THE WEEKLY CHOKE REPORT

Dale Earnhardt Jr. smashed into the back of a sliding Juan Pablo Montoya with fifteen laps to go in yesterday's Brickyard 400 and effectively ended the day for each race team. The fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the setting for what was a less then dramatic race and Earnhardt did his part to help the lack of drama by never even sniffing the top ten after starting in the seventeenth position.

Montoya, who led the most laps at this race a year ago only to lose a lap due to a pit penalty, led the most laps on this day too, but making a four tire change instead of a two tire change late in the race cost him track position and put him in the path of NASCAR's most over rated driver, who eventually smashed into him.

The race winner was Jamie McMurray, who was only the third driver in history to win the Brickyard 400 and the Daytona 500. He was followed by Sprint Cup points leader, Kevin Harvick and then Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart.

Earnhardt Jr. dropped another spot in the points standings to fourteenth and with one more race like yesterday's he should be effectively out of the race for the Sprint Cup. So really, next week he should be out of the chase.

There was also a lot of talk around the garage area about the sad state of affairs in pro athletics when Earnhardt Jr., a perennial underachiever that hasn't won a race in over two years was listed as the highest earning NASCAR driver in an article in Sports Illustrated that listed the world's top 50 earning athletes. Top 50 Earning Athletes

Junior came in number 16 on the list and four time defending champ, Jimmie Johnson finished 44th. There is something wrong when the greatest driver of his generation can't sell more t-shirts then the most over rated athlete in the world. Junior Nation just keeps blindly following their man.

Last weeks over88ted.com asked asked "Will Junior's Losing Streak Reach 100?" Looks like Junior Nation is shrinking quick - over 86% said YES!, see complete results at here
 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. started, what is becoming NASCAR'S most boring race in the 31st position and then spent his day coasting toward the front. He finished eighth after two wrecks took out cars in front of him in the last fifteen laps. Junior's winless streak was extended to 74 races. His Hendrick Motorsports Team Mate Jimmie Johnson won for the second week in a row.
Sunday, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Johnson played second fiddle, as he sometimes does, for most of the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 before putting a payback bump-and-run on Kurt Busch. Busch had nudged Johnson aside with seven laps remaining with a bumper-tag finesse usually associated with ballet, but this high-speed dance was sheer poetry in motion. Johnson repaid the favor with just a few laps to go, providing high-end drama to a race that had only four caution flags.

Tony Stewart slipped past Busch for second place on the last lap. Busch was third. Jeff Gordon was fourth and NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Kevin Harvick finished fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Earnhardt, Jr., Joey Logano and A. J. Allmendinger. Kyle Busch, one of the leaders and a contender all day, wound up 11th after colliding with Jeff Burton and spinning during one of the late restarts. Burton, who led 89 laps, was a definite factor before the spin. Kyle Busch led 46 laps.

Sunday’s victory was the 52nd of Johnson's career and his fifth of this season.
Pole winner Juan Pablo Montoya and fellow front-row starter Kasey Kahne led laps before problems sidelined both drivers late in the race. Kahne, who led a race-high 110 laps, lost an engine. Montoya, who led 36 laps, was wrecked by Reed Sorensen.
Montoya jumped off to a good start when the green flag fell, pulling ahead of second-place Kurt Busch by a little more than a second. The top 10 at Lap 25 were Montoya, Busch, Kahne, Newman, Bowyer, Johnson, Newman, Mark Martin, David Reutimann and Gordon.

Debris in Turn 3 brought out the first caution at Lap 35. Kahne beat everyone out of the pits, followed by Martin. Montoya quickly advanced from fifth place to second. Kahne pretty much controlled things during this part of the race. Kyle Busch had moved to second, dropping Montoya to third with Burton on his bumper and Gordon running fifth.
Kyle passed Kahne for the lead shortly before the halfway mark.

Luckily the end of the race had a little excitement, because the rest of the race was uneventful.

Last week over88ted.com asked asked "Should a road race be part of the Chase?" Surprisingly, over 80% of those responding answered "Yes", see complete results at here
 

Earnhardt started in the 24th position and hung around all day and as other drivers beat and banged each other out of contention. He avoided crashes and didn't have to race anyone. He let attrition take him toward the front of the field and his team was thankful.

"I don't know what got into Junior today. We kept waiting for him to do something stupid and take himself out of the race, but he just drove it along. I kind of wonder if that was him," said a source from the garage.

Junior's winless streak is at 73 races and two plus years. He sits only one place out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but looking at the impressive names of the racers around him, it's hard to believe he can make the Chase.

"It's been so long since I've seen that guy win. I just root for him not to wreck now.." said Dorothy Turner, a secretary from Las Angeles decked out in a spandex Amp Energy body suit that didn't leave much for the imagination."

So the beat rolls on...

Our last over88ted.com poll asked "Were you surprised by Junior finishing in the top ten in Michigan?" and nearly 63% of those responding answered "Hell Yes", see complete results at here
 

"I knew we had a top ten car today and that's what we got," said Earnhardt "All the guys did a good job this week.

This was Junior's first top ten finish since Bristol in March. He is still outside the top twelve in the race for the chase for the Sprint Cup where his three Hendrick Motorsports team mates are all entrenched.

"It's funny how when you get used to being average, seventh place seems way better then it is. It feels like winning," said a team member.

As is usually the case, the race at Michigan was dominated by long green flag runs, but unlike the past few races, the end of the race didn't come down to fuel mileage. It came down to the number 11 Toyota, driven by Denny Hamlin out running the competition and out classing the field for his fifth win of the season and second in a row.

“All we do is win, baby—two in a row,” Hamlin radioed to his crew just before crossing the finish line 1.246 seconds ahead of Kasey Kahne, the only other driver who could stay in the same zip code with Hamlin. “I can’t tell you how good this car is, man.”

Polesitter Kurt Busch ran third, followed by Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Jimmie Johnson finished sixth, with Earnhardt Jr. behind him in seventh. Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle and Joey Logano completed the top 10.

Hamlin’s victory tightened the Cup points race because of mediocre results from the top two drivers in the standings, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. Harvick finished 19th, one spot ahead of Busch, and leads Busch by 22 points and third-place Hamlin by 47.

As we approach the stretch run to the Chase, Earnhardt amazingly sits only 81 points out of the top 12 and the road race at Sonoma is coming up this weekend. Will he take a step forward or tumble farther back?

Over88ted.com prediction: Winner: Jeff Gordon
Junior: 21st place "All we do is finish in the middle!"

Our last over88ted.com poll asked "What is Junior's Main Issue?" and Lack of Talent came in with nearly 54% of the votes, see complete results at here
 

Let lucky stiffs like Earnhardt Jr. earn their way in every year instead of forcing the other drivers to be on the alert that they might get wrecked at anytime. Junior inevitably wrecked on Saturday night and didn't sniff the top ten. The race was ultimately won by former Sprint Cup champ Kurt Busch.

Busch's win made the evening extra special for team owner Roger Penske, whose IndyCar drivers Helio Castroneves, Will Power and Ryan Briscoe finished first, second and fourth, respectively, in pole qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the day.

Most of the action in the Saturday night extravaganza was packed into the final 10-lap segment, in which only green flag laps counted toward the total.

Joey Logano ran third, followed by Hamlin and Tony Stewart. Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Bobby Labonte completed the top 10 in the non-points NASCAR Sprint Cup race that paid $1,028,309 to the winner.

Kurt Busch was well on his way to victory after completing Lap 98 of 100, but Kyle Busch bounced off the wall at the end of the tri-oval and clipped Kasey Kahne's Ford to cause the fifth caution of the night.

On the restart with two laps to go, Kurt Busch picked the outside lane and took the green flag with Jimmie Johnson beside him, followed by Logano and Hamlin. Busch pulled away again, but before the cars got back to the finish line, Johnson spun across the infield grass to put the race under yellow for the sixth time.

Busch then put the race away in the final two-lap dash.

"Way to go boys!" Busch exulted on the radio after taking the checkered flag. "A million cool one—whoo!"

Minutes later, he savored the win in victory lane.

"Man, this car was a rocket ship at the end," said Busch, who had scraped the wall in the third segment of the race. "This is huge. This is one of the big marquee events. We were able to dodge the wrecks and, ultimately, we had the fastest car when it counted."

Hamlin and Kyle Busch were battling on Lap 93, with Busch getting a strong run to the outside of the No. 11 Toyota. Hamlin moved up the track in front of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, and Busch hit the outside wall after running out of room.

