If Dale Earnhardt Jr never had a concussion and miss half the season, would he be performing better?

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furredracer88

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From what I've heard during the races, it seems that in almost every single race, he has some sort of handling issue and if it isn't that, it's a crash or a mechanical malfunction. What do you guys think?
 
Just doesn't understand these cars like he did the previous generation of cars. I've heard Tony Stewart admit that was his problem in his later years and fully believe that is part of JR's problem along with not being fully committed after the concussions.
 
When I had an employee that was getting close to retirement and not doing a whole bunch I would refer to them as being retired on the job. Dale's career has been over for a couple of years and while I don't think he is mailing it in the results say that he is retired on the job. I would bet if he could get out of the car now he would.
 
I think he might sit out some higher risk races like maybe dega after he misses the playoffs.....why not let bowman drive juniors career is over.
 
He was done last year. He should have walked away. He hurt himself quite badly and he can't cross the racer's edge anymore. Same thing happened to Kyle Petty after Adam's passing imo. Same thing happened to Tony as well. I think there is a good chance he would still be driving if not for the incident. There is a line racer's need to cross he can't.
 
It also doesn't help that the Hendrick cars have been below par all season. They have been OK in spots, but below par. Take out some fluky circumstances, and they would only have one win as a team. I also agree that Jr. is just done. There comes a time when you just won't or can't push that pedal all the way to the floor anymore. I'm not saying that if the car is really good, you might not see a flash of brilliance here and there yet, but it will be mostly what we have had all year. I distinctly remember Ricky Hendrick's attempted comeback after being seriously injured. I think the ONLY decent run he had after he came back was at IRP, and you could just see that the old Ricky just wasn't there. When David Green smoked him on lap times at a test session, Ricky wisely called it a career.
 
Different car. With such low downforce it takes a ton of energy and focus to wheel that thing around which is why the younger guys are having so much success
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Suffering a concussion severe enough that he could not open his eyes for a while. He shouldnt have returned IMO.
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I agree with this. In 2014 and 2015, Dale had two of the best years of his career, and he ran really well in 2016 up until the 15th race, Michigan, where he suffered his concussion. I appreciate his effort in coming back, but 20:20 hindsight says it was a mistake.
 
The guy has had multiple concussions, in which his own father died behind the wheel because of a head injury? And people seriously think he's supposed to be some championship level driver? Holy crap I don't know what fans are expecting, plus HMS doesn't look good at all. Jimmie has had some clutch victories, but his average finish is the worst of his career.

He was 13th in points with 4 2nd place finishes in 2016 so it's not like he was bad last year.
 
A large bank account and a new wife are probably contributors ...... he also may want to continue living his life a fairly healthy person. Some folks just get tired of stuff too ........ the fire disappears ... it just does
 
He done run outta give a sh*ts...

Personally, I think the ONLY reason he raced this year was as a "do good" for Mr. Hendrick.
 
I think the reason is frankly the hendrick cars kinda suck this year. Jimmie has some wins but other than the wins hasn't really been in the hunt at all. in fact his car has been at times frankly off and running like crap. Look at the practice sheets they never seem to unload fast. I know dale jr is back from an injury but if he is 28th on the practice sheet off the truck, lets just be honest the car sucks. Jimmie is often in the teens or 20's himself when they unload at the first practice. That is simply too much to dial in on raceday. Another thing I noticed is pocono and michigan a place where hendrick engine power should at least count for something hasn't counted for anything, Other places where hendrick cars should have been way better are martinsville and honestly the cars haven't even been very good on the plate tracks. I know jr won the pole and all but stenhouse and others had better race cars. in the past dale jr was able to hold leads out front of the pack, he just hasn't had the car he has needed on those tracks.

beyond that I think dale jr is a rythem and confidence driver. He has to build up to going fast. OR the car just has to be quite a bit better than the other cars he is racing. Dale jr isn't the type of driver that summons something down deep and steps it up a couple notches. those drivers are, JJ, harvick, Kyle busch, and brad k. Right now I don't see the same level of confidence from the drivers seat from dale jr. look at his past seasons when he as won. his wins came in bunches OR they were a luck win on fuel mileage or something. I also feel he has not been the same driver after the '04 season.
 
