I kind of feel bad for DEJ

Ok..

I'm not a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan. I think he's a little over hyped. I mean, I'll give credit where credit is due - he's won 18 races. He's tied for ninth on the list of most wins by an active driver, and he's tied for 40th most wins in NASCAR history. He has more career wins than Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, and Kasey Kahne. Yet, it's been 7 years since his last multi-win season. And only 3 of his wins have come since 2004.

Even with the past 7 years being statistical duds, considering how he started his career, he has unquestionably been the most popular driver for the past decade. He has more souvenir haulers at the race track than some most other drivers combined. He's on the very short list of NASCAR drivers anyone off the street probably know the name of.

Some pin his popularity on the fact that his father is undeniably number 1b when you take stock of the sport's greatest drivers (Richard Petty would be 1a, just in case you're keeping track - [ha, get it, like a race track]). But that's unfair. The poor guy was 30 feet in front of his father when he wrecked at the '01 Daytona 500. It's unreasonable for anyone to expect him, or anyone else for that matter, to live up to that standard. Yet he's tried. He's really done the best he can. I mean, he is the lynch pin for this sport. If he came out and won his 400th start at the Daytona 500, and then rattled off a few more wins, ratings would surge. NASCAR knows it. The networks know it. And unfortunately, DEJ knows it too.

That's a lot of pressure. So I kind of feel bad for him.



Do you?