After a blown tire sent Kyle Busch into the wall and then into Kahne, he drove to the garage, telling his crew on the radio that they needed to keep him away from Hamlin. After the race, Hamlin, Busch and team owner Joe Gibbs were closeted in the No. 11 transporter, according to a Twitter post from SceneDaily.com's Bob Pockrass.

After a 10-minute break between the third and final segments—during which crews could work on the cars but were not allowed to change tires—Johnson led the field back on the track and then to the pits for mandatory four-tire pit stops.

Hamlin was first off pit road, followed by Kyle Busch and Johnson. Mark Martin, Logano and Jamie McMurray followed in the next three positions when the field took the green flag for the final 10-lap shootout.

A wreck in the first corner, however, damaged eight cars and eliminated Martin, McMurray, David Reutimann, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards.

Truex and Biffle transferred into the main event by claiming the top two spots, respectively, in Saturday evening's Sprint Showdown. On Lap 33 of 40, Truex took the lead from Biffle, who had stayed out on old tires (as did David Ragan), when the rest of the field stopped for fresh rubber on Lap 18—two laps short of the end of the first segment.

Nevertheless, Biffle was able to hold off third-place finisher Jeff Burton for the second transfer position. Edwards, who finished 10th in the Showdown, completed the 21-driver field as the winner of the Sprint Fan Vote.

Juan Pablo Montoya had one of the fastest cars in the Showdown, but his progress through the field was halted abruptly when he turned across the nose of Regan Smith's Chevrolet and crashed into the outside wall as the cars entered Turn 1 on Lap 17.

Our last over88ted.com poll asked "Do you think Crew Chief, Lance McGrew will survive the season with Junior?" 50% of you say now and 44% say yes but he's gone when it's over - not looking god for Lance.  see complete results at here
 

Earnhardt complained about the car's handling incessantly from the beginning of the race and handling problems finally forced him off the track on the 170th lap when he made the statement, "something broke." The crew went over the car from top to bottom, found nothing and when Junior returned to the race he was seven laps down.

"There was nothing to be fixed," said crew chief, Lance McGrew

The communication between Junior and his team was minimal all day and it's obvious the tension of underachieving is getting to them. The 88 dropped to 16th in the Sprint Cup point standings and the free fall should continue. They are the only Hendrick car that is not in the top twelve and as one observer on press row said yesterday, "I've never seen so little done with so much."

Hendrick Motorsports provides its teams with the best equipment on the planet. Earnhardt shows up at the track each Sunday with the same chance to win as 4 time winners and his team mates, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and veteran contender, Mark Martin. Some where along the way each week, Junior figures out a way to lose.

Last season the pressure got to the team and they fired Earnhardt's cousin and crew chief, Tony Eury Jr. replacing him with McGrew and nothing has changed. The team shows up with a fast car and Junior loses another race while everyone associated with NASCAR tires of waiting for him to be the sport's face.

"Don't be surprised if Junior let's Lance go at some point," said a source in the garage. "Shoot, don't be surprised if Lance goes to another team. It's not what you'd call a match made in heaven. Losing does that, I guess. Someone over there has to be the scape goat and it's not going to be Junior. He sells too many t-shirts. But the problem ain't the crew or the car. It's the driver."

"I heard most of the people at Hendrick would rather replace Earnhardt with Kasey Kahne, then Mark Martin. Rick wants winners. Mark wins, Junior doesn't."

Because somehow, Earnhardt Jr., won the 2000 All-Star Race (how did he get in?) he is eligible to participate this weekend at the All Star race in Charlotte. Look for more drama to unfold.

Our last over88ted.com poll asked "Jeff Gordon is mad because?" Wow, over 47% said: "Johnson seems to make sure Gordon doesn't win"!  see complete results at here
 

The real buzz began on a Lap 182 when for the second straight week Johnson and Gordon banged fenders, egos and fanned the flames on the combustible rivalry between teammates.  The accident started when Johnson blocked Gordon, and contact between the cars forced Gordon onto the apron below the yellow line.  Gordon slowed and returned to the track just as Jeff Burton's No. 31 Chevrolet turned across the nose of Mike Bliss'. Kasey Kahne and Scott Speed also suffered damage in the accident.

"The 48 is testing my patience, I can tell you that," said Gordon, who finished 22nd. "It takes a lot to make me mad, and I am pissed right now. When a car's going that much faster, I don't know what it is with me and him right now - but whatever."

...to be continued - should be an exciting couple of weeks under the lights of Richmond & Darlington.

Our last over88ted.com poll asked "What will Junior do in Texas?" Well, 16 voters technically got it right with Jr's Top 10 finish, however, the overwhelming majority answered: "Do something really dumb and blow the race"  see complete results at here
 

The 24 hour rain delay just held off the inevitable: Another Dale Earnhardt Jr. loss.

After starting 8th (because of points - not qualifying), Junior hung around the top ten until about the half way point in the Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville today.... Then he slowly drifted back and finally finished comfortably out of contention. His monumental losing streak is at 63 races and he's been victorious (on pit strategy by the crew chief he fired) only once in his past 169 races. Not good for a member of Hendrick Motorsports. Not good for a man that is supposed to be an elite driver and not good for the dwindling 'Junior Nation.'

Junior fell back in Sprint Cup points to 10th and is one more mediocre performance from falling out of the top twelve. There should be plenty more of those this season.

This past week, there was speculation about the health of the #88 team when the media put a lot of focus on the verbal sparring that took place between Earnhardt and Crew Chief, Lance McGrew in last week's race at Bristol. McGrew brushed off the questions as 'normal racing stuff' and Junior bristled at them. Having listened to the exchange, it sounded like a grumpy, prima donna driver (or a spoiled teenager) barking at an employee (or parent) and I think Junior is a bit embarrassed by his words.... At least he should be.

In the mean time, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logono finished 1-2 for Joe Gibbs racing and were followed in the top five by Earnhardt team mate Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr.

"Dale Jr. was up there all day. He did real good today!" said Greg Ballard from Nashville. "Usually he's back in the twenties."

Oh how expectations change.

Earnhardt never led a lap today and heads into the night race in Phoenix on April 10 with no momentum, but he has been victorious in Phoenix twice before. The last time in 2004.

Last week's over88ted.com poll asked "What is more likely?" It was a pretty evenly split poll as you can see below:
 

	Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins a race in 2010 37%
	Detroit wins the Super Bowl in 2010 30%
	Northern Iowa wins the NCAA hoops title in 2010 22%
	See all results

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished in 7th place today at the Food City 500, NASCAR's first short track contest of the season. It should have been better. After starting the race in the 18th position, Junior bumped and motored his way steadily through the field and was running in the top five when he went to pit road with the leaders during a caution with 233 laps remaining.

Then he got busted for speeding.

Earnhardt entered pit road going too fast and was forced to re-start at the back of the longest line. As the race got wound up again and he sat back in his usual mid-twenties position he could be heard incessantly complaining over the radio about the speeding rule. It was a good thing he couldn't hear his fans incessantly complaining about his driving.

"Another race, another error," said Larry Tucker of Nashville. "How many is that so far?"

Too many. every race there is something else that trips up the 88 team and it's almost always driver error. This time Junior found a little bit of luck when thirteen cars were involved in a wreck with 135 laps remaining and he suddenly was bumped from 25th to 12th and he eventually finished the race in 7th and currently (surprisingly) sits in 8th place in Sprint Cup points.

Jimmie Johnson won his third race of the season and was followed in the top five by Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth.

The biggest news for Earnhardt came this week when it was announced that he would be appearing on the popular cartoon 'Handy Manny!'  Earnhardt voices the character of Chase Davis, who steps in to help Manny compete in the Wood Valley 500 auto race. The special, debuting at 7 p.m. EDT Saturday on the Disney Channel, stars Wilmer Valderrama as the voice of Manny.

Earnhardt says he decided to participate in ‘Handy Manny’ because his 4-year-old niece is a fan of the show. The Disney Channel series is designed to teach preschoolers about working together and problem-solving.

The ‘Handy Manny’ special also features a new song performed by Lance Bass, who voices the character of Elliot.

Last week's over88ted.com poll asked "What was most surprising this week?" It was a pretty evenly split poll as you can see below:
 

	Jimmie Johnson didn't win 40%
	Carl Edwards punk move 30%
	Dale Jr starting on the poll and never leading a lap 30%

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was running with the leaders in sixth place on lap 113 in the Kobalt Tools 500 yesterday when he suddenly reported a "loose wheel" to crew chief Lance McGrew.

"Bring it in," McGrew replied.

