What if Dale Jr. Just Picked Up His Marbles and Went to Play Elsewhere?

By Valerie Wood

The folks at NASCAR just don’t seem to get it. The plain and simple truth is that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has both stepped and been swept into the role of his late father as that of the most popular and beloved driver in the sport today. That doesn’t sit well with the NASCAR Board Room bosses and Madison Avenue types who have been trying to create fan bases for other drivers who have been successful but not overwhelmingly popular in spite of their winnings. Charisma, which is something that they have not figured out yet how to bottle, is a big part of the attraction and, like his charismatic father, Jr has “it.” Estimates calculate that Dale Jr’s fans comprise about 80 percent of the fan base of the sport. Hard to believe? Not really, if you keep an eye on the apparel, souvenir rigs, and merchandise in retail stores. Dale Jr’s souvenirs and die-cast sells. A majority of other drivers’ apparel and souvenirs sit, gathering dust on the shelves.

Rather than recognizing and supporting Dale Jr (and I am not saying he should be given breaks other drivers are given—just that he should be treated fairly), NASCAR seems hell-bent and determined to try and control and rein-in their preeminent superstar. Perhaps they’re afraid that he will realize how much influence he truly exerts and this will lessen NASCAR’s power. Penalties imposed on Dale Jr. this season (for a comment on the radio about spinning out to bring out a caution in March (25 points)), for saying a mild expletive about a sheet in Victory Lane at Talladega in celebration (another 25 points) and now possibly for a windshield infraction (windshield infraction??) at Phoenix, which was apparently found before the race, but not revealed til afterwards), are really making the NASCAR ‘powers that be’ look an awful lot like the powers that wannabe the ultimate determiners of the championship. Apparently the thought of an asterisk champion doesn’t faze the NASCAR hierarchy. Since they make the rules (often, it appears, on the fly), they seem to feel that they can remake the rules at will. It’s their game, as they are not shy in making known—they own the monopoly game board and control the sport.

It’s tough enough to fight 42 other racers on the track for a win. Having to fight NASCAR as well may well prove to be too much to deal with. No one in Dale Jr’s camp is asking for favoritism for Dale Jr. Neither should he be arbitrarily penalized when other drivers are not. Remember one thing—much of what the fans hear is only what NASCAR wants fans to hear. This multi-billion dollar corporation is only as good as its reputation and influence. If fans get turned off even more—and this is happening on a race-by race basis as arbitrary penalties are assessed to some drivers, but not others—then they really might have something to worry about one day.

Suppose Dale Jr. decided that this was just not worth it? Would racing really survive that? Perhaps. But it sure wouln’t be the same. Budweiser has put a lot of money not only into Dale Jr’s race team, but as a NASCAR sponsor of the Bud Pole Award. They cannot be pleased with how NASCAR is keeping their driver pinned under a microscope. On Saturday morning (November 6), I was watching the Today Show. Apparently, there was a need for one of the anchors to apologize to “anyone who was offended” at something said in an earlier live report. That was all that needed to be done after Jr’s inadvertent slip of the lip in the Talladega post-race interview. NASCAR did not need to make an “example” out of Dale Jr, and embarrass him and his sponsors for that. Even Dale Jr wryly noted that people who were probably offended by that were likely not be watching racing, anyway. Rusty Wallace is renowned in the garage area for his highly colorful vocabulary. I have heard him say “hell” once or twice on Trackside and in interviews the past few years. Should he have been penalized because of that? Hardly. More offensive language than that is heard in sit-coms, on soap operas and in dramas on television. NASCAR is about as tolerant of language slips, apparently, as they are of diversity. And that’s not a good thing.

Rumors about a rival or new racing series periodically erupt. NASCAR has already broken with tradition by revamping the points system, selling the series name to a new sponsor, and promises further changes. Change for the sake of change is not necessarily a good thing. Where once it would have been something ultra special to be a “ Winston Cup” Champion like his father, the best Dale Jr can hope for is to be a Nextel Cup Champion. Somehow, that has a different and not altogether pleasing ring to it. A series should be defined by more than a product sponsor. Fans did not necessarily connect Winston = cigarettes for the trophy name, before Winston left the Series, because it sounded regal and like a family name, not like a product. We should be thankful that Wonder Bra didn’t pay for the series sponsorship. Who wants to be known as the winner of the Wonder Bra Cup?

Bruton Smith and Humpy Wheeler control enough tracks in this country to create their own full fledged and reputable racing series. Perhaps one day we’ll see them do that. Heck, they might even draw some of the preeminent NASCAR racers into it. And, if they really wanted to show their appreciation to a legion of race fans, they could award the Dale Earnhardt Sr Championship Trophy to the Series Champion. Now, that would be something to cherish.

For information on Valerie Wood's novel, Enforcer, visit http://www.enforcer.fcpages.com/ (Official Website for Enforcer) or http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/14441 (Publisher's Website/read an excerpt).    

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