Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he'd be disappointed if he didn't win at least three races this year. Is he setting his sights too high?
Looking through the transcripts from the first day of the Preseason Thunder fan fest in Daytona, most people didn’t say anything too earth-shattering.
Drivers said they’re excited for the season. Drivers said they’re anxious to get back on the track.
In other words, pretty much the usual stuff.
Leave it to Dale Earnhardt Jr. to make the most interesting comment of the evening.
Earnhardt Jr., asked to detail his goals for this year, said: “Well, our goal is to win as many races as we can, win the championship, challenge for the championship. I’d like to win – I think anything less than three races this year I’d be a little bit disappointed.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m all for being optimistic about the season, but talk about putting pressure on yourself.
Earnhardt Jr. has won three races in the last five seasons combined. He finished 25th in points last year and, as Junior fans know all too well, did not win.
The guy already has a ton of pressure on himself, particularly from the media who view his tenure at Hendrick Motorsports as a disappointment so far and the fans who expect their favorite driver to be running up front and contending like he used to in years like 2004.
So if you’re Earnhardt Jr., why not set your sights a little lower (at least publicly) and say, “Hey, let’s start with just making the Chase again and winning a race, and then we’ll go from there?”
Of course, that would be taking a page out of the Mark Martin book. And one main reason Earnhardt Jr. fans love him so much is because he’s almost always completely honest and bares his soul for everyone to see.
I’ve often felt like some interviews with Earnhardt Jr. can turn into a session on the therapist’s couch, where the sport’s most popular driver decides to let the whole world into his mind.
So if Earnhardt Jr. says he expects to win at least three races this year, that’s his honest answer. He’s that optimistic about 2010, which should be a good sign for not only his fans, but an entire sport that would benefit from its superstar driver winning races again.
Still, after all the letdowns from the past few years, I hope Earnhardt Jr. isn’t setting himself up for disappointment again.
Is that a little smiley on the top of the page??
Jr didn’t say he expected to win 3 races this year. He said he would be disappointed if he didn’t win 3 races this year. This is how quotes get misquoted at a later time. Keep it factual.
I’m all for Dale Jr. winning at LEAST 3 races. I for one think he can do it. Every driver in NASCAR has had dry spells & Dale Jr. is no different! You have to love this guy! We do!
Thanks Jeff, great read as always. I would expect nothing less from a competitor at the highest level of racing to go into the season expecting to win. He has the equipment and the talent. Expectations of anything less, and I would be a disappointed Junior fan.
I’m all for winning 3 races this year at least! And I hope it happens. But then again, I’ll be happy if the last 25% didn’t go by the wayside after having a decent/good day.
Isn’t that why everyone is lobbying to get shorter races? Because last year Dale Jr. did so poorly in the final laps?
But it’s great that he’s optimistic going into the new season. Hopefully they can/did shake all the bad luck that hounded the whole team this season from driver to crew. And I for one can hope, that in the shake off some of it went to the 48 team!
Have you ever watched “Feild of Dreams” with Kevin Costner? There is a line in the movie “If you build it, he will come.” It’s about blind faith and belief.Obviously it’s a fictional movie but, we as people, sometimes need blind faith and a belief that if we can see something, want something… we can make it happen.Maybe Jr. is shooting to high, but I think he might need to. Good article Jeff.
At this point, I don’t think there is anything Dale Jr. could say that could put more pressure on him. His name and popularity alone do that. I think it’s probably a good thing for him to set goals, and three wins is certainly within the realm of possibility, given his Hendrick ride. But if this year is anything like last, you can be certain that he will be reminded of this statement.
This will be a make or break year for the 88 team. Without at least some signs of progress, I think some fans will throw in the towel. I heard some boos mixed in with the cheers at the track last year.
I will always root for Junior, and I’d love to see him win some races in 2010. But my patience is beginning to wear, too, and it brings me no joy to make that statement.
every driver should come into Daytona wanting to win every single race regardless who it is. Hell John Wes Townley should come in saying he wants to win every race(or maybe he should say not wreck in every race) regardless drivers should shoot for the moon and not winning a championship should be disappointing. Fans don’t want half ass drivers who just want to finish in the top 20. We want to see drivers push themselves to the top every race.