And with that, Junior's chances at ending his 60 race winless streak ended. The #88 crew switched out the wheel's, inspected the tires, the rims and the hubs and found nothing wrong. Junior continued complaining and continued to run in the back of the field, the place where "Junior Nation" has become accustomed to seeing the Amp Energy car. He only finished 15th because on a Green-White-Checker re-start, to determine the race winner there was a wreck that wiped out 9 cars in front of him.

"There was no wheel problem with that car." claimed a crew member from another team. "I talked to a guy over there and they couldn't find anything wrong. Junior gets it in his head that there's a problem and I guess that means there's a problem. At some point, maybe the problem is the guy behind the wheel."

It was just another unfortunate day for Earnhardt Jr. and it had started with such promise: Junior had earned his ninth career pole to the delight of the gushing media who spent the days following qualifying predicting great things for the Amp Energy Team. He never led a lap, and was never more then a footnote in the race. He did however finish ahead of Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin.

Kurt Busch won the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second straight year and was followed in the top five by Matt Kenseth, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Khane and Paul Menard. In a race that went 16 laps—nearly 25 miles—past its scheduled distance, after Carl Edwards retaliated against Brad Keselowski for an incident earlier in the race, Busch took advantage of a strong restart to grab the lead during the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag restart and crossed the finish line .482 seconds ahead of runner-up Kenseth.

Montoya, who was closing in on Busch near the end of the regulation 325 laps, finished third but lost his chance to battle for the victory when Edwards hit Keselowski’s No. 12 Dodge on the front stretch and sent it flying on Lap 323.

Edwards’ aggression toward Keselowski was payback for a Lap 40 wreck in Turn 2, where Edwards felt Keselowski didn’t give him enough room.

“Brad knows the deal between him and I,” said Edwards, who returned to the track on Lap 191 after losing 150 laps in the garage. “The scary part was that his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected.

Earnhardt Jr. amazingly sits in 13th place in the point standings after four races and the alleged "loose wheel" remains a mystery.

Last week's over88ted.com poll asked "Who is more over rated?" Not surprising Dale Jr ran away with it.
 

	Dale Earnhardt Jr 63%
	Danica Patrick 32%
	Apolo Ohno 5%

If you're on a losing streak the last place you should be is Las Vegas, but when you're a NASCAR driver you don't have a choice and today in sin city Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran his losing streak to 70 races without a win. He only has one victory since 2006 and after qualifying fourth for today's Shelby American 400 Junior steadily lost track position while his fans lost patience.

"You're breaking my heart!" yelled Nancy Mcallister, a blackjack Las Vegas that was decked out in a form fitting green and red body suit with small #88's adorning it.

After the 75th lap, the #88 never cracked the top ten and as the race went on frustrations seemed to boil over for Earnhardt, when he snapped at crew chief, Lance McGrew of the radio. The two shared a colorful and heated exchange that was followed by a period of radio silence. Three races into the season and the cracks are already showing on the veneer of the team.

"Nobody over there is happy and everyone is on eggshells around, Junior. They have big problems." said a source from the garage.

At least there didn't seem to be any glaring driver errors in this weeks race and that has to make Junior's #88 team feel a little better. Junior appeared to be making an effort to compete in the race, but one has to wonder why he can't be more competitive when the other members of the Hendrick stable continue to contend in every race.

Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson won his second race in a row, followed by Kevin Harvick, Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin with Matt Kenseth rounding out the top five.

The drama continues next week in Hampton, Georgia.

Last week's poll on over88ted.com asked "Who's Fault Was Dale Earnhardt Jr's Broken Axel in Fontana?" It seems NASCAR fans really do know what's happen out there - checkout these results:
 

	Junior's. He accelerated too early 69%
	Nobody's. Just a mechanical failure 25%
	The Jack Man. Get that car down, dude! 6%

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished the Auto Club 500 in 32 position today at Southern California's two mile oval at Auto Club Speedway. He had hoped to use the momentum of his late race rally at Daytona last weekend to propel him into contention throughout the 2010 Sprint Cup season. Unfortunately for the 88 team, that didn't happen. Instead of joining his Hendrick Motorsports teammates at the top of the leader board during the race, Earnhardt started in 27th and languished in the middle of the pack due to a "tough handling" race car and driver error, before eventually snapping the rear axel and finishing 12 laps behind race winner, Jimmie Johnson.

With 115 laps remaining in the race and running 19th, Junior entered the pits and was cited for speeding on pit row, causing him to re-enter and lose a lap on the leaders. The California contingent of the dwindling "Junior Nation" groaned. Somewhere an old woman in Amp Energy gear wept openly.

"It's last year all over again!" yelled Jack Stilson of Los Angeles. "I can't handle another season of this crap! Get it together, man!"

It got worse.

With 67 laps remaining in the race and running 22nd Earnhardt entered the pits for what he deemed to be a flat tire. The team changed the tire (which did not appear flat) and Junior floored it... Too bad he didn't wait until the Jack Man had dropped the car to the ground. The wheels were spinning so fast that when the orange and white 88 car hit the ground the force broke the rear axel and effectively finished the teams day. The field continued to circle the track as the team searched for a replacement axel. Most team's keep axel's nearby in case they are needed, but not the 88 team apparently.

Eventually the axel was replaced, but not after crew chief, Lance McGrew blew a gasket letting his team have it over the radio and Junior added his own cantankerous comments to the mix. Would Tony Eury Jr. have let it happen?

In the meantime, Johnson got a little lucky, The key sequence came on Lap 223, when Brad Keselowski spun his Dodge off Turn 4 after contact with David Reutimann’s Toyota and brought out the sixth and final caution of the race. Johnson was on pit road when NASCAR called the caution but beat the pace car to the scoring line at the exit.

When the rest of the lead-lap cars pitted under the yellow, Johnson inherited the lead and held it for a restart on Lap 231.

“They’re really good, but they’re also really, really lucky,” Second place finisher, Kevin Harvick said. “They have a golden horseshoe stuck up their ass—there’s no getting around that.”

Johnson acknowledged his good fortune after climbing from his car in victory lane.

“Today, fortune came our way,” Johnson said. “We hit pit road, and the caution came out and gave us track position. We lost the handle in the second half of the race. We were making gains coming back, but a lot of other guys were ahead of us, and I knew it would be tough to pass them.

“I’m not going to lie — the fact that we were on pit road gave us track position, and I drove my butt off. We finally got the car turning — it was just a little too loose. The 29 (Harvick) was coming, but then he hit the wall and let us get it.

“Yes, we were lucky today, but you don’t get lucky and win four championships and 48 races.”

The rest of the top five was rounded out by Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Joey Logano.

So it's back to the drawing board for Earnhardt Jr. as the losing streak hits 59 and it's getting more familiar seeing him running in the 20's and 30's then it is to see him anywhere near the front of the field at crunch time.

See you in Vegas!

Last week's poll on over88ted.com asked "2010 will be ??? for Dale Jr" It seems NASCAR fans may be turning on the sports most overrated driver - checkout these results:
 

	Same old Jr - can't win a race 53%
	His last season with Hendrick 24%
	His greatest season ever? 23%

All week long Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke to anyone that would listen about how this season would be different. He admitted to spending much of the 2009 Sprint Cup season pouting about his on-track failures, including skipping team meetings and stating that he knows he hasn't lived up to the expectations of Hendrick Motorsports. He started the 2010 season with a heart stopping last lap dash that brought him second place in the 2010 Daytona 500. Nice start, but his winless streak has hit 58 races.

Jamie McMurray held off Junior to win NASCAR's crown jewel in a race that was marred by over two hours of delays when a pothole formed on the first turn due to the age of the asphalt and the wet weather that's been pelting Florida this winter. Official patched the hole but after 38 laps it re-opened forcing another stoppage. Greg Biffle took third and Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

After the delay's, fans were treated to a thrilling finish and a great beginning to a new season as the race came down to two green, white checker finishes. As the last lap of the race unfolded Junior sat in 10th place but roared through the sparring cars into the clear and the then up to McMurray's bumper coming around the final turn.

"I saw Junior back there and I thought for sure I was in trouble,"
said McMurray, who was moved to tears following his first Daytona 500 win. "Somehow I held on."

"I'm disappointed that I didn't win," said Junior. "I'm happy for Jamie though. I was just surprised to be there with the way the car handled all day."

After starting second and falling almost a lap behind early in the race Earnhardt held it together and made a respectable start, finishing ahead of his Hendrick teammates, all of whom struggled in the season's first restrictor plate race at the fabled two and a half mile tri-oval. Over88ted..com predicts it will be the last time that happens this season and that Junior will attend his team meeting this week.

