years together, but it's still pretty damn impressive.

 

It's not a possibility that Jr. isn't an elite driver. It's reality.

 

I always gave NASCAR fans credit for calling bullshit on pretenders. Guess that doesn't apply to Junior.

 

It's a sentimental thing. If his name wasn't Earnhardt, it'd be mud. Just like Danica wouldn't be even an afterthought if she wasn't a very, very, very, very smoking hot woman.