The names of Petty and Earnhardt are wed in NASCAR history. Only Dale Earnhardt Sr. and and Richard Petty have won seven championships dominating the sport during their times like no other competitors. Both were born with racing in their blood as Lee Petty and Ralph Earnhardt were North Carolina racers from humble backgrounds. Both Petty and Earnhardt passed racing on to their sons, Kyle and Dale Jr. The family business would be much different for the third generation racers as unlike their fathers, they live in the shadows of world famous fathers whose names are well-known far beyond the world of NASCAR fans.
This year's race began with a sad note when the green flagged dropped to begin the 31st Daytona 500 that this was the first time no one named Petty had entered “The Great American Race.” Pity Kyle Petty, clowned prince son of the King. No figure is more synonymous with a sport the way Richard Petty is associated with NASCAR, not Tiger Wood, not Michael Jordan, not Babe Ruth. It seemed only natural Kyle would follow in the family business just as his father did who followed his father, Lee Petty, also a NASCAR champion. Kyle looked brilliant winning his first major race, the 1979 ARCA 200 at Daytona. His early career had its shares of triumph and tumbles, a constant threat to finish in the top ten but not to bring home the big prize, but in 1985 a big opportunity was presented Petty when he was able to run with the Wood Brothers winning his first Cup race the following year at Richmond that year. Kyle took the prize for the Coca Cola World 600 in 1988, but fell off to 13th in points for the 1988 seasonwithout a single win. The Wood Brothers dismissed Kyle leading him to the most successful tenure of his career with Felix Sabates, SABCO racing initially part time for 1989, then with full sponsorship riding full time in 1990 winning at Rockingham and knocking on the top ten in points in 11th position. The ’91 season began with high hopes with sponsorship from the Coca Cola company with a “Days of Thunder” inspired, “Mello Yello,” paint scheme. While racing to 11th position again in points, Petty’s season was all but ruined after sustaining a broken leg at Talladega.
Kyle Petty ascended into the true upper echelon of the Winston Cup field in 1992 winning two races and finishing 5th in points. The ’93 season would be almost as respectable with another 5th place finish in points but only qa single victory. After 1993, Kyle Petty’s career would head straight down hill falling to 15th in points in 1994 then losing his Mello Yello sponsorship. Coors would sponsor Petty in 1995, but the downward spiral continued dropping to 30th in points even failing to qualify for the second Bristol race but achieving his final victory at Dover. ’96 would show a slight improvement in points to 27th but Kyle failed to make the field three times, twice due to injury and once for not qualifying at the end of the season after which he was released by SABCO racing. Petty would never be a real factor in NASCAR’s top circuit again despite having a permanent ride for the next decade.
Though Petty had a brief boost for ’97 racing for his own, Petty Enterprises 2, affiliated with his father’s team with two top five finishes and a 15th position in points, he dropped back to 30th in ’98 with just two top 10’s. ’99 was a helter-skelter year with nine top tens but also a slew of wrecks.
2000 was a year of tremendous hope for the Petty family. Kyle’s son, Adam, was tearing up lower divisions of racing joining the Busch series where his potential was obvious. Adam resembled his grandfather more than his father in many ways leading Kyle to joke that Adam was referring to his relationship with his grandfather, “the son he never had.” Young Adam bore a haunting resemblance to a young King too. At just 19, young Adam was the hope of the future for the Petty brand continuing a Petty into the next generation quickly achieving four top tens in the early 2000 season. The future looked bright when the Busch series travelled to Concord, New Hampshire, but tragedy struck as Adam’s car spun out of control causing a fatal head-neck injury beginning one of NASCAR’s darkest chapter as promising young Winston Cup driver would die of a similar accident at the same track then suffering its greatest tragedy, the death of Dale Earnhardt going into the last two turns on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
Kyle Petty was devastated by his sons loss but vowed to continue his racing career in his son’s honor. He abandoned his #44 ride to continue onward in #45 which was intended to be Adam’s number for years to come in Cup racing. Kyle would assume #45 as his permanent number in 2001 switching to Dodge. Petty would have the worst final position of the regular touring entourage of Winston Cup regulars finishing a lowly 43rd in points failing to qualify 11 times. He’d rebound to a 22nd spot in points in 2002 but would never finish close to that high again as his on-track performance continued to deteriorate as the whole Petty Enterprises operation struggled to stay current with the rest of the NASCAR field even with past champ, Bobby Labonte, and champion crew chief for Jeff Gordon, Robbie Loomis supporting the #43 car.