Last year's final poll by over88ted.com asked "What do you think of NASCAR after the first full season with the COT?" It seems NASCAR may have hurt itself with the COT:
 

	Love NASCAR just as much - nothing changed 17.89%
	Still love NASCAR but races are boring 35.32%
	Yawn, where's the caution? 46.79%

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the fastest car on the track Sunday at Homestead Florida's, Ford 400 Sunday evening. He was flying past cars on the high line and in the first part of the race was the biggest mover, advancing 19 positions. Junior Nation was on it's feet as the #88 blistered the track in a blue and white blur. Junior Nation roared as Earnhardt entered the top ten.

Finally on the last day of this torturous season, Junior was going put his doubters behind him! Junior was going to show his Hendrick Racing team mates that he belonged in their elite company! He was going to show his own team that he was ready to ride to VICTORY!

Then he hit the wall.

And he hit it again.

And again.

And again.

Each time Junior guided his car into the wall, it lost more of it's ability to pass the competition and slowly it drifted back to Earnhardt's usual position in the mid-twenties to low thirties and finally he had to pull into the pits and let his team try to straighten out the damage he had inflicted. It was a microcosm of the season: Team builds fast car. Driver error ruins day.

Meanwhile the now legendary Jimmie Johnson was finishing fifth and securing his fourth straight Sprint Cup. He is the only driver in the history of the sport to achieve those heights and there is no reason to think he won't challenge for a fifth straight cup next season. Hendrick team mates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon finished second and third in the final standings.

"That's a great team over there," said one garage insider. "Three out of four of them are legends. The fourth one... I don't know. He doesn't seem to fit in. A name can only take you so far and there are a lot of drivers that could do a lot more with the resources Junior has available to him."

"Hendrick is a championship team. Junior's never going to be a champion." said Rick Thompson of Miami. "Hendrick should dump Junior and sign Kasey Khane!"

With Khane expressing discontent with the direction of Richard Petty Racing this week there has been speculation that Rick Hendrick could come calling. Would that mean he would keep Junior on the team? Could Junior's ego handle being the fifth best driver on a five man team? Will Junior ever win a race again? Tune in to find out.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "What grade would you give Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his 2009 performance?" and over 73% gave him an F. See complete results here
 

This morning, long before the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway the #88 team crashed. Four crew members on the way to the race were involved in a spin-out collision in the team van. After being treated, they were deemed 'ok' and were able to work the pit for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Unfortunately the crew's spin out wasn't the only wreck for the Amp Energy Chevrolet as Junior got loose on lap 173 and caused a 10 car pile up and virtually ended the teams day.

After about 25 minutes in the garage the shaky crew managed to get Junior back on the track where he finished a paltry 35th, 56 laps behind the eventual winner, Hendrick team mate and Sprint Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson.

Junior never contended (again) and the best track position he achieved before he caused the crash was 16th. He appeared to struggle on the double file restarts on the Phoenix flat oval, checking up and over compensating on lap on-twenty causing a chain reaction involving eight cars behind him.

Tensions were high in the garage area after the race.

"Number 88 needs to get his head in the race," said a source. "We know he's frustrated by being the low rung on the Hendrick ladder but that don't mean he has to let it affect his driving. He just wants the season to end and everyone knows it."

Junior Nation left the track less then satisfied with the Earnhardt performance too.

"This is the fourth race we've driven to, this season," said Buddy Teegarden from Billings, Montana as he escorted his green and red clad family from the track. "We support Junior, but I'm starting to think maybe he doesn't have the heart to win. Hell, he don't even need to win, we just want him to be in contention once in awhile. He kind of sucks this year."

This year?

"Well, for the last few years."

Johnson was followed in the top five by Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin and Martin Truex Jr. and has a virtual death grip on his record fourth straight Sprint Cup championship.

Junior is one race away from his second winless season in the past three years and over88ted.com expects the streak to continue into 2010 and beyond. We also predict that Earnhardt's crew will make it to Miami without a wreck.... Unless they let Junior drive the van.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "I think Junior Nation is..." and "Fun to laugh at on race day" was the overwhelming  winner with over 67% of the vote.  Dying a slow death came in 2nd with just over 20%  See complete results here
 

Once again Dale Earnhardt Junior found a new way to lose a race when he gambled and lost yesterday at the Dickies 500. Earnhardt hung around the top ten most of the day and then ran out of fuel with only three laps remaining. Crew chief, Lance McGrew gets an F for his first performance as full time team leader as the #88 finished in it's usual middle of the pack 25th.

Capitalizing on superior fuel mileage, Kurt Busch drove his No. 2 Dodge to victory in the Dickies 500, after disaster struck Johnson like a lightning bolt and made a race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup after all.

Johnson suffered a Lap 3 wreck that sidelined his No. 48 Chevrolet for more than an hour as his team made extensive repairs. With a 38th-place finish, Johnson lost 111 points of his 184-point lead in the Chase to second-place Mark Martin, who finished fourth and trails Johnson by 73 points with two races left.

Busch won the race at the expense of brother Kyle Busch, who ran out of fuel three laps short of completing an unprecedented weekend sweep of races in NASCAR’s top three divisions. Busch had won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday and the NASCAR Nationwide Series event on Saturday.

After pitting on Lap 269 of 334, Kyle Busch was leading and trying to conserve fuel when he ran out on the backstretch on Lap 331. “I’m out! I’m out—coming to you!” he radioed to crew chief Dave Rogers, who had replaced Steve Addington on the pit box after last Sunday’s race at Talladega.

That handed the lead to Kurt, who had pitted on Lap 271 and had saved enough fuel to make it to the finish line.

Denny Hamlin took advantage of the pervasive gas shortage to finish second, 25.686 seconds behind Busch, the largest margin of victory in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race since the inception of electronic scoring in May 1993. Matt Kenseth ran third, followed by Martin, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart. Those were the only six drivers to finish on the lead lap, the fewest since six cars finished on the lead lap in June 2008 at Dover.

“I knew what we had for fuel mileage — I was confident in our guys’ numbers,” Kurt Busch said in Victory Lane. “They gave me what I needed to win today. We were fast, we were playing cat-and-mouse with Kyle on restarts — you know, it’s the first true time that Kyle and I have raced each other hard for a victory like this.

“For us to come away and knock him off his sweep — he was trying to go for it — it’s bittersweet. I was rooting for him, but at the same time, this is for us.”

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "Will Junior Switch Crew Chiefs again in the off-season??" and Jr made it official and signed interim Crew Chief McGrew through 2010 before our poll closed - he must be an Over88ted.com fan!  See complete results here
 

In what must have been a victory of the soul, Dale Earnhardt Jr. actually led 9 laps in yesterday's Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Each time he crossed the start/finish line the throngs of his blind faithful stood and cheered, but alas, as the race wound down to its spectacular finish Junior was filed back into the pack and finished at 11th.

This past week (in response to our readers poll?) Earnhardt's team hired interim crew chief, Lance McGrew as the full time and permanent guide to the misguided #88 team. According to Earnhardt the team is on the right track. According to the results it's the same old, same old.

The race was strange from the beginning after NASCAR warned drivers not to bump draft through the corners of the famed super speedway. The result was lap after lap of single file "safe" racing. It wasn't until the last 25 laps that the drivers began to attempt to gain position and with 5 laps remaining Ryan Newman flipped his car, causing a red flag while they extracted him from the vehicle. Luckily the high flying crash looked worse then what it was as Newman walked away angry but unscathed.

On lap into a Green, White, Checker finish the Talladega mystique finally jumped up and bit the field as the "big one" happened and nine cars (including #2 in points, Mark Martin) smoked, smashed and spun causing the race to end and giving Jamie McMurray his first win of the season. He was followed by Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano, Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton. Points leader Jimmie Johnson finished sixth after spending the day at the back of the field.

Earnhardt Jr. actually finished in front of two of his Hendrick team mates, Martin and Jeff Gordon for only the 5th time this season.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "Will Junior Switch Crew Chiefs again in the off-season??" and Jr made it official and signed interim Crew Chief McGrew through 2010 before our poll closed - he must be an Over88ted.com fan!  See complete results here
 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. started yesterday's Tums Fast Relief 500 at the famed short track in Martinsville in great position: 12th. He was firmly entrenched in the upper third of the field and it looked like his team had figured a few things out about the #88 car before qualifying. They were using a brand new ride and qualifying 12 was a great sign. They were definitely going to contend. The only thing that might keep them out of the top ten would be an error in the pits or an error on the track by Earnhardt or one of his rivals. Leave it to Dale Jr. to ruin a good thing.

