Why Did Dale Earnhardt Jr Not Achieve the Same Level of Success as his Father?

The NASCAR community boasts of a fairly rich history, in terms of driver talent. Some of these drivers even built dynasties, where they and members of their family carried on the family business of racing. We had the Pettys, the Allisons, the Waltrips, and finally the Earnhardts. Admittedly, there will always be some members who were not as successful as their predecessors. One cannot imagine the pressure on the next generation to be a chip off the old block. No one knows this more than Dale Earnhardt Jr, son of the late great Dale Earnhardt.

What makes it even worse for Dale Jr is the fact that his father was a 7-time Cup Series champion. The older Earnhardt was lucky, because the bar set by his own father, Ralph Earnhardt, wasn’t as high. Ralph competed in 51 races over the course of six years, and sadly never reached Victory Lane. So when Dale Sr arrived on the scene, he pretty much blew everyone out of the water, being the ‘Intimidator’ we all know him as today. Unfortunately, Dale Jr and subsequent members of the Earnhardt family have not been as successful. Dale Earnhardt Jr came close, but he is still far away from continuing his father’s legacy. So what happened? Why Junior couldn’t reach his father’s level of success?

How Did It All Start for Dale Earnhardt Jr?

Let’s make one thing clear. Dale Earnhardt Jr is in no way a bad driver. 26 Cup Series wins, 24 Xfinity Series wins, and two Xfinity Series titles are excellent credentials. Furthermore, he managed to achieve one feat quicker than his father, winning the Daytona 500. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take away the fact that he never won a Cup Series title. For eight seasons, he competed for Dale Earnhardt Inc, driving the #8 car. Then for the 2008 season, he moved to Hendrick Motorsports, arguably the best team in the sport.

On paper, this should have been a recipe for success. The HMS team had a star-studded line-up. Aside from Dale Jr himself, they also fielded 4-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, and future 7-time champion, Jimmie Johnson. With those three drivers in one team, all of their rivals should have been quaking in their boots. However, only Johnson and Gordon proved to be massive threats, with the former dominating for several years. Meanwhile, poor old Dale Earnhardt Jr only picked up nine wins during his Hendrick Motorsports tenure.

So where did it all go wrong for him?

If one had to come up with a comparison, Dale Earnhardt was Michael Schumacher, while Dale Jr was Mick Schumacher. The latter two entered the top echelon of their respective sports with the weight of the world and expectations on their shoulders. The only difference is that Mick is only 24 years old, and could have plenty of time to show off his talent. Dale Earnhardt Jr is twice his age, and his chance to prove his mettle is gone.

When he won his two Xfinity Series championships, both of them were tight battles with Matt Kenseth. So when the inevitable Cup Series graduation came, there were even more expectations levied on him. In 2000, he made his full-time debut and his rookie season was relatively decent. It also helped that he had his father to guide him on his journey. Unfortunately, when Dale Sr tragically lost his life during the 2001 Daytona 500, it effectively thrust him into the spotlight.

READ MORE: Dale Earnhardt Jr Reveals How NASCAR Robbed Him of a Championship in 2014

Naturally, all of Dale Sr’s fans gravitated towards him and dumped loads of expectations on him. It only got worse in 2008 when he moved to Hendrick Motorsports. Since they were arguably the best team, the pressure was on, especially with top tier teammates like Gordon and Johnson.

Was it partly Hendrick Motorsports’ fault?

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On an interesting note, the Hendrick Motorsports organization operated its four-car team on a priority basis. As it turned out, the #88 car was pretty much last on the priority scale. Even before Dale Jr joined that particular team, the #88 car often saw very little success. Previously, it was the #25 team, and it boasted drivers like Ken Schrader, Jerry Nadeau, Casey Mears, Wally Dallenbach, Ricky Craven, and Joe Nemechek. Those drivers were no slouches on the track, but even they could not find much success in the fourth Hendrick car.

Another victim was 2000 Xfinity Series champion, Brian Vickers, who suffered the same fate. Some would think that Dale Jr’s recruitment to Hendrick Motorsports was just to bank on the Earnhardt name. He effectively replaced Kyle Busch, who moved to Joe Gibbs Racing and eventually won two Cup titles for them. Meanwhile, Dale Jr struggled a lot at HMS, compared to his teammates.

At least, he still managed to win the Daytona 500 on two different occasions. It took his father nearly two decades to do it, but Dale Jr achieved it in a shorter period of time. The best part is that his victories came in two different teams. In 2004, he was driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc, and in 2014, he was in the Hendrick Motorsports stable. To be perfectly honest, how many NASCAR drivers can you name with multiple Daytona 500 wins, and for different teams?

Dale Earnhardt Jr is also building a legacy, but of a different kind

Kevin Harvick once said that Dale Jr was not aiding NASCAR’s growth. He told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, “For me, I believe that Dale Jr. has had a big part in kind of stunting the growth of NASCAR because he’s got these legions of fans and this huge outreach of being able to reach different places that none of us have the possibility to reach, but he’s won nine races in 10 years at Hendrick Motorsports and hasn’t been able to reach outside of that.”

Although he was not successful as a racing driver, he turned to another avenue. To be precise, he is now the owner of the JR Motorsports, which has been pretty successful. In that way, Dale Jr has contributed a lot to NASCAR. He has even acknowledged that he did not live up to many fans’ expectations. However, he was satisfied with his own expectations and was proud of his accomplishments.

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