In 2007, Kyle Petty began his preparations for what could be a natural spot for him after concluding his racing career signing on to be the late former champion, Benny Parsons’ replacement, as color analyst for the six Cup races broadcast by the TNT network. Petty planned to follow that commitment for 2008, but after completing his time in the booth he seldom raced again making his final appearance sputtering to a 38th place finish in Phoenix leaving many to wonder if his driving days were over.
Though never officially retiring and still talking as though he intends to race, Kyle Petty was squeezed out of Petty Enterprises when his father sold major equity in his famous operations to Boston Ventures. Still looking for solid footing, what remained of Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett/Evernham racing relying heavily on George Gillett’s resources. The joint venture would be named Richard Petty racing, but there would be no place for Kyle Petty or Bobby Labonte.
In many ways, Kyle Petty became the laughing stock of NASCAR after leaving SABCO racing. Many questioned his commitment to racing even earlier in his career as Kyle had alternate interests performing as a country rock singer. His lack of performance and laid back fun loving personality made Kyle lack seriousness compared to his famous father whose shadow he could never dream of living up to.
While Kyle Petty’s driving career had turned pathetic, his contributions to the greater good in the name of auto racing stands unrivaled after his son, Adam’s, tragic death. Noting that Adam was interested in using his future in racing to help children in need, Kyle Petty and his wife Patty formed the Victory Junction project that would build a residential care village for children with fatal and chronic illnesses and disabilities. Kyle’s popularity in the NASCAR garage would gain him substantial commitments from other drivers on the circuit. The entire sport would instigate fund-raising activities where drivers like Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, and many others would contribute substantially. The list of drivers who serve as Camp Partners reads as a virtual “who’s who” of NASCAR drivers from recent years in all three of the sport’s top series. Drivers and their organizations use their sponsor building savvy to help find donors to build the camp’s success.
Perhaps a career in broadcasting has always been Kyle’s calling for the best spot for him to be related to his father’s sport. Petty proved most capable of replacing the vastly popular Benny Parsons loved by fans for his television work first with ESPN then NBC/TNT after NASCAR’s huge television deal to begin the 2001 season. Like Parsons, Petty offers a keen critical perspective refusing to play homer for his sport but generally assuming a good humored upbeat personality in the booth.
Sadly, to call Dale Earnhardt Jr. the second coming of Kyle Petty would hardly be seen as a compliment. Both are sons of NASCAR’s greatest drivers, the only two to ever have won seven championships a feat still far away from Jeff Gordon standing in the background at four championships and Jimmie Johnson, still a young driver, holding three consecutive championships and counting. Jeff Gordon is the only driver besides Petty and Earnhardt with more than three championships yet he'd have to win an additional three more to equal them.
Much was expected with Junior’s move to Hendricks Motor Sports leaving the organization his father setup in part to promote his son’s career to begin the 2008 season. While he got his long winless streak off his back, judgment lapses, careless mistakes, and poor communication with his pit crew led by his cousin, Tony Eury Jr. created many embarrassing finishes often in races where the #88 car looked like a winner earlier in the race.
Dale Jr. burst upon the racing world after finishing school and attending junior college at his father’s insistence. Junior wouldn’t rattle around in the feeder series for long before racing full-time for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated winning back to back championships sporting his father’s famous #3. His second year in the Busch series was presented as a tune up to run for Winston Cup rookie of the year in 2000. His car was unveiled with Budweiser sponsorship sporting his grandfather Ralph’s number from his racing days, #8.
Racing full-time on the Cup level in 2000, NASCAR was not used to rookies winning at all though Tony Stewart has started to turn heads the previous season, his rookie campaign. Even Jeff Gordon with all the hype surrounding his rookie season racing for Hendricks did not achieve his first victory until the Coca Cola 600 in his second year. Junior would show much of his father’s racing talent from the beginning but racing more as a careful craftsman more like the styles of Mark Martin or Darrell Waltrip once he settled down into championship form. Junior won two points events and the Winston All-Star race. His playful, friendly personality stood as making him his own man in stark defiance to his father’s often sarcastic always competitive persona on and off the track. Dale Earnhardt Jr. learned the media relations side of the sport so well.
