Harvick Rips Dale Jr. For Performance & Impact on NASCAR

Simple Fan said:
I also think his comments have been taken out of context. He never said that Jr was the reason for the decline, just that it'd be better off had Jr performed better.
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I respectfully disagree. Saying we'd be better off if Jr preformed better means it wouldn't have declined or wouldn't have declined as much if his career had been better. Which places at least part of the blame at Jr's feet.

Even with some basis for what he said, it doesn't mean how it was said wasn't distasteful
 
Snowman said:
I respectfully disagree. Saying we'd be better off if Jr preformed better means it wouldn't have declined or wouldn't have declined as much if his career had been better. Which places at least part of the blame at Jr's feet.
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I don't think he's the reason but yeah his performance is part of it no doubt.
 
Simple Fan said:
I don't think he's the reason but yeah his performance is part of it no doubt.
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But could Harvick have worded his comments differently? There are ways to word exactly what he's saying without being a jerk
 
Snowman said:
Even with some basis for what he said, it doesn't mean how it was said wasn't distasteful
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Oh, well I could care less if it was distasteful, I think it was true and I'm all for drivers voicing their opinions. Even if they're not the most popular opinion.
 
Simple Fan said:
Some people are jerks, everyone can be a jerk at times. Just got to live with it.
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No doubt, I just have a low tolerance for people like that.

So Kez's famous "Kyle Busch is an a$$" was all good in your book? He was voicing his opinion.
 
Kevin has every right to speak his mind --- and Junior fans have every right to be put off by those statements.
Dale had to handle the very public death of his father at the biggest race of the year. He did so with grace.
He picked right up at the track the very next week.
I'm sure he hadn't planned on becoming the "face of NASCAR" and
I sincerely doubt he really enjoyed the notoriety. He didn't ask to carry the name he was born with, but he carried
the weight of the name very well. Lots of people wanted him to turn into his father and not be himself. Those
shoes couldn't be filled.
So what if he didn't win championships and tons of races. It doesn't make a bit of difference to me.

I can't pin the blame on Junior for the decline of NASCAR. If I blame anyone, it's the NASCAR bureaucracy itself with
all the willy-nilly, throw ideas at the wall and see what sticks, changes that have come from Daytona. And, again, it comes
down to the loss of someone's father --- Big Bill, then Bill, Jr.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
My error. Didn't mean to make anyone sick. My deepest apologies.
I move it immediately so as not to offend any further.
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No, not you TRL (not ever really). I just feel sick that Dale is doing this. His comments are naive as hell. The only people who don't have to know their salaries are the ones who make so much that it doesn't matter. We know that, he doesn't apparently.....and for the love of Jesus, please spare me the "I'm not worthy stuff." If you were worried about that, you would have wanted to know how much you made so that you could make that judgement. Otherwise, you are really saying that it was somebody else's fault you made 40 million a year. Here's news Dale....If you wanted to make less, YOU could have made that happen. Barf, barf, and more barf....and here all this time we thought he was the driver of the people. What a letdown, and now all we are left with is his performance and Delana's wife took care of that. Sobering.
 
ToyYoda said:
He does. But Kyle is a "love him or hate him" driver, there's not a lot of middle ground. The guys who win Most Popular Driver are the ones that everybody likes even if it isn't their favorite driver. I think Jr and Bill Elliott (who have collectively won 25 of the last 26 MPD awards) both fit that description. Earnhardt Sr. was a love-him-or-hate-him driver too, which is probably why he never won MPD until after he died, even though he likely had more fans than Bill Elliott who was winning the MPD every year.
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Like I said ........ everyone does not hate him. There is enough Kyle Busch gear in the stands at PIR to buy a cruise ship
 
Snowman said:
No doubt, I just have a low tolerance for people like that.

So Kez's famous "Kyle Busch is an a$$" was all good in your book? He was voicing his opinion.
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All good. I'll never complain about a drivers thoughts on another driver. It's honestly a good thing for the sport.
 
Simple Fan said:
All good. I'll never complain about a drivers thoughts on another driver. It's honestly a good thing for the sport.
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Alright, well since that's how you feel, there's no point in furthering this discussion because we sure ain't gonna change each other's mind or see where the other is coming from.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
Kevin has every right to speak his mind --- and Junior fans have every right to be put off by those statements.
Dale had to handle the very public death of his father at the biggest race of the year. He did so with grace.
He picked right up at the track the very next week.
I'm sure he hadn't planned on becoming the "face of NASCAR" and
I sincerely doubt he really enjoyed the notoriety. He didn't ask to carry the name he was born with, but he carried
the weight of the name very well. Lots of people wanted him to turn into his father and not be himself. Those
shoes couldn't be filled.
So what if he didn't win championships and tons of races. It doesn't make a bit of difference to me.