I think it's a combo of a **** crew chief, ain't got the guts anymore (for good reason), and is just riding out as best he can right now.


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Dale has been in a slump for a while.Watercooler Dale was cool, but he needs some new material.
Perhaps to close to retirements,to hire new writers etc
 
hidesert cowboy said:
beyond that I think dale jr is a rythem and confidence driver. He has to build up to going fast. OR the car just has to be quite a bit better than the other cars he is racing. Dale jr isn't the type of driver that summons something down deep and steps it up a couple notches.
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I agree with pretty much all of your post but this is the nail on the head IMO. He got his swagger back after years of mediocrity and then lost it again after the injury, I just hope he has one win left in the tank (looking at you Talladega).
 
Greg said:
Dale has been in a slump for a while.Watercooler Dale was cool, but he needs some new material.
Perhaps to close to retirements,to hire new writers etc
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Yeah I was hoping for atleast some new conversation at the water cooler this year but got the same old commercial.
 
hidesert cowboy said:
I think the reason is frankly the hendrick cars kinda suck this year. Jimmie has some wins but other than the wins hasn't really been in the hunt at all. in fact his car has been at times frankly off and running like crap. Look at the practice sheets they never seem to unload fast. I know dale jr is back from an injury but if he is 28th on the practice sheet off the truck, lets just be honest the car sucks. Jimmie is often in the teens or 20's himself when they unload at the first practice. That is simply too much to dial in on raceday. Another thing I noticed is pocono and michigan a place where hendrick engine power should at least count for something hasn't counted for anything, Other places where hendrick cars should have been way better are martinsville and honestly the cars haven't even been very good on the plate tracks. I know jr won the pole and all but stenhouse and others had better race cars. in the past dale jr was able to hold leads out front of the pack, he just hasn't had the car he has needed on those tracks.

beyond that I think dale jr is a rythem and confidence driver. He has to build up to going fast. OR the car just has to be quite a bit better than the other cars he is racing. Dale jr isn't the type of driver that summons something down deep and steps it up a couple notches. those drivers are, JJ, harvick, Kyle busch, and brad k. Right now I don't see the same level of confidence from the drivers seat from dale jr. look at his past seasons when he as won. his wins came in bunches OR they were a luck win on fuel mileage or something. I also feel he has not been the same driver after the '04 season.
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Great post. Greg Ives seems like a decent enough crew chief, not what Steve Letarte was, but I'm interested to see how he does with Alex Bowman.
 
AuzGrams said:
Great post. Greg Ives seems like a decent enough crew chief, not what Steve Letarte was, but I'm interested to see how he does with Alex Bowman.
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How did they do last year? Some CC's can't run finish a race because their busy looking at the here and now.
 
Fordracing7 said:
I think he might sit out some higher risk races like maybe dega after he misses the playoffs.....why not let bowman drive juniors career is over.
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Because Junior has integrity? Understands that some people empty the piggy bank to watch him drive? I hope.
 
Hendrick cars are behind , had they been faster Dale would probably had more interest. Their cars will run down the straightaways but are slower trying to turn
 
I remember the year I retired, just couldn't wait to get away and I was the dumb owner.
Someone posted their opinion that Dale only raced this year because of his loyalty and I agree 100%. If a man with a net worth of 300 million + doesn't enjoy what he is doing, LOYALTY is the one reason to continue. Mark Martin did it also and then got **** on by Jack.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
When I had an employee that was getting close to retirement and not doing a whole bunch I would refer to them as being retired on the job. Dale's career has been over for a couple of years and while I don't think he is mailing it in the results say that he is retired on the job. I would bet if he could get out of the car now he would.
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Yep. He's already retired mentally. His dad once said if you're thinking about retirement, you're already retired. That is certainly the case for Dale Sr.
 
