Jeff Owens: Dale Jr. attention all part of being NASCAR's most popular driver
Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. remains winless this season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
By now, many NASCAR fans are probably sick and tired of hearing and reading about Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his new crew chief.
Junior is dominating the headlines everywhere – in newspapers, on Web sites, on talk radio and on TV news and sports shows. On Sunday, he will no doubt be one of the most talked about drivers during Fox’s broadcast of the race at Dover, regardless of where he is running.
Fans who are not part of Junior Nation are probably already asking themselves, why all the fuss?
Why is it such a big deal that one driver – one, currently, mediocre driver – just got a new crew chief?
This is a driver who hasn’t won a race in nearly a year. A driver who has just three victories in the past four seasons. And a driver who is
currently 19th in points.
Still, the fact that Hendrick Motorsports is making a big change to his team and assigning him a new crew is one of the biggest stories to
develop this season.
Why?
Why is everything that Dale Earnhardt Jr. does, or everything that involves him, such a big deal?
Because he is Dale Earnhardt Jr., and he is NASCAR’s most popular driver.
And he is not NASCAR’s most popular driver in title only – though he has won the official award several years in a row. He has the fan base to back it up.
Because of his name and heritage and personality, no driver today has a larger fan base than Earnhardt Jr. He sells more souvenirs, he attracts more sponsors, he sells more tickets.
Earnhardt Jr. is not only NASCAR’s most popular driver, he is arguably its most important driver.
No driver gets a bigger reaction when he is introduced before races, and no driver gets a louder response when he takes the lead.
Like his father before him, when he falls out of a race, people leave. Or turn off the TV.
No driver has the marketing and fan clout that Earnhardt Jr., including three-time champion Jimmie Johnson and four-time
champion Jeff Gordon.
As a result, nearly everything he does is news. Web sites routinely post anything they can get on Earnhardt Jr. Why? Because visitors want to read it.
He is so popular that his dog, Killer, has his own souvenir line and attracted a crowd at Charlotte so fans could get Killer pawgraphs.
Like it or not, people want to know what Earnhardt Jr. is doing, good and bad.
NASCAR’s TV ratings have declined significantly this year, continuing a three-year decline. Earnhardt Jr.’s struggles during that time have certainly had an impact on that.
If Earnhardt Jr. is winning races and in contention every week – and has a legitimate shot at the championship – then more of his large fan base is going to tune in each week, perhaps sparking a spike in TV ratings.
Asked about declining attendance and TV ratings a year ago, NASCAR Chairman Brian France quipped that the sport didn’t have any problems that a few Earnhardt Jr. victories couldn’t fix.
He was only half joking.
Like him or not, Earnhardt Jr. has an enormous following that drives interest in the sport. If he wins and is a threat each week, it could do wonders for a sport that needs a boost.
That is why his story will continue to dominate the headlines – the good, the bad and the ugly.