I can't pin the blame on Junior for the decline of NASCAR. If I blame anyone, it's the NASCAR bureaucracy itself with
all the willy-nilly, throw ideas at the wall and see what sticks, changes that have come from Daytona. And, again, it comes
down to the loss of someone's father --- Big Bill, then Bill, Jr.
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End of thread
 
Snowman said:
Alright, well since that's how you feel, there's no point in furthering this discussion because we sure ain't gonna change each other's mind or see where the other is coming from.
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Those comments alone gained alot of attention and that's not a bad thing.
 
Harvick has a point, but I'm not sure the point should be made about Dale Jr, but about Big E.

This sport still revolves around Dale Earnhardt.

Here's a project for everyone. And I already know the results because I've done it before. Round up a bunch of kids and start telling them old Earnhardt stories, like Fox and NBC do all the damn time. Tell them about the 2001 Daytona 500. Ask them if they know who Dale Earnhardt is.

Now, how are you supposed to grow the sport when it, in the minds of many (most) NASCAR fans, it still revolves arond Dale Earnhardt.

The man has been dead for 16 years.

In the meantime, we've got a seven-time champion in Jimmie Johnson, we've got one of the most polarizing athletes in all of sports in Kyle Busch, we've got the throwback Honey Badger driver in Ryan Blaney, we've got the popular prodigy and son of a racing legend in Chase Elliott, we've got the modern day Mr. Excitement in Kyle Larson, we've got Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Danica Patrick and Bubba Wallace, and so many others coming up as well.

Yet the sport still revolves around Dale Earnhardt.

How are we going to grow the sport if we don't ever talk about who we have competing in the sport now and instead continue to focus on Dale Earnhardt?

When I turn on a football game and Thomas Edward Patrick Brady is throwing for 300 yards and five touchdowns and winning Super Bowls, I don't hear the announcers keep bringing up Johnny Unitas every chance they get. I don't see hours and hours of documentaries on CBS before the game comes on about Joe Montana or Dan Marino. I don't hear Al Michaels and Cris Colinsworth constantly rehashing old Elway stories.

If you constantly dwell on the past, you can't live in the present or look to the future.
 
ah you made some sense right there. I frankly don't pay any attention to those stories I have heard them so many times I usually switch channels or have it playing low in the background. Never thought how that might affect the newer viewers
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Harvick has a point, but I'm not sure the point should be made about Dale Jr, but about Big E.

This sport still revolves around Dale Earnhardt.

Here's a project for everyone. And I already know the results because I've done it before. Round up a bunch of kids and start telling them old Earnhardt stories, like Fox and NBC do all the damn time. Tell them about the 2001 Daytona 500. Ask them if they know who Dale Earnhardt is.

Now, how are you supposed to grow the sport when it, in the minds of many (most) NASCAR fans, it still revolves arond Dale Earnhardt.

The man has been dead for 16 years.

In the meantime, we've got a seven-time champion in Jimmie Johnson, we've got one of the most polarizing athletes in all of sports in Kyle Busch, we've got the throwback Honey Badger driver in Ryan Blaney, we've got the popular prodigy and son of a racing legend in Chase Elliott, we've got the modern day Mr. Excitement in Kyle Larson, we've got Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Danica Patrick and Bubba Wallace, and so many others coming up as well.

Yet the sport still revolves around Dale Earnhardt.

How are we going to grow the sport if we don't ever talk about who we have competing in the sport now and instead continue to focus on Dale Earnhardt?

When I turn on a football game and Thomas Edward Patrick Brady is throwing for 300 yards and five touchdowns and winning Super Bowls, I don't hear the announcers keep bringing up Johnny Unitas every chance they get. I don't see hours and hours of documentaries on CBS before the game comes on about Joe Montana or Dan Marino. I don't hear Al Michaels and Cris Colinsworth constantly rehashing old Elway stories.

If you constantly dwell on the past, you can't live in the present or look to the future.
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While I understand what you are saying and agree in parts I don't think the sport still revolves around Dale Earnhardt. He doesn't dominate any headlines and isn't regularly a topic of conversation around here unless it is talking about the past, something related to Jr., or Jimmie winning 7. I don't hear alot about him during broadcast either unless it's a track where he dominated much like any driver that dominated a track.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
When I turn on a football game and Thomas Edward Patrick Brady is throwing for 300 yards and five touchdowns and winning Super Bowls, I don't hear the announcers keep bringing up Johnny Unitas every chance they get. I don't see hours and hours of documentaries on CBS before the game comes on about Joe Montana or Dan Marino. I don't hear Al Michaels and Cris Colinsworth constantly rehashing old Elway stories.
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This part I do disagree with. Especially Collinsworth, he loves to mention legends of the sport and tell stories about them.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Harvick has a point, but I'm not sure the point should be made about Dale Jr, but about Big E.

