Just three to go. Just three more races under the shell-shocked Dale Earnhardt Inc. banner and it’s off to the Land of Oz and the shiny showroom floors at Hendrick Motorsports.
The move will be a welcome change for NASCAR’s most popular driver. And it probably can’t come soon enough.
Of course, Martin Truex Jr. isn’t going anywhere. He’ll take the DEI keys from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and try again in 2008.
The final laps of Sunday’s Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway pretty much summarize DEI’s beleaguered season. A year of blown engines, DNFs and plain bad luck came to a crescendo on the the super-fast mile-and-a-half south of Atlanta.
Junior finished 25th, McMurray 26th.
“Man, that was a hit! It was hard and loud. Bam! Into the wall. I knew when I was sliding up there it was gonna be big, and it was,” Earnhardt said. “We lost a a left rear wheel. We must have had an issue with the hubs or something because we had loose lugs and a loose rear wheel several times through the day. Joe Breeze, ESPN.com
Maybe Dale Earnhardt Jr., here at Atlanta, was supposed to wreck in spectacular fashion – and, of course, escape unhurt – while gunning for a win.
Maybe this Sunday was supposed to be representative of so many others for him this season: a great run, a comeback effort and a shot at a win all ruined by circumstance.
Often, it has been engines. Sometimes, it has been wrecks.
This isn’t to disparage DEI. This isn’t about minimalizing that team’s efforts. Short of something quirky going on in the engine department, these guys have given Junior strong cars all season, as the team also has done for Martin Truex Jr. (whose great day here at Atlanta, incidentally, also ended in frustration).
These DEI guys twice have put Junior in the Chase. They have competed for championships. Jonathan Baum, Sports.com
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