Besides being the most popular driver, how else has Dale Earnhardt Jr helped NASCAR?

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furredracer88

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Despite me being a fan of him, I don't really know what else he has done.(I know, it's pathetic) Maybe I just haven't been paying attention?
 
Formerjackman said:
What does ANY driver do for NASCAR other than being popular enough to have people come to the race or tune in the TV to watch him/her?
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That could also be said of most athletes and sports participants.

Some drivers have taken on the role of representing the garage's interests to the sanctioning body. Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Burton leap to mind, along with Gordon and Stewart to a lesser extent.

I see Junior more as the garage historian, helping introduce new fans to how the sport evolved, to drivers everyone should know. His interaction with the sport isn't ending, just taking on a less active role. He could wind up doing as much for the sport from the booth as he's done on the track.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
That could also be said of most athletes and sports participants.

Some drivers have taken on the role of representing the garage's interests to the sanctioning body. Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Burton leap to mind, along with Gordon and Stewart to a lesser extent.
Click to expand...

Fine, but how does HELP NASCAR? NASCAR is a business to make money. What do any of theses drivers do to put more money in NASCAR's pocket beside what I said? A lot things drivers do help their teams or themselves, but it doesn't make NASCAR more successful as a business entity.
 
He's the driver most featured in commercials and media outside of NASCAR, maybe the only driver to be bigger than the sport, and that's maybe led some people to tune in and watch him run 25th every week.
 
I think Dale Jr's best attribute in Nascar was providing a soft landing place for Dale fans upon his death. A lot of his fans have already exited Nascar so I don't think his departure this year will have serious negative impact.
 
Hard to measure intangibles, but he had been a good ambassador. Sounds cliche but he has walked the talk in that regard.
 
He has given millions of 3 fans a place to turn to for the past 16 years.

(oops- I see Skoal33 took the words out of my mouth, so ditto)
 
His last name is Earnhardt.
He hasn’t really set the track on fire but he’s a cool dude and he’s won some races.
 
Few NASCAR drivers can say they transcended the sport. The King, Dale Sr, and Dale Jr. are about the only ones I can think of that did it. By transcending the sport people that wouldn't have known about it or a driver within in it had someone they could relate to if a NASCAR fan talked to them about the sport.
 
Yeah, he had the Earnhardt name, but he also had rockstar appeal during the explosion and drew in a mainstream audience. There was a time when Dale Jr was "cool" and rooting for him was what all the cool kids did.

When I was in middle and high school, NASCAR was all the rage. And it was people like Jr and Harvick who were the rockstars of the sport.
 
Yes Dale Jr is leaving a legacy to the sport. Not anywhere close on the track to what his dad left, but large and different on it's own. Any driver who, for whatever reasons, wins most popular driver for so many years, has left a significant mark. He did win races, and was highly competitive for most years. Jr was always a threat at plate tracks.

We ultimately saw a young guy, uncertain on how to deal with life in a huge shadow, become his own man. Jr is amazingly comfortable now, compared to awkward early days. I predict he will be a star broadcaster, as big as Waltrip was in his popular announcer days.
 
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