a combo of things 1.) He doesnt understand the handling of the cars, remember he missed most of last year when this car/rules package was introduced ( I believe it was last year) so he really hasnt had time to work with Greg and the crew to figure this thing out. 2.) Hendrick isnt running that well outside of the 48 so naturally that will trickle down to the 88 3.) Jr and Ives havent meshed, and frankly I would bet dont enjoy working with each other. Losing will do that. 4.) Remember in Days of Thunder when Cole redlined it at Atlanta ( I think) and then when Rowdy wanted Cole to drive the car but Cole wouldnt do it without Harry, both guys had their come to Jesus meeting where Harry said Cole was hearing the voices in the car causing Cole to redline it? I think Jr is hearing the voices in the car telling him to get out and is just trying to get through this year unscathed. 5.) to piggy back of my past point, I think Jr saw early on they werent going to have the success of 2014 and he's just going through the motions trying to get the year over with. Saying all this I am probably wrong but its just my opinion on what I see, its been a frustrating year as a fan to say the least and I dont think he will win a race this year unless he pulls it out at Dega. But I am okay with it, 2014 was awesome watching him win races again and I'll always have that. I wish most of the newer current fans could have seen him in the 8 Bud Car from 2000 till about 2005 when he was the man in this sport and had that swagger.
 
He hasn't awakened to a world without restriction, or found the freedom in escaping the land of pain...
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I'm still waiting on the word from the people of Charlotte to know what's really going on with Jr.
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Was their insider information this last last year saying he was worse than what was let on? Sorry I just joined the board in February!
 
I'm not going to speak for Jr., but I suspect his problem is his head injuries. I bet he still has a desire to win (money doesn't erase that) and I suspect he is feeling his mortality, but he has probably lost that mental reflex that makes a successful race driver successful. It's hard to explain to people who don't have it, but top drivers have a natural response where they can feel what the car is doing and how to get the most out of it. They don't rationalize it - they feel it and respond. But concussions could certainly break that link. Old age can too.

Jr. has done a pretty good job entertaining you over his career. Racing is life-risking business. Isn't it time to give him some respect?
 
this is funny, Ives is a good CC, people forget he won 3 races in their first year together. The other thing is dale jr had pocono won last year but chase elliott raced him too hard and bumped him letting kurt by both of them. The interesting thing about that race is it was after the concussion at michigan happened, or that is whey they thought it happened.

all the hendrick cars are slow even jimmie. I personally think dale jr loves racing. I think he is doing this last year because he want to soak it all up one last time and to retire on his terms. He is running races next year BTW. if he hated racing he would just say peace out. I get a feel for how much a guy is into racing by how many NXS races they run. or do they run any at all in a given year and is there some reason for them not to. ie no opportunity OR why they aren't running them. JJ will tell you he sucks at NXS and that is why he doesn't run them anymore. Dale runs those races to help with sponsorship for JRM and I think because he likes running a few of them. dale jr isn't the type to blow smoke up your azz. he has legitimate health concerns and I think he knows he isn't as competitive as he once was. I have always wanted to see him run some truck races. The other thing is with the cup regulars limited so much it might be interesting to see dale jr win a few of these races from time to time. It would be nice to see him run iowa or something. I don't think any promises to rick factor much into this. Rick is going to accept whatever dale jr wanted to do, especially over an injury that is quality of life altering.
 
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Pat said:
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No magic crystal balls will answer this question.

The only person who knows is Jr himself, he's accomplished a lot over his career and is ready to call it a career. He's had so much pressure throughout his career from the drop of the first green flag and he's ready to just step away, I don't blame him at all. I'm actually quite happy for him, he wants to be with his wife and live a "normal" life.
 
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