This sport still revolves around Dale Earnhardt.

Here's a project for everyone. And I already know the results because I've done it before. Round up a bunch of kids and start telling them old Earnhardt stories, like Fox and NBC do all the damn time. Tell them about the 2001 Daytona 500. Ask them if they know who Dale Earnhardt is.

Now, how are you supposed to grow the sport when it, in the minds of many (most) NASCAR fans, it still revolves arond Dale Earnhardt.

The man has been dead for 16 years.

In the meantime, we've got a seven-time champion in Jimmie Johnson, we've got one of the most polarizing athletes in all of sports in Kyle Busch, we've got the throwback Honey Badger driver in Ryan Blaney, we've got the popular prodigy and son of a racing legend in Chase Elliott, we've got the modern day Mr. Excitement in Kyle Larson, we've got Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Danica Patrick and Bubba Wallace, and so many others coming up as well.

Yet the sport still revolves around Dale Earnhardt.

How are we going to grow the sport if we don't ever talk about who we have competing in the sport now and instead continue to focus on Dale Earnhardt?

When I turn on a football game and Thomas Edward Patrick Brady is throwing for 300 yards and five touchdowns and winning Super Bowls, I don't hear the announcers keep bringing up Johnny Unitas every chance they get. I don't see hours and hours of documentaries on CBS before the game comes on about Joe Montana or Dan Marino. I don't hear Al Michaels and Cris Colinsworth constantly rehashing old Elway stories.

If you constantly dwell on the past, you can't live in the present or look to the future.
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Well said
 
Revman said:
Did Gordon even have a good last season? I mean, he had the Kenseth assisted win at Martinsville, but beyond that, was he really a threat? I don't remember.
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He didn't have incredible pace and the regular season was inconsistent, but they found some speed and much more consistency in the Chase. I think him being in the inaugural Championship Four (he should've been) would've been a very big deal though. Ryan Newman had to have been the most anonymous championship contender ever.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Harvick has a point, but I'm not sure the point should be made about Dale Jr, but about Big E.

This sport still revolves around Dale Earnhardt.

Here's a project for everyone. And I already know the results because I've done it before. Round up a bunch of kids and start telling them old Earnhardt stories, like Fox and NBC do all the damn time. Tell them about the 2001 Daytona 500. Ask them if they know who Dale Earnhardt is.

Now, how are you supposed to grow the sport when it, in the minds of many (most) NASCAR fans, it still revolves arond Dale Earnhardt.

The man has been dead for 16 years.

In the meantime, we've got a seven-time champion in Jimmie Johnson, we've got one of the most polarizing athletes in all of sports in Kyle Busch, we've got the throwback Honey Badger driver in Ryan Blaney, we've got the popular prodigy and son of a racing legend in Chase Elliott, we've got the modern day Mr. Excitement in Kyle Larson, we've got Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Danica Patrick and Bubba Wallace, and so many others coming up as well.

Yet the sport still revolves around Dale Earnhardt.

How are we going to grow the sport if we don't ever talk about who we have competing in the sport now and instead continue to focus on Dale Earnhardt?

When I turn on a football game and Thomas Edward Patrick Brady is throwing for 300 yards and five touchdowns and winning Super Bowls, I don't hear the announcers keep bringing up Johnny Unitas every chance they get. I don't see hours and hours of documentaries on CBS before the game comes on about Joe Montana or Dan Marino. I don't hear Al Michaels and Cris Colinsworth constantly rehashing old Elway stories.

If you constantly dwell on the past, you can't live in the present or look to the future.
Click to expand...
I can agree with this to an extent. In the NBA when it's Finals time, it's always Lebron vs Jordan. I don't care at this point, I'm from Chicago, grew up during the Bulls 6 titles, Jordan is my all time favorite athlete and I'm even sick of hearing about it. People don't realize the greatness they are seeing right now in Lebron when they are constantly comparing to Jordan. Same with Jimmie Johnson, it's hard to appreciate what is happening in front of you while not being able to let go of the past ( Earnhardt. Even though he was such a bad ass dude.), which I'm guilty of. Miss watching Dale race but it is what it is, he'd be retired by now anyway if he were alive so mine as well enjoy what we have in front of us.
 
I think I'd be more okay if Harvick said what he said about Sr, I think it'd be a tad more accurate instead of coming off like a cheap shot at Jr
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
There's more to NASCAR history than Dale Earnhardt.
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Petty was highly talked about for weeks leading to his birthday. Jimmie has been honoring legends he's passing in the win column which has resulted in stories about them. I don't think Sr. is talked about as much as lead on.
 
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