Twice in the race Junior blew a tire and put his car into the wall, each time causing a caution. The problem he was having was not being able to stay off the brake enough. Riding mile after mile with constant pressure on the brake causes it to get very hot and eventually this causes tire problems. Most NASCAR drivers know the exact line between gearing down and braking while short track racing, but even then sometimes the brakes can blow a tire... Once.

"Twice in one race is almost unheard of and if Junior didn't have the on-track experience I would have thought I was watching a rookie driver out there." said a source close to the #88 crew. "The guys in that pit box were ticked off, man."

Junior managed to keep the #88 on the track for the last two-thirds of the race and finished 29th while his Hendrick team mates continued to make their presence felt with Jimmie Johnson finishing 2nd, Jeff Gordon 5th and Mark Martin 8th. Denny Hamlin won the race and Juan Pablo Montoya (3rd) and Kyle Busch (4th) rounded out the top five.

So it's back to the drawing board for Earnhardt Jr. and his beleaguered crew as they try to salvage some dignity sometime in the last month of this nightmare season.

Notes: Johnson increased his Sprint Cup points lead to 118 over Martin and 150 over Gordon. Earnhardt currently stands s the 24th ranked driver out of 50 eligible.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "Rick Hendrick Should...?" and it's clear NASCAR fans are ready for someone else to drive the number 88 with nearly 82% answering "Fire Dale Jr or Ask him to step down"  See complete results here
 

"I'm about to the end of my rope on it," Earnhardt said, after reciting chapter and verse on last week's late wreck at Fontana, Calif., and Thursday night's bewilderingly poor qualifying run at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "I've been riding it out, but I think it comes there comes a point, though, where you don't want to ride it out anymore.

"It's been a long year. I really don't want the year to be over with, because I like going to the racetrack every week and racing, but the last several -- well, all year, it's been so low. The 'highs' have been not very high, and the 'lows' have been terribly low. So that's hard to want to get back up and try again the next week, when you take such a beating, but I don't know what else to do."

Earnhardt's frustration came to a head Thursday. The proximate cause was a 39th-place qualifying run -- after posting the 13th-fastest time during Sprint Cup practice earlier in the day. Last Sunday, a flat tire late in the race at Fontana derailed what promised to be a top-10 run. Earnhardt slowed in front of Elliott Sadler, and contact between their two cars ignited a multicar pileup in Turn 1.

"We come off of Turn 4 at California, and Ryan Newman hit me in the left rear quarter panel and knocked the valve stem out of tire," said Earnhardt, who retired two laps short of the finish in 25th place. "I had a flat tire going down the front straightaway, and I couldn't go nowhere, because I had guys on the inside of me. Elliott didn't know that I had a flat, and neither did the 17 (Matt Kenseth) behind him, and when they got to me, I couldn't control my car anymore. I was out of air in the tire. That was frustrating. I was really upset. I was really, really upset.

"Last night (Thursday) we go out, and we were top 15 in practice, and we went out and tried to qualify, and we're one of the worst cars here. We don't know why or have any answer for it. All the other (Hendrick Motorsports) cars qualified fine, did well, backed their times up in practice, and we didn't even get close. We looked ridiculous last night. So it's like really encouraging one day, and then the next day it's equally discouraging. And that gets really old."

Junior doesn't even know who his crew chief will be next year.

"I haven't talked to Rick about it," Earnhardt said of the crew-chief choice. "I don't have the credentials to make the call. If I told you that I wanted to be with Lance next year, I wouldn't be telling you that out of my knowledge of expertise and talent. I'd be telling you because it's fun hanging out with him. Whoever I work with needs to be dictated. The most success I had was with Tony (Eury) Sr. (Eury Jr.'s father and Earnhardt's long-time crew chief at Dale Earnhardt Inc.), and you know how he runs his ship…

"I don't think I'm the guy to leave that decision up to, because I wouldn't make the right one -- or there's probably better people to make it, especially in the organization, man. There's a lot of smart people around there. I'm just waiting for somebody to make the call, man. Just put the damn team together and say 'This is what you got; this is what you're going to do next year.' I'm just kind of waiting on that to happen."

As he waits, the frustration mounts.

"We just need to run better, and it's not happening," Earnhardt said. "It's not happening fast enough. … Even when we're creeping inside the top 10 like we were last week, it's not good enough. It's really frustrating.

"I feel like I don't have any control. Rick's put me in a great position, but I haven't made the most of it, or for whatever reason, we're just not getting it done."


And they continued to "not get it done" on Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway when the struggling #88 team finished in 38th and sits in 22nd in the season standings. That's two spots behind rookie Joey Logano. Hendrick team mate Jimmie johnson won the Banking 500 to continue his push for an unprecedented 4th straight Sprint Cup Championship. Johnson was followed in the top five by Matt Kenseth, Kasey Khane, Jeff Gordon and Logano.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "Will someone other then Jimmie Johnson win the Chase?" and it's clear NASCAR fans are ready for someone else to win with nearly 64% answering "God, I hope so" - and yes, you can only vote once so it wasn't Jr fixing the vote!  See complete results here
 

Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge, and Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M/Scotch Blue Ford, crash on the front stretch during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday in Fontana, Calif. Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, slide by in the background. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

 

 

 

 

 

Audrina Patridge, star of MTV's "The Hills," prepares to wave the green flag to start the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday in Fontana, Calif. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet, crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday in Fontana, Calif. Johnson is the first driver to win four NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Auto Club Speedway and the first to win the track's fall race in three consecutive seasons. (Photo Credit: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images for NASCAR)

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "Will someone other then Jimmie Johnson win the Chase?" and it's clear NASCAR fans are ready for someone else to win with nearly 64% answering "God, I hope so" - and yes, you can only vote once so it wasn't Jr fixing the vote!  See complete results here
 

In his best race of the 2009 season Dale Jr was rewarded with a DNF extending his winless streak to 50 races.  This is Junior's 2nd longest winless drought, which started after he ended his longest losing streak of 76 races.  After leading his first laps since August and the most this season (41) Earnhardt's pit left a lug nut loose causing the 88 to be black flagged when Jr refused to come back in to get it tightened.

That put Jr down a lap and then he got caught on pit road during a caution and lost another - just a typical day for Jr after the early excitement for Jr Nation.

Tony Stewart cruised to his 4th victory this season after taking 2 tires on what would be the last caution of the race, which just happened to be caused by the #88 car.  The quick decision by the Stewart camp got him the win and moved him to 4th in the Chase standings.  "He asked me what I thought, I kind of put my vote in, and he said it was exactly what he was thinking," Stewart said. "It made me feel good that we both agreed on the same thing that quick. It was like, to both of us, it wasn't even an option. We pretty much knew what we both needed."

It's starting to sound like a broken record but Team Hendrick dominated with all Jr's teammates finishing in the top 10 as Mark Martin finished 7th to keep him at the top of the standings.  Gordon challenged all day and was chasing down Stewart in the closing laps but just ran out of time and finished 2nd.  Stewart said he saw Gordon coming fast in his rearview mirror.  "He was getting bigger...the big thing was not to drive the tires off. We had a little left, but we didn't leave too much out there."

Gordon, who had a poor handling car at the start of the race was happy with the final outcome...that is until a NASCAR official let him know he gained only one spot in the standings (7th).  "That's it? Can't you read it different? Just tell me I'm fifth," he said, however, he still cut his deficit from 122 points to 103.

For Earnhardt, it was just another disappointment in a string of 50 disappointing races, in which he's seen his teammates consistently run up front and win races.  With the rumors of an early Earnhardt departure heating up, Dale Jr was hoping to quite them this weekend but ended up just stirring the pot.

"Kasey would be a great fit for Hendrick, he's young, runs hard, has a growing fan base and knows how to win races...I'm not saying it's a done deal but I know first hand there has been talks." said Shaun Corky of Enumclaw, Washington.

It seems Earnhardt Jr can see the writing on the wall as talks heat up between Earnhardt and Danica Patrick.

It's going to be an interesting off season.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "Will someone other then Jimmie Johnson win the Chase?" and it's clear NASCAR fans are ready for someone else to win with nearly 64% answering "God, I hope so" - and yes, you can only vote once so it wasn't Jr fixing the vote!  See complete results here
 

As the second race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup had spills and chills and an uneventful finish, one thing stayed the same: Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 20th. While his Hendrick racing team mates all finished in the top ten (including Jimmie Johnson with the win and Mark Martin 2nd), Earnhardt qualified 24th and never made an impact in moving up four spots by the finish.

