WOW Jr. wins at a plate track.........

WOW, Dale Jr. wins an exhibition plate race and you would think he won the 1st Daytona 500!!!  Jr. may be the best plate racer ever but give me a win at Loudon, Sonoma or Pocono this year before I call him anything more than upper mid pack.  Yates cars can won poles and contend on plate tracks, what does that tell you?  Not to pick on Yates, I am just saying that plate races are totally dofferent and sometimes it is the machine, HP or the luck that gets you where you are. 

If he is as good as everyone acts like he is (2 wins since Bush's first term, 1 on mileage), he will win 15 races this year, he should, he has the best Hendrick equipment and whatever he wants off or on the track.  I mean, Morgan Shepard could jump in that car right now and be a top 5 driver again.  So lets think a little before we put Jr. above Pearson or Petty in the books, great plate driver, good at Richmond but what has he done everywhere else?  I would like to say, in closing, David Gilliland had a top 5 on a plate track last year during the down years at Yates, what does that tell you about plate racing?  Answer that and then look at what golden boy is good at.... Give me a driver who can win at Martinsville or The Glen and I will say you have a well rounded driver........

But if I am wrong, what the heck, go 88, I just need him to prove me wrong and win somewhere the drivers skill matters more than luck.  He should win every race in a Hendrick car!
Posted: 2/10/2008 10:20:00 AM
Comments:
Dale Jr. finally won a race. He had enjoy it while he can as that will be his only win this season.
Posted On: 2/10/2008 10:20:00 AM
I will agree with Dalefreak to a point.  My point about Bush's first term is that Dale Jr won Phoenix the week before the last general election, we are in another election year and he has won 2 races since, a fuel mileage luck win at Chicago and a less than dominant win at Richmond in 2006.  17 wins in 291 races is a little over 5% win percentage, less than Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch and right around the win % of Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth or Ryan Newman.  All those driverrs will be in the HOF someday for sure, but they will have careers similar to Ernie Irvan, Jeff Burton, Harry Gant or Geoff Bodine, all greats with some big wins, but none of them ever won 10 or 13 races in a season and other than Kurt Busch, none of the above ever won a title.  So why do we put a driver that is going for a lower-end top tier career with the likes of a Petty, Pearson or even Earnhardt Sr.?  That's my issue, we compare him moving to Hendrick with the moon landing and act as if he has double the wins, poles and Daytona 500's of Richard Petty!  Again I say, he will be remembered as a top plate driver and will probably win 25-30 races in his career, but let's focus some T.V. time on someone else already.  
Posted On: 2/10/2008 10:20:00 AM
Not to argue, but Jr has won at Bristol, Atlanta, Texas, Dover, Lowes, Phoenix and of course as you mentioned Richmond. I don't know why people say Jr has to prove he can win at other tracks when he already has. But lets put his Bud shootout win into perspective. Jr hasn't won a single cup race since may 2006, MAY 2006. In fact, he hadn't even won a Busch/Nationwide race since June 2006. And this was the first restrictor plate race that he has won since 2004. Of course this does not guarantee anything in the future, but it's hard to argue that Jr's past issues did not come from his tenure at DEI. Jr led a record 47 laps against a record size 23 car field. He had tons of help from his Hendrick buddies in which all Hendrick cars finished in the TOP SIX! I mean come on, he looked like he did in the past when he could pretty much do whatever he wanted to with his car.

Also, what do you mean 2 wins since Bush's first term? Jr has 17 wins since his rookie year in 2000. This does not include his 5 non points victories either.
Posted On: 2/10/2008 10:20:00 AM

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