Junior, Junior!

buckaroo

buckaroo

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I haven't read it, but I've heard about it and that is his remarks in the USA Today, 7/2/09. He says, and I'm paraphrasing, "The worst thing that has happened in this sport if NASCAR taking away the week off before the July Daytona race. We used to rent a house and party for a week". I guess what happened in February of '01 wasn't so bad after all for him. He then went on to say that this season is a bust, even if we win 3 or 4 races.

Here's a kid who is the 11th highest paid "athlete" in the nation and who is sitting 18th in points, AND who has missed his pit stall not once, but numerous times this season and wants to party. I guess this is par for the x generation, or is he even in that gen? Whatever, even though I like the kid and do root for him, I wonder what is happening to him. Seriously, I think something is going on with him and I wonder what it might be. We've chatted about his fan base before and I know that his loyal bunch will always be behind him regardless, but unless he starts to actually do something, he just won't gain any more support.

We've seen this sort of thing happen before and usually the individual takes a year off or something like that to get things together, but that just won't happen in NASCAR, especially when the individual is revered like king. I don't think his head is in the game and if he doesn't get back into it, I'm afraid that something will happen to him.
 
buckaroo said:
I haven't read it, but I've heard about it and that is his remarks in the USA Today, 7/2/09. He says, and I'm paraphrasing, "The worst thing that has happened in this sport if NASCAR taking away the week off before the July Daytona race. We used to rent a house and party for a week". I guess what happened in February of '01 wasn't so bad after all for him. He then went on to say that this season is a bust, even if we win 3 or 4 races.

Here's a kid who is the 11th highest paid "athlete" in the nation and who is sitting 18th in points, AND who has missed his pit stall not once, but numerous times this season and wants to party. I guess this is par for the x generation, or is he even in that gen? Whatever, even though I like the kid and do root for him, I wonder what is happening to him. Seriously, I think something is going on with him and I wonder what it might be. We've chatted about his fan base before and I know that his loyal bunch will always be behind him regardless, but unless he starts to actually do something, he just won't gain any more support.

We've seen this sort of thing happen before and usually the individual takes a year off or something like that to get things together, but that just won't happen in NASCAR, especially when the individual is revered like king. I don't think his head is in the game and if he doesn't get back into it, I'm afraid that something will happen to him.
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You hit the nail on the head. There's got to be something going on. I know the haters out there just say he's a no-talent hack, but you just don't get to where he's at (and win Busch cahmpiosnships) by being a no-talent hack.

His head, heart or both just seem to be somewhere else. He's got all these things going for him, what with the high pay, all the endorsement deals, favorite drivers deal, and all that, but now he just doesn't even seem to be trying, or even wanting to.
 
Here's my take on it: Although he got a sweet deal from Hendrick, a great sponsor, and nice equipment I feel his heart still lies with DEI. After the debacle with Teresa, I think he was crushed, I think he wanted to carry on what Dale Sr started and run the business or at least have a majority stake in it. After what has happened there at DEI I think Jr's heart just isn't in racing anymore.
 
I agree,the problems with Teresa at DEI certainly didn't help. I also think the death of Sr affected him in ways we'll never know. I still think of my Dad, how he'd handle this or that and he passed away 27 years ago yesterday.
 
I think it's a much simpler answer --- think of all the years(before he started racing) that he spent at the beach the week before the race with his dad. He has to have fond memories of being a kid and kicking back with the family.

I think he just misses those good times.
 
Junior's dad sent him to military school to straighten him out. Maybe Hendrick needs to have a "boot camp" of his own.
 
It was Teresa IIRC who put the bug in Sr ear about sending him off just after he married her.
In any case I believe he's better than what his performance has shown the past few years.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
I think it's a much simpler answer --- think of all the years(before he started racing) that he spent at the beach the week before the race with his dad. He has to have fond memories of being a kid and kicking back with the family.

I think he just misses those good times.
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I think this is more of the case.
The first time he was ever to the Daytona 500 was when he was in it, but he was always at the Firecracker 400 and the week before that was family time.
Probably the only family time they had all summer.
 
Has anyone seen him near Jeremy Mayfailure lateley?
 
i dunno whats goin on, maybe the loss of DEI has something to do with it but Jr was having problems in the ****pit as far back as 05 well before his contract problems with Teresa. It's at the point now where he isn't even finishing Cup series plate races & hasn't won a Nationwide plate race in 3 years, that was his bread & butter but no more. The Hendrick deal should've been a goldmine in the Cup & Nationwide Series but it hasn't happened. Maybe he's just burnt out & tired of doing this. 36 races is a long time & with winter testing added in, i think the NASCAR schedule is the longest in all of sports, they only get a month off, thats it. The way I see it everyday i have to get up & put on my uniform is a workday. Dale Sr was dedicated to getting in that car every Sunday & getting the most he could out of it & although i've always been a huge supporter of Jr I just don't see the same kinda drive...
 