The most exciting part of Junior's AAA 400 was when in the latter stages of the race he received the "Lucky Dog" on a caution flag and was put back onto the lead lap. He complained about handling a lot of the day and never factored in any way. It looked like Junior was going through the motions and the fans in the stands saw it that way too.

"We try to support Junior, but it almost seems like he's not trying." said Rod Noster of Bangor, Maine. "He's with Hendrick, so you know he's got the car. He doesn't seem to care anymore."

Maybe he doesn't have the drive (pardon the pun).

"My dad says Junior doesn't like being the last man on the totem pole." said Amanda Childs, age 11 of Dover, referring to his standing with Hendrick Motorsports.

Great point.

Matt Kenseth finished 3rd at Dover, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya and Kurt Busch. Jeff Gordon was 6th.

The most dramatic episode in today's race was when rookie driver, Joey Logano "checked up" in lap 23 and Tony Stewart tapped him from behind causing Logano to spin down the track and then back up to the top where he was broadsided by Reed Sorenson, and sent into 11 broadside rolls before coming to a stop on all four wheels. Logano got out of the car shaken, but without a scratch. We'll see how he reacts in future races.

Logano wasn't sure why the cars in front of him "checked up". Was that number 88 up there?

Over88ted.com wonders if, with Kasey Kahne reportedly unhappy working in the Petty circle, if maybe there will be movement towards getting him on board the Hendrick train. There is no way Rick Hendrick is happy with what he's getting from Earnhardt (Hendrick doesn't get any of Junior's commercial cash). Don't you think Khane would be a better fit with Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne is young, hungry and he can win. Junior has spent the past two seasons showing NASCAR why he is America's most over rated athlete.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "How do you like the C.O.T?" and it's obvious NASCAR fans think it's hurting the sport as over 52% think it "Sucks" and over 27% think it's just "OK".  See complete results here
 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. hung with the big boys in the Chase for the Cup all afternoon proving that when the pressure is off he is a much better driver. Being the only Hendrick Motorsports driver not qualified for The Chase seemed to give Junior the peace of mind he needed to contend today in the Sylvania 300. Then he remembered he doesn't belong with the big boys in The Chase and he put his car into the wall with 18 laps remaining in the 300 lap race.

A pouty and grumpy Earnhardt blamed his wreck on David Reuitimann, "There's some guys you can run side by side with and some you can't. I forgot he couldn't hold his line. I guess David ran out of talent out there."

It should be noted that Reutimann is 5 spots ahead of Earrnhardt in the points standings.

Of course, replays showed that Junior was drifting down the track as Reutimann came up it as he avoided a collision on the track below him. The crash was 50/50 but the only thing more rare then an Earnhardt Jr. win, is Earnhardt Jr. taking responsibility for his lack of skill. This is Junior's third DNF of the season and according too him none of them are his fault. It must be all coincidence.

"Junior makes mistakes and crashes and it always seems he crashes towards the end of the race when it gets hot out there." said a garage insider. "I don't think he handles pressure well."

One man who does handle pressure well is Earnhardt's team mate, Mark Martin who came away with the win and an early lead in The Chase points standings. He was pushed hard by Denny Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya, who appears closer each week to picking up his first NASCAR win on an oval. Another Earnhardt stable mate and defending champ, Jimmie Johnson finished in fourth followed by Kyle Busch.

With nine races left in the season, over88ted.com predicts that Junior will contend in almost every race, but will win zero and go into next season one temper tantrum away from losing his ride at Hendrick to a driver that can win.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "I think over88ted.com is?" and it's clear - people like what we're doing here and enjoy the weekly choke reports - 88% vs. 12%.  See complete results here
 

When Brian Vickers crossed the finish line with his first win of the season Sunday at the Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway "Junior Nation" didn't know whether to cheer or shake their collective heads. For the 43rd race in a row Dale Earnhardt Jr. (NASCAR's most over rated driver) could not pull out a win and the throng wearing the #88 team colors seemed almost happy. The reason: Junior finished in third place!

For only the second time this season Earnhardt finished in the top five and for his fans, it must have felt like victory but for the #88 team, while the finish was encouraging on some level it wasn't a win (no surprise) and they are still the only member of the Hendrick Motorsports Team that is winless this year.

“Well, I don’t want to get too excited,” said Earnhardt, who won his last NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan in June 2008 on fuel mileage thanks mostly to a great call by former crew chief, Tony Eury Jr.. “You want to be up front every week like this. You want to be there the whole race. You don’t want to just come up there through the last 50 laps and surprise everybody.

“But we’re working really hard. I’ve never worked so hard to run third. I’ve won races working a whole lot easier than this (not many). But it’s competitive with this car, and there’s not really a real edge for anyone right now.”

Junior was referring to the fact that he spent most of the day languishing in his usual 20-25th position, but pit strategy put him in position to win when many of the leaders had to slow their pace to conserve fuel. The most affected by this was Junior's Hendrick team mate Jimmie Johnson who fell short on fuel after leading most of the race and finished 33rd.

“We’re getting better as a team. It’s just really, really hard to be patient and be mindful and respectful of everybody and hold your tongue every once in a while." Said Junior.

We're not sure what who or what Junior was referring to with those comments but it seems he's intimating that he has more issues with his team and his car. Perhaps he should take a good hard look in the mirror before he worries about holding his tongue because according to our sources there are plenty of people in the garage area that believe the troubles the #88 squad have fall firmly on the shoulders of the driver. With the resources Earnhardt's team have at their disposal they have no excuses (although Tony Eury Jr. might have something to say about that.

Jeff Gordon finished 2nd in the race after gambling on his fuel mileage while Carl Edwards finished fourth and Sam Hornish Jr. finished fifth.

“I really felt confident we were going to make it, even though (crew chief) Steve (Letarte) told me we were four (laps) short when we left pit road that last pit stop,” said Gordon, who passed Johnson (33rd Sunday) for second in the standings. “I shut the engine off so much. I felt like I got us six laps. At least with the caution, I felt like I did. Felt pretty confident I didn't have to conserve a whole lot. Junior was pressuring me a lot at the end. I was waiting, to see if the 48 (Johnson) and 83 (Vickers) ran out. One did, one didn't.”

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "Who is the best rookie driver?" and Brad Keslowski edged out Joey Logano with 48% vs. 46% for Logano.  See complete results here
 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. cut a corner, lost control, barreled into Reed Sorenson, shot across the gravel and slammed head-on into the wall today at Watkins Glen International Raceway. He knocked himself out of the famed Sprint Cup road race and put Sorenson a lap down without even reaching the halfway point in the race. He later returned 28 laps behind the leaders and finished in 39th position in the race that was delayed for a day by rain. This was the second Sprint Cup race in a row to be delayed.

Earnhardt was running 24th when he caused the wreck that brought out the third caution of the race. He'd started in the 31st position and had effectively moved up before his miscue.

"Every week it's something else!" said a source from pit road. "You give Junior a fast car he wrecks it. You give him a slow car he gets penalized in the pits. Maybe he should go down and get some laps in Nationwide!"

Sprint Cup Points leader, Tony Stewart picked up his third win of the season by holding off a hard charge by Marcos Ambrose whose followed in the top five by Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle. This was Stewart's fifth victory at Watkins Glen and virtually locked him into the top position heading into the last four races before the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It is the opposite of Earnhardt's brutal season which is only getting worse. He was again the fourth of the four Hendrick Motorsports cars in finishing order.

Sprint Cup returns to Michigan next week and that must be good news for Junior, as it is the last place he won a race over a year ago (with the help of his former crew chief, Tony Eury Jr.).

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "How many top ten finishes will Dale Earnhardt Jr. have the rest of this season?"  Not surprisingly nearly 48% answered Zero.  See complete results here
 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. hung around and hung around before falling in the last ten laps and ultimately finishing 28th in the Pennsylvania 500 today at Pocono Raceway.

Earnhardt started the race in in the 22nd slot and spent the entire race jockeying through the mid twenty positions before his team took a risk on a "fuel only" pit stop with 38 laps to go. That move bumped junior into the top five and he actually hung around the top ten until lap 190. That's when he pulled a "Junior" and slammed his number 88 into the wall, ending his hopes for respectability.

As Earnhardt raced around Pocono in the rarified air (for him) of the top ten you knew he would do something to mess up his chances and of course, he did and dropped like a rock. Again, Junior was the Hendrick driver that finished furthest back for the "Superteam" even though Jimmie Johnson struggled with engine problems all day and fell to three laps back before making a miraculous run and finishing 13th.

