KIDWCKED
09-07-2010, 09:48 PM
c/p from foxsports by the a/p
Back in February, I met with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his hauler, then parked at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He was relieved to talk more boxing than racing. I was relieved to find that access to such a star came without a price.
While some drivers are locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, others are still trying to snag a playoff berth. Check out the Chasers right here.
I didn’t have to pretend he was a good guy. He was, which is to say, authentic, mildly profane and self-deprecating in just the right dose. I was taken with his good manners, the way he waved off the PR lady. He didn’t know me from Adam, but still wanted to please a stranger. Maybe that’s his problem.
But now, with NASCAR’s postseason a fortnight away, I feel sadly duty-bound to recall what he said that day.
It was reasonable to expect of him a “top five” finish in 2010, he said. What’s more, qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he said, shouldn’t be seen as an obstacle or an accomplishment.
“It’s pretty ------- easy to make the Chase,” he said. “If you look at some of the guys who make the Chase and what happened during their season, you go, ‘damn, ---- man, that’s not that difficult to surpass.’ ”
Barring divine intervention, this will be the second consecutive season — and the third time in four years — that Earnhardt has failed to qualify for the Chase.
I’ll say it again: he has the most thankless job in American sports. It’s not just living up to an icon father. It’s living up to a beloved daddy who died blocking for him at Daytona. Other guys have mere back stories. Junior’s is an epic poem.
Back in February, I met with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his hauler, then parked at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He was relieved to talk more boxing than racing. I was relieved to find that access to such a star came without a price.
While some drivers are locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, others are still trying to snag a playoff berth. Check out the Chasers right here.
I didn’t have to pretend he was a good guy. He was, which is to say, authentic, mildly profane and self-deprecating in just the right dose. I was taken with his good manners, the way he waved off the PR lady. He didn’t know me from Adam, but still wanted to please a stranger. Maybe that’s his problem.
But now, with NASCAR’s postseason a fortnight away, I feel sadly duty-bound to recall what he said that day.
It was reasonable to expect of him a “top five” finish in 2010, he said. What’s more, qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he said, shouldn’t be seen as an obstacle or an accomplishment.
“It’s pretty ------- easy to make the Chase,” he said. “If you look at some of the guys who make the Chase and what happened during their season, you go, ‘damn, ---- man, that’s not that difficult to surpass.’ ”
Barring divine intervention, this will be the second consecutive season — and the third time in four years — that Earnhardt has failed to qualify for the Chase.
I’ll say it again: he has the most thankless job in American sports. It’s not just living up to an icon father. It’s living up to a beloved daddy who died blocking for him at Daytona. Other guys have mere back stories. Junior’s is an epic poem.