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As soon as Jr leaves those fans will jump on the Chase bandwagon. He will be Hendricks #1 driver just as soon as he gets a couple of wins.
Earnhardt passed the torch to Gordon who passed it to Johnson and next it will be Chase. (championship)
JR might be the fan favorite but he never held the torch.
Nice guy and good driver but not one of the greatest.
From a driver standpoint I agree.. But from a fan perspective.. Earnhardt Jr is the torch bearer. he inherited that from Bill Elliott. Junior fans are probably more loyal and rabid than even Elliott fans. And, I agree on both counts that Chase will be 'next in line'.. he'll inherit Earnhardt's fans and be the #1 at Hendrick.
Junior is.. Kyle Petty. Being honest about it. perhaps a slightly better driver.. PERHAPS. More wins than Kyle, but remember that Kyle was driving for a mid-tier team at best with Sabates. Then the whole pe2 and Petty Enterprises when they were on the downswing. Who else did he drive for? Wood Brothers, who were, again, at best a mid-level team at the time. The early PE years he was basically an R&D car.
Earnhardt has been in top-notch equipment most of his career.. The later years at DEI they weren't too good, but. I'd say that's the difference in the number of wins between them.
I would agree with that assessment between Jr and K.Petty. I'd say Kyle Petty is a bit better but it's marginal. I disagree fans will flock to Chase. He's simply not charismatic at all. I do think that things will become dire once Jr hangs 'em up.
Definitely! It is not the same as 30 years ago. I remember going as a little girl, and in the past several years, have no desire. Do not really keep up as I did before.
Yep, wasn't about half the field already using that or the other option - I forget the name - including Jr? Not at all tracks but the big fast ones anyway.
I'd love too see a seniors division, Bill Elliot, Rusty, Labonte, the Bodines, the Burtons, Kyle Petty, Dale Jarret, Jimmy Spencer, hell maybe even DW(?), put together a field of 15 or 20. How about throwing in some of the old time crew chiefs and let them build some old time race cars? Make it a limited season, straight points, no teams, just plain racing. I can even imagine some great sponsorship's like AARP, Ex Lax, Polident, Miracle Ear, Depends, you get the idea. And, let the kids have the cell phone series, the grown ups can go back to Budweiser. What do you think, could it work?
I'd love too see a seniors division, Bill Elliot, Rusty, Labonte, the Bodines, the Burtons, Kyle Petty, Dale Jarret, Jimmy Spencer, hell maybe even DW(?), put together a field of 15 or 20. How about throwing in some of the old time crew chiefs and let them build some old time race cars? Make it a limited season, straight points, no teams, just plain racing. I can even imagine some great sponsorship's like AARP, Ex Lax, Polident, Miracle Ear, Depends, you get the idea. And, let the kids have the cell phone series, the grown ups can go back to Budweiser. What do you think, could it work?
The one thing all those former drivers have in common is that they all belong to club DW, soon to be joined by Tony Stewart.
Done Winning
Let them all enjoy their retirement, they earned it.
If they wanted to continue their racing careers they would have started racing IMSA sports cars.
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