Nothing could look more promising than Junior’s 2001 season. Despite racing only one year, he was chosen by many to give his father the race of his lifetime for the Daytona 500 trophy. DEI racing was now a three car operation with Dale Jr. #8, Steve Park #1, and long time veteran, Michael Waltrip #15. That Daytona 500 would be NASCAR’s most fateful day. Going into the final laps, it was all Earnhardt, with Michael Waltrip and Dale Junior battling for the win while Dale Senior held back the field in third. Fans wondered if the veteran Earnhardt could pull together a drafting train to rival his two entries just in front of him. No draft developed as Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader, and other drivers struggled for position behind Senior going into the final turns on the last lap where Marlin’s car and Earnhardt Sr’s car made incidental contact but that was just enough to destabilize Earnhardt’s ride crashing hard into the wall and suffering a secondary crash from his long time friend, Ken Schrader piled into his car. While Dale Earnhardt lost his life enjoying his one sanity zone, behind the wheel of his familiar #3 Chevy, two of his drivers were crossing victory lane. Could Dale’s last memory be that he was the winning owner for the top two cars in that infamous race.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. would soldier on the following week in Rockingham, North Carolina finishing in a dismal last place after sustaining a vicious accident that bore haunting resemblance to his father’s fatal crash at Daytona. Despite having the whole racing world’s attention trained on him, Dale Jr. competed with grace and courage winning two races, one at Dover and the second at Talladega securing a Winston million dollar bonus for his team. Earnhardt Jr. was an overnight sensation becoming NASCAR’s most popular driver inheriting his father’s fans while developing a hip new generation of fans of his own.
Hopes were high for Junior in 2002 though he raced most of the season possibly impacted by a concussion suffered in the Fontana, California race. Junior furthered his reputation as the king of restrictor plate racing, however, winning both races on the 2.55 mile track at Talladega. He finished in 11th, one position short of a seat at the Waldorf-Astoria winners banquet.
2003 was the year that Dale Earnhardt Jr. established himself as the true heir to his father’s throne shaking his reputation as just a restrictor plate genius taking his gains to the one mile tracks in Dover and Phoenix. He finished 3rd in the championship standings, now a true contender.
No longer just the kid, but a mature racer in his own right, the 2004 season started with high expectations and the younger Earnhardt delivered accomplishing in his 5th season that which would prove so elusive for his old man with a brilliant Daytona 500 win. He’d win a career high six races in 2004 while ending the season in 5th place in the standings. His season was severely threatened by his competing in a Grand Prix event in mid-July at Sonoma’s road course where he crashed and sustained severe burns that required him to enlist the help of backup drivers. Despite the injuries, Earnhardt roared back to dominating form in Bristol where he won both the Busch (Nationwide) race and Nextel cup fender-bender-fest. As the curtain fell on the 2004 season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had legitimized himself as one of the sport’s top driver whose performance was starting to equal his vast popularity.
2005 would see the DEI operation descend into apparent chaos as Tony Eury Jr. was sent to sure up the #15 team with Michael Waltrip and Junior struggled through out the season scoring one win in Chicagoland. While continuing his high popularity with the fans and becoming increasingly successful in many off the track ventures, Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished an embarrassing 19th in the final points standings.
2006 would be the first of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s “prove it” years. He’d score only one win, but achieved a 10 top 5’s, and 17 top 10’s putting him back into contention with a May victory at Richmond and a finishing in 5th place in the final standings.
As if 2005 wasn’t troubling enough, 2007 would be Dale Earnhardt Junior’s season of discontent. He was racing as a free agent with his contract with DEI set to expire at the end of the season and negotiations proved contentious with his step-mother and father’s widow, Teresa Earnhardt. On May 10, 2007, Junior announced he would not return to DEI indicating he did not feel the team had the resources to support his desire to win a championship. Speculation ran wild where he would wind up the following year with Childress and Gibbs appearing to have the edge before. Speculation would only last a month when the big announcement was forthcoming, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would race for Hendricks Motorsports nudging out young racer Kyle Busch who quickly signed with Joe Gibbs racing for the next season. Neither Budweiser sponsorship or Dale’s family number of car #8 would stay with him. Budweiser broke ties with DEI and Teresa Earnhardt refused to relinquish #8 to Dale Jr.’s effort hoping the #8 would retain some marketing value with a new driver and new sponsor for 2008. On the track, 2007 was a miserable season as Earnhardt and his sidekick Eury Jr. were destined to Hendricks the following year. Junior finished the season winless for the first time with one pole, 7 top five finishes, and 12 top tens only good enough for a weak 16th in final standings.
