Top 20 countdown: No. 11 Dale Earnhardt Jr
(Photos: Getty Images)
2008 statistics
Finish | Poles | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
12 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 16 |
The countdown
No. 20: Martin Truex Jr.
No. 19: Juan Pablo Montoya
No. 18: Kurt Busch
No. 17: Kasey Kahne
No. 16: Brian Vickers
No. 15: Tony Stewart
No. 14: Jamie McMurray
No. 13: Clint Bowyer
No. 12: David Ragan
No. 11: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
No. 10: Revealed Thursday
Editor's note: Yahoo! Sports is counting down the Top 20 drivers going into the 2009 season. The order was determined by a survey, which asked six NASCAR journalists – Ricky Craven, Jay Busbee and Jay Hart (Yahoo! Sports); Jenna Fryer (Associated Press); David Poole (Charlotte Observer); and Nate Ryan (USA Today) – to predict the final standings for the 2009 season. The countdown will conclude on Feb. 6 with the unveiling of the No. 1 driver.
2008 finish: 12th
2009 outlook: Dale Earnhardt Jr. comes into 2009 riding as high as ever thanks to his immense popularity. His fame spreads far and wide; your non-NASCAR-following grandmother knows who he is, if only because she's seen him fight a gorilla or carry a camel in commercials.
Problem is, there are no Chase points available for filming commercials, and there are no gorillas to fight on the track.
Back in the early '00s, when Earnhardt Jr. finished in the top 10 in three out of four years, it appeared he had ascended to his rightful place atop NASCAR. Since then, though, he's been caught and passed – very much literally – by the likes of Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.
Obviously Junior isn't going anywhere anytime soon; he's far too popular and he still has plenty of skill behind the wheel. But nobody's doing him any favors on the track because of his name.
He got something of a mulligan year in 2008 thanks to his switch to a new team, but that honeymoon is over.
This season, Rick Hendrick is going to expect more than just a fuel-mileage win out of Earnhardt Jr., which is how he claimed his only victory in 2008. And fans aren't going to put up with much more of Junior turning the other cheek, as he did after Busch spun him with three laps to go at Richmond.
In short, there are no more excuses for Earnhardt Jr. It's time to fight. It's time to win.
What you need to know: In the past four seasons, Junior has finished 19th, fifth, 16th, and 12th. Over that same period, he has exactly three wins. At some point, somebody's going to have to start asking some hard questions of Junior.
