Earnhardt Jr. racing against age in drive to win Sprint Cup title
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has always been the No. 1 draw in NASCAR. Not even Victory Lane droughts have affected his status.
But Earnhardt has resurrected his career in terms of being a championship contender. Last season, Earnhardt had one of his best seasons of his 16-year career. It began with him snapping a 55-race winless streak at the Daytona 500.
Earnhardt went on to win three more races before being eliminated after the Contender Round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with four races left in the season. Now, Earnhardt is looking to repeat that success as he continues his quest for a series championship.
And Earnhardt, who won the first Duel race on Thursday, is well aware of the dwindling window he has to do just that. He turned 40 in October, and the last driver to win a championship at 40 or older was Tony Stewart in 2011.
“Yeah, I’m getting up there,” said Earnhardt, answering a question about Jeff Gordon’s decision to retire at 43.
“It makes me reflect more about my own age than Jeff’s because you still see Jeff as this guy who could race another 10 years as competitive as he is, so you don’t look at him and say, ‘Oh man, he’s old.’”
It happens in every sport, though. Derek Jeter, 40, walked away from baseball last year, Landon Donovan, 32, announced his retirement from soccer and several football players such as Champ Bailey, 36, and Brian Waters, 38, have called it a career.
“It’s weird,” Earnhardt said. “I think about that with football players a lot. I remember when Peyton Manning [age 38] was a rookie [in 1998]. It just seems like it was 10 years ago, when it’s more than that. It’s just amazing to think that guys like Peyton and Drew Brees [age 36] came into the NFL and they’re nearing the end of their careers.
“It’s crazy to see Joe Montana in these commercials and he’s an aged man, and you remember when he was this young, athletic quarterback playing on your television screen.”
So Earnhardt knows his time will eventually come, but he has no plans to retire soon and has much left to give and accomplish in the sport.
It’s hard to fault him, too, considering he’s coming off his best season in years with the four wins and 12 top-five runs. The only year he had more wins (six) was 2004.
Earnhardt now has the luxury of starting the season at a track in which he is the defending champion for the second time in his career. He dominated last year’s race despite a lengthy weather delay, and he will try to become the first repeat winner since Sterling Marlin in 1994-95.
After winning, Earnhardt said: “Winning this race is the greatest feeling that you can feel in this sport.”
It carries even more meaning for Earnhardt, who lost his dad on this track 14 years ago Wednesday. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was 49.
Earnhardt reflected back on that day by posting a message on Twitter that read: “On this day I do not mourn his death. I thank God he lived. #DaleEarnhardt.”
One this day I do not mourn his death. I thank God he lived. #DaleEarnhardt
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) February 18, 2015Earnhardt went into more detail about it later during his news conference, saying he referenced a quote from Gen. George Patton.
“I’ve just seen a lot of people tweeting and talking, and I just felt like pitching in and let people know where my mind was at,” Earnhardt said. “Instead of being sad about it, I think about all the awesome times we had and good things we did and stuff that I think he’d be proud of today.”
Daytona 500
Noon Sunday, KDFW/Ch. 4
Dale Jr.’s 2014
Wins: 4
Top 5s: 12
Top 10s: 20
Laps led: 383
Average finish: 12.2
Earnings: $7 million
This story was originally published February 19, 2015 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Earnhardt Jr. racing against age in drive to win Sprint Cup title."