Junior is the only Hendrick Motorsports driver that is not in the running for the Chase to the Sprint Cup and with just fifteen races left in the season the Amp Energy #88 team has more questions than answers. Obviously the firing of Tony Eury Jr. hasn't made a difference (surprised?) as the team has dropped even farther in the Sprint Cup points standings to 23rd. For those of you paying attention, that's the bottom half of the standings. With great sponsorship, unlimited resources and a new crew chief there is only one place to lay blame: The driver.

The were more Junior Sucks t-shirts littering the crowd then at any race this season today and they got to see a terrific race with Denny Hamlin holding off emerging Juan Pablo Montoya for the win with Clint Bowyer, Sam Hornish Jr.a and Kasey Kahne rounding out the top five. Hamlin was very emotional after the win acknowledging that his grandmother had passed away this past week.

Sprint Cup moves to the Watkins Glen road course next week so it should be interesting to see what adjustments the #88 team makes in an effort to crack the top twenty.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "Do you like the double-file restart"  It was our most lopsided poll ever - over 91% of race-fans like it.  See complete results here
 

Mark Martin cruised to his 4th victory of the season and brought Team Hendrick it's seventh top finish this season...however, none have come from the struggling 88 team.  In a yawner where Jr Nation had nothing to cheer about Dale Jr cruised mid-pack, never challenged and scored only a small victory by leaving with the 88 car in one piece.

It looked like Martin was going to have an easy finish with the laps winding down and Jeff Gordon (with fresher tires) several seconds behind but oil from Kyle Busch's blown engine brought out the seventh caution on Lap 261, setting up a double-file restart with two laps left.  Mark Martin opted for the outside lane with Gordon beside him to the inside and Martin got an excellent jump when the green flag waved and pulled away for the win.

Junior started the race thirteenth and never did much to challenge, the only excitement came when Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevrolet cut the left rear tire of Paul Menard's Ford on Lap 227 of 267, causing a multicar wreck in the tri-oval that eliminated the cars of Jeff Burton and Scott Speed...Jr. lost two spots and finished fifteenth when the checkered flag waved for his teammate Mark Martin.  "That was fun," Martin exulted after climbing from his car. "That's what life's all about right there. These guys (Martin's No. 5 Chevrolet crew) deserved to win. We could have parked the car (Friday) with an hour left in practice. I knew it was awesome.

Jeff Gordon finished 2nd "What an incredible call Steve (Letarte) made," said Gordon, who is second in the Cup standings, 175 points behind Stewart. "And the whole pit crew that did a fantastic job getting us off pit road with four tires. Then it was just a battle, maneuvering through traffic, cars slipping and sliding all over the place.

How much longer can Rick Hendrick overlook the failures of Dale Jr?  Well, if his teammates continue to win regularly probably not much longer.  The T-shirts, hats, stickers and other merchandising is starting to slow and that in itself has blurred a lot of poor finishes, however, change is coming...and Jr Nation may be lonely on race day.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "What should Dale Earnhardt Jr. do in 2010?"  The clear winner was "Take a year off and do some soul searching" with over 43% of the votes...the next closest was "Go into broadcasting" with 25% - how scary is that!?  See complete results here
 

When the smoke cleared after the multi car pile up on lap 78 at the Coke Zero 400 last night, eight cars were damaged and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was out of the race. He'd been running in the 25th position at the time he got smashed into the wall hard enough to render the #88 helpless, but his race to that point had already been hopeless.

Junior started nineteenth when the green flag dropped to start the race and proceeded to pick the wrong line, dropping like a dead squirrel in a mud bog to 33rd. He then languished between 20th and 28th until he was mercilessly put out of his misery on lap 78. He finished officially 38th.

The next 81 + laps went by without incident as Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson led the field through the high banks of America's favorite track on 4th of July. The last lap was a different story however. Stewart was passed by Busch and for w second it looked like the race might be over, but the former Sprint Cup champion was not to be denied and tailed his former Gibbs team mate into the final turn he made a move to pass high, but Busch cut him off, he dipped low and Busch slammed the door again, but when Stewart immediately moved up the track Busch adjusted too late and slid into the fender of Stewart causing his #18 to spin violently into the wall where he momentarily lost contact with the track before Kasey Kahne slammed into his rear end. Just when it looked to be over, rookie Joey Logano t-boned Busch on the drivers side sending debris in all directions. Busch, amazingly walked away unscathed but was unavailable for comment.

While the field was in chaos behind him, Stewart gliding across the line for his second victory of the year.

"That's not the way I wanted to win it," said Stewart, tempering his celebration. "Kyle helped us out all day and to see him wreck like that at the end makes it hard."

Meanwhile Earnhardt Jr. continued to separate himself from the Sprint Cup Chase by dropping to 21st in points. He now sits behind Logano, the rookie.

Before the race Kenny Wallace implored Junior on national television to "please win one, because we need you to save our sport". He compared Earnhardt to Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan.... Please.... The only thing Earnhardt has in common with Woods and Jordan is his tax bracket. There is a difference between being NASCAR's most popular driver and NASCAR's most important driver.

One word describes Woods and Jordan: Clutch. They get it done time and again with pressure on. Ice runs in their veins and they are champions.

If Woods and Jordon are clutch, then what is Junior? Fried clutch? Junior has zero championships and can't seem to get out of his way. He has shown that when the pressure is on he misses his pits, causes a crash or puts his car into the wall.

While 'Junior Nation' loves their guy, the growing majority of fans are cooling to the Earnhardt hype and recognizing the skill level of NASCAR's top drivers. Drivers like Johnson, Stewart, Edwards and Busch. Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt might as well be from different planets when you talk about NASCAR's most important drivers.

The point is, while Junior is always an interesting topic and a lot of people love him, to compare him to virtual gods of sport is just silly and Wallace needs to get real. So does Junior. He should start thinking about 2010.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "Which reality TV show would you most like to see Dale Earnhardt Jr appear on?"  The overwhelming winner was "I Survived a Japanese game show" with over 40% of the votes...the next closest was "I'm a celebrity get me out of here" with 24%  See complete results here
 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran in the top ten all day long and even flirted with the top five yesterday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, then the rains came and so did the inevitable loss. Earnhardt finished thirteenth when the race was cut short after 273 laps while the field was cycling through green flag pit stops. Junior and his #88 team chose to pit with the leaders on lap 151 and that opened the door for rookie driver, Joey Logano to sneak into his first Sprint Cup victory.

In a race marred by caution flags and an eight care pile-up Earnhardt actually finished one spot ahead of Hendrick Motorsports team mate, Mark Martin. That's two races in a row where he wasn't the lowest finishing Hendrick car, but it the thirteenth place finish was only enough to move Junior up one spot, to nineteenth in Sprint Cup points. With nine races remaining the chances of Earnhardt making the chase are infinite.

"Junior knows it's over," said one veteran crew member. "He's known it most of the year and so has his crew. No one over there is happy."
A crowd of over 100,000 watched as Jeff Gordon finished second after running up front all afternoon, and Kurt Busch was next. They were followed by David Reutimann, Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Sam Hornish Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "What do you hate more?"  The overwhelming winner was Dale Earnhardt Jr's excuses with 60% of the votes...the next closest was FOX's Digger with 35%  See complete results here
 

Short tracks, mile and a half tracks, super speedway's and now a road coarse. It doesn't seem to matter what the length, shape or surface, the number 88 Chevrolet team can't seem to get it together. It doesn't matter who the crew chief is, the spotter is, or the guy that brings the water on that long stick. All that matters is who the driver is and it's Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Yesterday at Infineon he hung around and hung around (actually creeping into the top ten for a minute and a huge change of pace) but with ten laps left in the Toyota/Savemart 350 somehow Junior found a way to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was wiped out, dropping to the back of the field where he eventually finished in 26th.

So, at this time over88ted.com would like to officially declare Dale Earnhardt Jr's season - over. Let's face it, mathematically he can still make The Chase, but the reality is, that at 277 points out of 12th place in the standings (and the last spot in the Sprint Cup chase) there are just too many better drivers ahead of him to get there and only ten races to get it done.

Junior is headed in the wrong direction.

Earnhardt makes too many errors on the track and too many mental mistakes in the pits. He gets nailed for speeding on pit row or misses his pit box. He makes poor judgments on the race track and costs his team points. Junior is the only Hendrick team member not in the top twelve and he's the only Hendrick driver not to win a race this year. He does however, lead the team in endorsements and TV commercials. NASCAR's most popular driver isn't going to be at the big party this year and we wouldn't be surprised to see him struggle to make the cup for the rest of his career.

