Junior and (step)Mother Teresa

By DAVID GREEN

The saga of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s business and familial relationship with (step)Mother Teresa is all the rage nowadays, as online pundits and fulltime professionals from the conventional media alike do their best impersonations of National Enquirer reporters to provide sensational updates to a salivating public.

Junior should be pretty much accustomed to this sort of thing. After all, while many dismiss his talents as a racing driver, there's no denying his status as a bonafide pop-culture celebrity. And this is what happens to celebrities.

It's also nothing new for Junior to find himself in a controversial role. Ever since he stepped through the window of a short-track street stock, he has found himself scrutinized like few other drivers.

It's probably of little comfort to Junior, but as bizarre as his situation may seem, he's not the only one to have found himself in such a fix. About 28 years ago, a 19-year-old named Kyle Petty became the first third-generation, son-of-a-seven-time-champion to try to make it in NASCAR's big leagues.

Nitpickers will point out that King Richard had won only six of his seven Winston Cup titles when Kyle won that ARCA Daytona 200 in February 1979 and went on to compete in five Cup races. Still, the similarities between Kyle and Junior are obvious.

So, too, is the family racing team plot element. Not long after Kyle began driving Petty Enterprises cars, things began to come unraveled. First, cousin Dale Inman defected (in 1981) and in October 1983, there was the infamous 198th career victory for the King -- the one with the oversized engine and the left-side tires bolted onto the right side of the No. 43. In 1984, Richard would be driving for another team.

Now, Dale Earnhardt Inc. seems to have lost the magic that began to manifest itself when Michael Waltrip and Dale Jr. ran 1-2 in that fateful Daytona 500 in 2001. And surely there is no hotter rumor than the one about Junior leaving to drive somewhere else.

Yes, Petty Enterprises was a venerable, established team, while DEI is a relative upstart in comparison. But the internal strife, and the consequential effects on performance, would seem to be similar.

Both Junior and Kyle found themselves with unparalleled opportunities but also with impossible missions. There's no way either could hope to match their famous fathers' achievements.

Kyle, who always handled comparisons between himself and the King with grace, humor and humility, has found his own niche and his own purpose in life. Here's hoping Junior can, as well.

Of course, he may already have done so. But that wouldn't make for nearly as juicy subject matter, would it?