Name and heritage

By DAVID GREEN

There's not much doubt that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the biggest stars in NASCAR, if not the biggest. There's not much doubt that Junior is the biggest NASCAR-related celebrity in the mainstream world outside of the motor sports industry.

Stardom and celebrity status are achieved in a whimsical way. Dale Jr.'s is certainly tied to his name and his heritage. Once Junior took it upon himself to do what his daddy did and become a racecar driver, he probably saw the affirmation of something he already knew -- that name and heritage are a two-edged sword.

They gave him some advantages guys named Joe Public would never enjoy. They also gave him some baggage ol' Joe would never have to lug around.

All things considered, I'd say Dale Jr. came out ahead in that deal. All he has to do is handle the baggage -- and he has seemed to do a very good job of that, all along.

He has come to the biggest stumbling block to place itself in his path since February 2001, and his decision regarding the present dilemma is the stuff of much debate and second-guessing.

Junior's celebrity status causes many of us to overlook one question: Just how good is he as a driver?

To some, he's an over-hyped, no-talent bum with a reasonably good ride and an incredible amount of sponsor support. To others, he's a great driver who is victimized by a team that has slipped from a lofty spot at or near the top of the heap and is now merely marginal.

So, between those two extreme points of view, just what kind of driver is Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

From this perspective, the answer is that's he quite good.

He has won at least one race in every full season of competition in the Cup Series. He has won a good many restrictor plate races but he has also won on short tracks (Bristol and Richmond) and intermediate tracks (Texas, Atlanta, Chicago), a high-banked mile (Dover) and a flat mile (Phoenix) -- pretty much everything but a road course.

He has won as many as six races in a single season (2004) and has finished in the top five in points before (third in '03) and after (fifth, in '04 and again last year) the advent of the Chase. He was the first rookie driver to win The Winston.

Is he a candidate for nomination as racing's all-time best-ever driver? No. But he is much more than just somebody taking advantage of family advantages.

Combined with his popularity, that pretty much explains all the hubbub about him and his plans to leave the Dale Earnhardt Inc. team. Excess? Sure. That's what we do best in our culture -- overemphasize and exaggerate.

In this instance, at least, we have something that comes close to being worthy of the hyperbole.