I like Dale Jr. But I just wanted to hear something realistic from him rather than the worn out statement that Dale Jr. made to the media. It sounds like a press statement and I don’t like because it didn’t feel genuine.
So when I hear Dale Jr. making these types of statements, it does break my heart a bit. I really want Dale Jr. to win three, six, ten races. But there is a point where statements like this ring hollow. And it appears like it becoming a talking-point rather than something genuine. What I mean is: Is Dale Jr. to the point where he is going through the motions maybe waiting for the bottom to drop out? This concerns me because I really like Dale Jr. and I don’t want to see this happen by circumstance. I want Dale Jr. to make a decision and not let “things happen to him”. That seems like a copout and well, dang it, an Earnhardt never cops out. Or it always appeared that way.
I’m beginning to think that Dale Jr. needs to roll back from Cup racing into Nationwide racing. That’s where Junior has always excelled with two Busch championships, if winning a championship is Junior’s goal.
Cup racing is not for everyone. Cup has champions from every racing league “trying their luck” to excel in Cup because of the reputation a racer gains from winning races. J.J. Yeley is a recent example: Yeley is a USAC triple-crown winner like Tony Stewart but Yeley “came and went” in Cup. Yeley’s back in USAC with his own team and still has a career in racing. Not making it in Cup should never be made into a failure at Cup. A racer can only race at Cup level and be the best they can be. The worse thing is to never try at all.
Dale Jr. will always be one of the best. Sure Dale Jr. didn’t win a championship, but Dale Jr. won eighteen races and has one hundred forty two top tens according to Wikipedia. That is an amazing record for the ten-eleven years Dale Jr has been in Cup. I will never ever forget the 2004 season. But I need to and maybe Dale Jr. does too.
Great blog Jeff. Jr.’s statement shows me that he has his confidence back up after the disaster that was last year. If his expectations for this season were anything less than winning, it would upset me as a fan. Frankly, there’s so much pressure on him already that nothing he could say would add to it.
The beauty of the Daytona 500 is that it offers drivers a new beginning. Last season is in the rear-view mirror: now it’s time to focus on the here and now. Looks like Jr. is doing just that.
Here we go picking apart his statements. I saw some optimism in him last night. That famous smile actually gravitated to his twinkling eyes. We didn’t see that much last year. Maybe just due to the off season, but I’ll take the smile.
Can we please let him be optimistic about the changes this year before we bury him with added pressures.
He didn’t say he would win 3 races. He said anything less would be a disappointing. He’s optimistic.What a good thing. He could be just as easily pessimistic after last year.
So Dale Junior fans get on board, or get off the train.
I hope if you’re getting off please don’t try to bring him down. let us with him stand strong and tall with our driver.
Thanks Jeff.
Great article Jeff. I’d much rather see Junior going into the season optimistic with his goals set high, than beat up with last season on his mind. Keep them coming Jeff.
Many of Junior’s critics, fans, & even the media are already saying that this is a make it or break it year with regard to Junior and his tenure at HMS. If that is the case, what will make or break Junior’s season? In my opinion, winning just 1 race won’t make the media & any of his fans questioning him stop giving him such a hard time. He’d probably have to truly be up there winning as many as Jimmie, Jeff, & Mark. That in itself is sad. Is it possible to do a 180 in an off season? Sure. Is it realistic? I don’t think so. I think the important part is that the team make a big improvement in 2010 over 2009. It does sound like Junior’s confidence has definitely improved. That will definitely help him. I think part of his problems in 2009 were just being down and not knowing how to work out of it which was horrible for his and the team’s morale (& probably made it that much harder).
Dale, Jr. didn’t say he was going to win three races this season, he said he would be disappointed if he didn’t win at least three races. Big difference in inferences. He and Lance McGrew have put their own pressure on themselves. We fans and media add more. I guess if he wasn’t ready for that, he would have quit racing a long time ago. I’m looking forward to seeing that 88 car cross the start/finish line first several times in 2010.
