What's the big deal?

What I mean when I say that is that all of a sudden the media is so interested in how Dale Jr behaves during a race. Where were these people in the past few years?! Any Dale Jr fan knows that this wasn't just a sudden outburst and that Junior is like that during a race. Yes, I have the scanner on NASCAR.com - my only reason for listening in is because I like to know if Junior feels he has a crappy car before the commentators make a bigger deal out of it than it already is to Junior himself. With the scanner, I know I'm getting the official word from Junior, and I know that's his voice saying how he feels the car is handling. Anyway, on to my thoughts about this whole "issue" (if you wanna call it that, the media seems to think it is). Just an FYI, when I think about something like this, I mean really think it out, I like to look at it from the person's

point of view. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll fill you in on what I'm talking about. (This could be a long post, I hope you like my rambling)

Like I said, any Dale Jr fan knows that during any given race, Junior can get, how can I put this nicely? Hmm..... a little more than ticked off. This past Sunday Junior was his usual "a little more than ticked off, I'm gonna tell Tony Jr like it is right now while I'm out here in the car" self. From what I understand, for the past two races, towards the middle of the race, when Junior would start to vocalize his opinion of how the car was handling, and he'd get "a little more than ticked off", Rick would come over the radio asking him what he felt was wrong. Read on to see what I mean.....

Their conversation during a caution that ran from Laps 215-220 went as follows (listen):

"We need a security guard over there watching those [expletive tires]," Earnhardt said. "I can't figure out why we keep [messing] up in the middle of all these races. Every [expletive] time."

Hendrick: "You've got a great car right now. Just take it easy."

Earnhardt: "This is [expletive bullcrap]."

Hendrick: "You got a bad set of tires. It happens."

Earnhardt: "I need to find another series that runs half-distance races."

Hendrick: "You can do this. Talk to everybody about what the car is doing. We can make the right adjustments."

Earnhardt: "I'm [ticked] off. Sometimes you go your fastest when you're [ticked] off. So we'll see."

Hendrick: "Take it out on those guys in front of you."

(Forewarning, I do use the words "I think" a lot in this post)

Rick Hendrick is a smart, professional, personable man. At least from what I have seen of him being on Shifting Gears, interviews, etc. He doesn't want to change Dale Jr, (not that Dale Jr would change for anyone anyway), however he does know talent when he sees it, and he knows that Dale Jr possesses a talent unlike any other driver out there. (The same goes for the rest of the drivers at HMS) I think Rick's goal is (he knows Jr's gonna swear, I mean what NASCAR driver doesn't when he's frustrated?) to get Junior to where he's vocal and is a little bit more detailed when giving Tony Jr information about how he fe

els the car is handling. Rick isn't afraid to get on Junior's radio and tell him like it is, (Not that Tony Jr doesn't, and I'll talk more about him below) especcially when Junior is swearing and carrying on about the car. Rick has listened to a lot of driver/ crew chief conversations over the years, and I think Junior would greatly benefit (not that Jr doesn't know this already or doesn't do it) from listening to Rick when he does speak up. When Rick tells you to do something, you had better do it. I think that once Junior gets through his first season with HMS and fully understands what Rick expects from his drivers, he'll do better both in the middle and at the end of any given race.

Some people love him, some people don't understand him and the calls he makes on Dale Jr's car, but for some reason, Tony Eury Jr and Dale Jr fit like a glove. Tony Jr takes a lot of heat from reporters who, for some reason, can't and/or don't seem

to get it in their heads that it's one of those things that can't be explained in words. Those people on the "infield", that know what all a crew chief does on race weekend, have said (and I've heard more than one say this) that Tony Jr is one of the best crew chiefs in the cup series. I couldn't agree more. There's not too many people that can take what Junior throws at them over the radio during a race. (Other than Rick). I think that's why a lot people don't get it. (don't ask why, they just don't) The fact that they're related has no bearing on their performance at the racetrack. If Rick didn't think that Tony Jr was a perfect match for Dale Jr (as far as a crew chief goes), do you honestly think that he would have let him join Jr at HMS? I sure don't. Any true Dale Jr fan would know that Tony Jr does his job week after w

eek, and wouldn't question his motives during any race.

Dale Jr is one of those people who seldom (if at all) change for anyone. Do I think Jr's gonna respond to Rick's telling him to calm down and tell them what's wrong with the car? To a certain degree, yes. Jr is Jr, plain and simple. He's gonna tell Tony Jr what's wrong, swear and whatever else, and they'll get to where Rick wants them to be communication wise. Do I think Jr's needs to calm down when the car isn't running the way it should? A little. There's not one thing that Tony Jr can do when Dale Jr is out on the track, so why whine and co

mplain when you already know that there's nothing that can be done at that exact moment? One thing I've learned over my short 28 years on earth is that negative thoughts, or words (in this case) produce negative results. Positive thoughts produce positive results. Now as for the tires this past week, from what I saw, those tires that Junior had a huge fit over, they were good until Junior caught up with Kyle Busch (or as I like to call him Shrubery and/or vile kyle), who, although he had a bad day, felt he had to race Junior like he was leading the whole race. What I think happened (and I could be right or wrong) is that because vile kyle was racing him as hard as he was, Jr's tires got worn out then, and that's why he started to fall back. Junior is still in the hunt for the cup, he's not that far back, look at Shrubery. He was 1st for the majority of the season, and now he's way back in 8th. Junior is 4th, not too b

ad from where I sit.

Having said all that, if any of this sounds like I'm slamming Rick, Dale Jr, and Tony Jr. - believe me, I'm not. I wouldn't have this blog if I was going to do that. That's for someone else to do, and it's not gonna be me who does it. I'll close with a funny pic I found.... the link for the site is over there on the right side. I really hope you have a sense of humor when you see it.

If the image is too small, just click on it and it'll take you to where you can see it full size. Talk to you later!!