“Most Miserable Thing Ever”: Dale Earnhardt Jr Divulges His Fall From the Top

Dale Earnhardt Jr has had an illustrious career in NASCAR. Despite not living up to the lofty heights his father had set, the former Cup Series driver was one of the most popular athletes on the track. Even today, after his retirement from the Cup Series, Junior enjoys a huge fan following on social media thanks to his podcast and other activities outside of racing. However, like everyone else, his career was not one that was always on the up. Junior went through quite a few challenging phases in his career, even going an entire season without a single victory under his belt. He recently delved into that part of his life that he considers to be the most miserable.

In a recent episode of The Dale Jr. Download podcast, Junior and co-host Mike Davis were conversing about Noah Gragson and what he needed to do to get his confidence back if he ever came back to NASCAR. Speaking about Gragson, Junior and Davis reminisced the time when the former had lost confidence in his own abilities as a driver and his team at the time, which was one of the most difficult periods of his professional life.

It annihilates your confidence: NASCAR insider recalls a difficult period for Junior

“I think, the Cup Series man, if you’re not in a good car, I’ve been there, when you’re running in the back, not running well, it’s the most miserable thing ever. Nothing’s good about it,” Junior said.

His close friend and associate Mike Davis recalled a time when Junior was a driver for DEI and there was a time when he had completely lost confidence in himself and his team.

“It annihilates your confidence. I tell people, I remember when we were racing at DEI and you would go around saying, “I’m the best race car driver out there,” not to be arrogant, but because you would almost say that to yourself, you had to think it and I remember when that stopped happening,” he said.

“And yeah, you were losing confidence in the team around you but you also lost confidence in yourself, and man, it was gonna take something special to get it back and you got it back but it wasn’t without help,” Davis added.

While Dale Earnhardt Jr did eventually get his confidence back and was driving at the highest level again, he believes that it does not happen for everybody and that it almost did not happen even for him.

“Yeah it was unique circumstances and it took a lot of years and I don’t think it happens for everybody and it barely happened for me,” the 48-year-old quipped.

Though Mike Davis talked about how difficult a time Dale Earnhardt Jr had with DEI, there was a period even with Hendrick Motorsports when he just could not seem to get it right on the track. It was the 2009 season, one of the worst in Junior’s entire career.

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In 2009, Dale Earnhardt Jr was a new addition to the HMS team after deciding to quit DEI. HMS is one of the most successful teams of all time and many believed that Junior would achieve at least a part of the success that his father had.

That season, however, was not the one where that would happen. Junior took part in 36 races in the 2009 Cup Series championship without winning or even getting a pole position in a single one of them.

His best result came at Talladega where he finished in second place. In 36 races, Junior only managed to finish in the top five twice, once in Talladega and the other in Michigan. He only amassed five top-ten finishes and his average finishing position was a lowly 23rd.

If anyone knows about rebuilding lost confidence, it is Dale Earnhardt Jr. After a torrid end to his time at DEI and an unflattering start to life at HMS, the former Cup Series driver fought back and in a few years’ time was regularly challenging for race wins. It is this never give up attitude that has earned him thousands of fans over the years and continues to do so.

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