Nice post Jeff. While I am not a Jr fan, I have to respect the man for setting a high bar. Maybe with the shorter races he wont flame out in the end. (Just stoking the conspiricy theory. Now if they make the pit box bigger I know the fix is in! lol)
Jeff as usual great post, I really enjoyed listening to Jr, he sounded like the old Jr, more confident upbeat, and looking forward to racing and Daytona. Three wins for Jr is not something unheard of, and with everything working right from team to driver to car it can be acheived and I personally am putting my money on Jr and his team this year. Sure am glad you are still here Jeff, keep up the good work.
Good luck to Junior! Hoprfully his poistive thinking works out for him.
PS: Jeff- You should do your Driver Twitter ‘Standings’ on your blog!
I liked Junior’s comments…it would be good for the sport if he could have a good year. I don’t know if he’ll win 3 races, but Mr. H did say Junior was his project for this year. So let’s see if they have really worked on that team and gotten it better. Going to be interesting to see as well if the switchover to a spoiler does anything. Junior did not adjust well to the COT, so maybe the spoiler switch will go better for him.
We as fans could wish that all of the drivers were as honest as JR.
If we look back at 2008 JR went to Daytona and won 2 races and ran good for about the next 5 races.If memory serves me correctly he was 3rd. in points after 5 races.Then things started to happen and didn’t stop the rest of the season. I believe someone and maybe more than one person didn’t like him to be running that good. It could have been his teamates an engineer or someone higher up in HMS.Then as the year wound down we found out that his cars were diferent than his teamates.Anything that JRS team might have thought they were getting from the other teams wouldn’t work on his car.If all the orders from RH are carried out along with crew changes WE can rest assured that the 88 will run up front on a consistant basis. I have been a fan of the Earnharts from the days of Ralph Earnhart and I will always be .
According to interviews, it seems like Jr. is well rested, refreshed, and ready to race!! I think his mind is back to where it should be and he will win races this year. Not right away, though. I think with them changing the new car back to the old car a little bit, Jr. will do better, win races, and possibly win a championship.
IAM A JR BOY BUT HE WILL NOT WILL
A CHAMPIONSHIP
JIM
Well, He wants to win is all. One lousy win with Hendrick Motorsports, the man wants more than one win. But I think 2010 will be exactly the same as 2008 and 2009. I believe the 2010 will be his last season with Hendrick and 2011 we will be seeing him paring up with Richard Childress to drive like the #29 maybe. He will be in the #3 soon. All 2 years with Hendrick Motorsports were all disasters.
I applaud our Junior for setting his goals as high as three races as we all should have a goal in life. I’m not going to give up on him in 2010 or any other year, at least he is open and honest about where he wants to be in his career. Most drivers have that chip on their shoulder and dare someone to knock it off. Not Dale Jr. He knows how to play the game.
I’m glad to see that Jr. is setting some goals for the season that reflect how Hendrick performs overall. The problem he faces right now is that after a 1-2-3 finish in the points for the other 3 teams in the stable, Jr can’t afford to follow it up with another season like the one he just had. He stands to chance of becoming “that other Hendrick team” and I don’t think that anyone at HMS really wants to have a team in that situation. Obviously, one team has to be the bottom of the barrel for performance, but with the level of equipment available to all 4 cars at HMS, plus the Stewart-Haas cars, plus the James Finch car that Keslowski won in last season, it’s hard to believe that Dale Jr is only getting left with the scraps.
Whether it’s team chemistry or lack of comfort in the new style car or just plain old bad luck, Jr needs to be competitive with his teammates first, and the rest of the field will align itself accordingly.
I’d love to see Jr get 3 (or more) wins this season, and establish himself in a proper fashion with an exceptional team. I don’t know if that’s realistic or not, but it’s definitely admirable.
I think that as long as he is able to maintain an improved performance level, obtain at minimum one win, and be in a position to make the chase, that he can consider 2010 to be a “good” season.