You’re Fired

When the #3 ACDelco Chevy with Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind the
wheel hit the Busch grand National Series full time in the 1998 season, we now
know that this team had a mission much less humble than that of the Rainbow
Warriors in Winston Cup. The Mission? "Open up a can of whoop ass on the
Busch Series." And team Little E did just that claiming two titles in two
years. Had we known the mission statement ahead of time, we might have been
calling the second coming of Ironhead cocky.

How could have this team missed on their mission? Dale Jr.
inherited the car out of the Dale Earnhardt Incorporated stable that Steve Park
ran so well with before. Also out of that same shop came the two championships
of Ron Hornaday in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Is it any small wonder
that with all those resources and experience that asses were summarily whooped
for two straight years?

Graduation Day 2000 found Dale Jr. with new colors, a new
number and a new series with the same boss. It is clear early on in this season
that there just isn’t enough room on a race track for two Ironheads.
Apparently, the mission of the #8 Bud team remains the same as it was when it
flew the ACDelco colors. We know there are no friends on a race track, and in
the Earnhardt’s case, no families either. Neither Jr’s boss or his dad are
terribly pleased to this point as the radio traffic tells us: "…and send
someone down to the 8 pit and tell them if he pulls that again he’s
fired!"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has qualified well for a rookie in the top
class. He’s running okay, and might just get a win before the year is over, as
will nemesis Matt Kenseth. There seems to be a problem in the 3 car that we don’t
see in the 17 car-bad attitude.

Tempers always flare at Daytona. We saw this with the shoving
match between Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon. As long as NASCAR is foolish enough
to continue the fallacy of restrictor plate racing, new kids on the block just
shouldn’t go shoving their bumpers where they don’t belong. Both Little E
and Gordon did so quite unapologetically. Robby knows better, but with Jr, we
will excuse it as a rookie mistake as long as there is no repeat at Talladega.
Of course, we need to observe that Matt Kenseth did not make this mistake.

Darlington gave us another facet of Dale Jr. we haven’t
seen before. Every rookie, and his team, need to earn their stripes, and that
includes the Darlington stripe. Little E got his, no surprise there. Most
aggressive drivers do. Well, Dale this is the big time now. It’s not like the
Busch Series where you run your mouth and the press doesn’t care much. The
fans do however, and now you know why you got booed in Milwaukee on the heels of
your victory there back then. The pit road comments following Darlington were
just plain unprofessional. He stopped just short of saying that his team wouldn’t
fix the car the way he wanted it. It never crossed his mind that maybe, just
maybe, the car wasn’t responding to adjustments. This happens all the time to
even the best teams. A case of Bud and apologies all the way around for the 8
team courtesy of Little E. Yeah, didn’t happen that we know of.

This brings us back to Bristol. The performance there makes
us, as well as your boss and your father think that maybe Dale Jr. hasn’t the
maturity for the top class yet. There is no turning back now. He must mature now
or fail. DEI and Budweiser are too heavily invested in him to take him back to
the Busch Series. Of course, Matt Kenseth still races "down there" and
perhaps that touch with his roots keeps him humble. Both Matt and Little E went
to school in that series, but it seems that Little E is just too cool for
school.

Finally, Dale Jr. needs to appreciate the fans’ collective
perspective. Few fans know the joy of working in and inheriting a successful
family business working side by side with their fathers. Fewer still enjoy a
family business that renders them a seven figure income in their formative
years. A very elite few, Adam Petty, Bobby Hamilton Jr, and Jason Jarrett to be
specific, have the great fortune to work within a family business that is part
of the fast growing sport in the world today. Little E tends to take his good
fortune for granted. When he does this, it is a slap in the face of the fan who
wears a Budweiser shirt and an ACDelco cap who may never see income in his
lifetime totaling what Dale Jr. will make in year. Furthermore, the threshold of
that fan’s possible unemployment is much higher than Little E’s and carries
much heavier personal ramifications.

Then there are the fans who just don’t have families. No
family business to aspire to there now is there? They really want the Junior
Earnhardt to count his blessings and remove the chip from his shoulder. They
really want to see a can of whoop ass opened up: Behind the wood shed, Dale Jr.
over Dale Sr’s knee. It’s long overdue.

[Editor’s Note: This article was received
about 10 hours before the Texas race took the green flag.]