with the risk of bein slammed by JuniorNation, I will say this..... I think there are many things equalling up to Jr's problems..... personally I think it has a couple of things to do with his dad. i mean first, losin him had to be a hard blow...... and if it were me, I think that would kill some of my drive.Look what happened at Petty Ent. when Adam died. Seemed like there was just a huge rush of wind that left their sails, I mean everything was bein built around him, and he was goin to revive the name. Not the same case in Jr's deal, but it had to be hard to lose the one man he had spent most of his life tryin to impress...
Second is, I think Jr is a slacker, as many of my generation are. Big E pushed him, and stayed on him.... now he has a bunch of "yes" men trailing him around, sayin it's ok, go get 'em next week..... etc. Quite frankly I think Jr needs a swift kick in the pants.... either get that fire, or do somethin else. Jr has repeatedly talked of his lack of preperation, lack of schedulin, and just a general "do whatever, then race, then do what I want" mentality...... he just reminds me alot of Kyle Petty, bug shoes to fill, lack of focus, and never really had to worry, he has money, can get a ride, and is the center of attention, so results don't really matter....
 
speedwayphoto said:
with the risk of bein slammed by JuniorNation, I will say this..... I think there are many things equalling up to Jr's problems..... personally I think it has a couple of things to do with his dad. i mean first, losin him had to be a hard blow...... and if it were me, I think that would kill some of my drive.Look what happened at Petty Ent. when Adam died. Seemed like there was just a huge rush of wind that left their sails, I mean everything was bein built around him, and he was goin to revive the name. Not the same case in Jr's deal, but it had to be hard to lose the one man he had spent most of his life tryin to impress...
Second is, I think Jr is a slacker, as many of my generation are. Big E pushed him, and stayed on him.... now he has a bunch of "yes" men trailing him around, sayin it's ok, go get 'em next week..... etc. Quite frankly I think Jr needs a swift kick in the pants.... either get that fire, or do somethin else. Jr has repeatedly talked of his lack of preperation, lack of schedulin, and just a general "do whatever, then race, then do what I want" mentality...... he just reminds me alot of Kyle Petty, bug shoes to fill, lack of focus, and never really had to worry, he has money, can get a ride, and is the center of attention, so results don't really matter....
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That's exactly what I think.. :)
 
speedwayphoto said:
with the risk of bein slammed by JuniorNation, I will say this..... I think there are many things equalling up to Jr's problems..... personally I think it has a couple of things to do with his dad. i mean first, losin him had to be a hard blow...... and if it were me, I think that would kill some of my drive.Look what happened at Petty Ent. when Adam died. Seemed like there was just a huge rush of wind that left their sails, I mean everything was bein built around him, and he was goin to revive the name. Not the same case in Jr's deal, but it had to be hard to lose the one man he had spent most of his life tryin to impress...
Second is, I think Jr is a slacker, as many of my generation are. Big E pushed him, and stayed on him.... now he has a bunch of "yes" men trailing him around, sayin it's ok, go get 'em next week..... etc. Quite frankly I think Jr needs a swift kick in the pants.... either get that fire, or do somethin else. Jr has repeatedly talked of his lack of preperation, lack of schedulin, and just a general "do whatever, then race, then do what I want" mentality...... he just reminds me alot of Kyle Petty, bug shoes to fill, lack of focus, and never really had to worry, he has money, can get a ride, and is the center of attention, so results don't really matter....
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I agree with you. You may be onto something here. Maybe Rick needs to give him a good swift kick in the butt.:beerbang:
 
kelloggs5TLfan said:
Does anyone else think Jr. has gotten worse since Kelly has been more involved? Maybe it's just coincidence.
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Yes, but I don't think that it's Kelly necessarily. I honestly believe that he doesn't have an guidance since his father died and since he is closer to Kelly than any others, he just naturally is using her for guidance.
 
buckaroo said:
Yes, but I don't think that it's Kelly necessarily. I honestly believe that he doesn't have an guidance since his father died and since he is closer to Kelly than any others, he just naturally is using her for guidance.
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thats alot of it, I believe..... like I said, he has so many family members and friends around him, they won't tell him like it is.......
can you just see what Dale would have been like if he had seen Jr's interview.... I mean it looked like Jr really didn't care he had problems and was just happy to be there....... Sr woulda been like boy, wipe that smile off your face, you ain't done (squat). You better be at the shop early in the morning, and ready to work....... then we gonna have a talk tomorrow night.
 
How many years did he sign on for and what kind of money is he getting in the #88?(contract wise?)
 
Didn't hear the whole story, the our local news had a blurb about how Junior is not enjoying everything that is going on with him in the sport, both on and off the track. When asked what he would do if he weren't in NASCAR now, he said something about how he would love driving in the Indy 500. Again, I only heard this with one ear open and the other towards my wife. :eek: So I could have gotten it all wrong, but I do know he said that he would love to race in the Indy 500.

I'm wondering now if he could be in a state of depression for some reason. When he is interviewed, he always seems to be okay, but some of the things that he says off camera are a bit strange.
 
maybe he's just bored and doesn't find the satisfaction driving in nascar that he use to. the indy 500 could be something different and exciting.
 
SST55 said:
In any case I believe he's better than what his performance has shown the past few years.
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Still has more wins than Busch or Edwards, so yeah, he's better than perfomance has shown.
 
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