With all the lights turned towards him, Junior is wilting under the pressure and according to our overrated poll last week 60% of race fans are more sick of his excuses then they are Fox's irritating cartoon rat, Digger. That is saying something.

The rest of the field put on a great race yesterday with Enumclaw, Washington's Kasey Khane picking up his first victory of the season and on a road course followed by points leader Tony Stewart, Marcose Ambrose, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.

The season is really heating up, but its over for number 88. No wins in over a year and no chase this year.

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "What do you hate more?"  The overwhelming winner was Dale Earnhardt Jr's excuses with 60% of the votes...the next closest was FOX's Digger with 35%  See complete results here
 

One year has gone by so quickly. Like the blink of an eye, thirty-six Sprint Cup races have passed and in that time Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn't crossed the finish line in first place at the end of a race. A year ago, Junior had just broken his 76 race losing streak, was on top of the Sprint Cup points and was Rick Hendrick's new golden boy. How times have changed. Let's look back for a moment on everything that has changed over the past year:

• Barack Obama is president
• The economy crashed
• Mark Martin won two races for Hendrick
• GM filed for bankruptcy
• Tampa Bay Played in the World Series
• A-Rod did steroids
• Tony Stewart left Gibbs Racing
• Junior fired Tony Eury Jr.
• A new Terminator movie came out

Well, you get the idea.

After yesterday's fourteenth place finish at the Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Junior sits at number eighteen in Sprint Cup points and has one victory in his last 113 races. That means Earnhardt Jr. wins in .0088% of races he enters. That is ugly.  With his new crew chief in place Junior's average finish is 15th and he has shown a consistent pattern of qualifying between 12th and 25th, driving up to the top ten and then fading towards the middle of the pack. After one victory in 113 races you have to say that these poor performances aren't an apparition. What you see is what you get. An average driver at best.

While Hendrick team mate Mark Martin rolled to his 2nd victory of the season, Earnhardt's other two Hendrick team mates made their mark on the race. Jeff Gordon finished second but Jimmie Johnson fell to 22nd after leading the race and then running out of fuel on the next to last lap.

With Johnson out of the way it looked like Washington State native Greg Biffle seemingly had the race won, then he fell short on fuel mileage with less then a lap remaining and Martin and Gordon blew by him. Denny Hamlin finished third followed by Carl Edwards and Biffle coasted into a fifth place finish. Points leader Tony Stewart finished in second place.

Earnhardt Jr. remains the only Hendrick Motorsports driver out of the Sprint Cup Points top twelve (-255 from the final spot).

A recent poll by over88ted.com asked "Who should Hendrick replace Dale Jr with?"  The overwhelming winner was Brad Keslowski who received 40% of the votes...the next closest was David Reutimann with 16%  See complete results here
 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. started today's Pocono 500 in the 18th position riding high from his 12th place finish last week and proceeded to go backwards finishing 27th in the 200 lap race and dropping to 20th in Sprint Cup point standings.

From the outset Earnhardt complained about not being able to handle the car at one point muttering over the radio, "This thing's all over the place, man. I can barely keep on on the track"

Of course these are the same refrains we were hearing before Junior made the change in crew chief's two weeks ago and the same complaints we'll hear every race all season long from him. To give Junior a little credit, all the drivers talk about their cars to their teams to let them know if their 200 mph rockets are tight or loose and reporting other mechanical issues.. Rarely does a driver say, "It's perfect," but when you blame your teams struggles on the crew chief you are basically saying "we can't get the car right."

At some point you have to look at the driver.

Unfortunately the #88 team can't put someone else behind the wheel so the losses will continue to mount this summer. You have to wonder whether Rick Hendrick (owner of Hendrick Motorsports) is starting to second guess his decision to work with Earnhardt Jr. Junior is clearly the least talented driver on the Hendrick team and regularly finishes behind his teammates. The success of Kyle Busch (formerly of the Hendrick team) and the addition of the venerable Mark Martin has put the magnifying glass on Earnhardt and he's wilting under the pressure.

Hendrick Motorsports expects wins, top tens and cup points and with his 27th place finish Junior has all but guaranteed that the #88 team will miss the Sprint Cup chase for the second time in three years. At least they sell a lot of gear...

Many speculate whether the team would be better off if they dumped the #88 team after 2009 and brought in a promising young driver like Brad Keslowski or Scott Speed and let them learn from the champions on the Hendrick Motorsports team. Rumors around the garage area are that Junior rarely even speaks with Martin, Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon. He should, he could use the help.

While Junior was doing what he does today Tony Stewart got his first cup win with his new #14 team, starting from the 43rd spot and grinding his way through the entire field. Carl Edwards, David Reutimann, Gordon and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.

There was major speculation on the last three laps as many of the leaders would run out of fuel, but somehow Stewart conserved his and crossed the start/finish line in victory.
“Breathe easy, boys, we’re gonna make it,” Stewart radioed to his crew as he rolled through the final corner. “God, I’m proud of you guys. You make me look like a genius in here.”

“We didn’t tell you how to save gas,” crew chief Darian Grubb retorted.

Stewart did that on his own, and he did so masterfully. He took the No. 14 car number to Victory Lane in a Cup race for the first time since Dec. 8, 1968, in Montgomery, Ala., when Bobby Allison beat Richard Petty to the finish line by four feet. Not that the No. 14 has run all of them, but the Pocono 500 was the 1,329th Cup race since Allison’s win.

The win was Stewart’s 34th in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series and his first since acquiring an ownership interest in Stewart-Haas Racing before the 2009 season. This is the first Cup win by an owner/driver since Ricky Rudd won at Martinsville on Sept. 27, 1998.

A recent poll by over88ted.com showed 57% of race fans agreed with Eury Jr's firing.  See complete results here
 

After a tumultuous week highlighted by the firing of crew chief Tony Eury Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the #88 team was ready for a fresh start. They got a new beginning, but the end result was the same: a finish outside the top ten.

Junior coasted across the start/finish line at the Monster Mile in Dover to finish in 12th place in the Autism Speaks 400 and nearly 20 seconds behind his team mate and race winner Jimmie Johnson.

``We've got to do this a lot,'' Earnhardt said. ``I don't want to give ourselves any credit yet until we can perform at this level more consistently but I'm really proud of my guys today.''

Everyone involved with the #88 team and Hendrick Motorsports tried to put a positive spin on the 12th place finish and the way new crew chief, Lance McGrew called the race but the reality is that when a Hendrick Motorsports team is happy finishing out of the top ten it shows just how far that team has fallen.

One Earnhardt crew member was almost giddy following the race, "Man, that felt good. We're on the way back!"

Back? From where? It's been almost a full calendar year since Earnhardt won a race (due to a great call by Eury Jr.) and that's the only race he's won over the past three seasons. Making the crew chief change won't hide the defects in the driving ability of Junior and as this season plays out that fact will become more and more evident.

``One of the things I liked about Lance is I felt like I was in the pit box with him all day, and I felt like he was riding with me all day,'' Earnhardt said. ``That was a good feeling. Hopefully we can keep that up.''

Listening to the exchanges over the radio you could tell Earnhardt and McGrew you could hear the effort's to communicate and maybe that's what Junior needs, but at the end of the day unless Earnhardt starts landing in the top ten with regularity and maybe wins a race eventually McGrew will just be another victim of Junior's on-track ineptness.

Meanwhile Johnson had the best car on the track today and passed Tony Stewart with two laps remaining in a thriller.

``We just couldn't hold off Jimmie,'' Stewart said. ``He was like a freight train coming. I don't know how it gets much more exciting then that''

With his second place finish Stewart took over the Sprint Cup points lead.

Stewart was followed in the race by Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch and of course Junior in 12th. Woo Hoo!

We have a winner!  In a nail-bitter Poll on over88ted.com our visitors determined that Jeff Gordon has the Hottest NASCAR Driver wife (although, the picture we used may have influenced votes).  With our closest results yet, Gordon's wife beat out Allmendinger's with a vote of 52.9% to 47.1%.  See all the poll results here.
 

Junior Can't Handle The Heat Of The Chase... Again!

Earnhardt Too Nervous To Race - Crashes!

Earnhardt Living Up To Expectations.

Junior Has Fastest Car! Loses and Blames Tires.

Earnhardt In But Still Can't Win

Junior Locks Up Chase. Celebrates By Losing!

Earnhardt Loses Race Before It Starts!