Now racing in car #88 for the monolithic Hendricks team responsible for seven championships from 1995 forward, much was expected from Dale Earnhardt teamed with Tony Eury Jr. as his crew chief but with the vast resources of the Hendricks garage behind him. How would Earnhardt perform as the third driver behind champs Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson who welcomed their new teammate with much anticipation. His tenure started off brilliantly with his new team dominating the Bud Shootout and a strong victory in his bracket in the twin 125’s but this would only catapult him into Victory Lane for the Daytona 500 finishing in 9th. The second race of the season proved costly. The California racetrack was drenched in rain leading up to the race which was ultimately interrupted by lengthy rain delay. finally when the race resumed the pavement still appeared to be “weeping” with water oozing through seems in the racing surface. In 21st lap, teammate Casey Mears wrecked, collecting Junior’s drive in the process. Dale Jr. was quite outspoken in his criticism of NASCAR for allowing competition in such horrible conditions. Quickly, the new #88 rebounded having a brilliant spring with multiple top 5’s and top 10’s culminating with the first Michigan race in June breaking Dale Junior’s long winless streak where a brilliant fuel conservation strategy helped him pull off a green-white-checkered victory. His only noncompetitive finish during this run was a 35th finish at Dover with a 12th and 15th place finish representing his only finishes outside the top ten. After the Michigan win, Junior would only enjoy five top ten finishes, three top fives, as the mistakes, miscommunication problems, and bad luck overwhelmed the team. Nevertheless, they stood in 4th place when the chase began with only Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Carl Edwards ahead of him. He’d begin the chase with a 5th place finish in New Hampshire but the following week in Dover, a 24th finish, would drop Earnhardt to 9th effectively ending his quest for the championship. Only a 2nd place finish in Martinsville showed any flair of a true contender in the final stretch with but one other top 10, a 6th place finish at Phoenix.
The move to Hendricks showed much potential in the first half of the season where mishaps could all but be written off as bad luck, but as summer heated up the disturbing lackadaisical chaos returned even requiring Rick Hendricks to summon his racer and crew chief to mediate what was becoming a dysfunctional relationship with far too many communications breakdowns. Two major goals were accomplished, breaking the winless streak and making the chase, but by the time the field was set after the September race in Richmond, despite still holding on to 4th place, late race mishaps and pit row booboos became an all too familiar theme.
2009 becomes another “prove it” season for Dale Earnhardt Junior and his cousin Tony Eury Junior. The Bud Shootout, usually an exhibition for Junior’s mastery of Daytona did not go well for #88 with a mediocre 18th finish in a field of 28 cars. Having qualified 12th for the Daytona 500, they could only achieve a 7th place finish in their segment of the Twin 125’s.
This year’s Daytona 500 was an Earnhardt Junior’s fan’s worst nightmare. First were the pit errors, a devastating theme from last year, missing his pit stall on one round and then failing to position his car within the lines during the second. These miscues put Earnhardt a lap down. In racing to gain the “lucky dog” spot, the first spot one lap down, Junior battled Brian Vickers for the spot. Though Vickers raced unusually aggressively for this point in the race throwing the block on Earnhardt, his efforts were just tough, hard fought racing. Earnhardt looked to have only marginal control over his car dipping down over the yellow lines though he could surely argue he was forced there, but then when Earnhardt bumped Vickers it looked way too similar to an event from the Nationwide race the previous day when Jason Leffler was given a five lap cool down penalty for his infraction. Earnhardt’s move eliminated Kyle Busch and other drivers from contention in what turned out to be this year’s big one. However, Earnhardt’s follies weren’t over. Attempting to go three wide after a restart Junior forced Jeff Burton, a skillful and cautious driver into the wall.
For fans who were looking for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to show new discipline and determination in his second year with the Hendricks championship mill are surely scratching their heads and ready to scream in frustration as the 2009 Daytona 500 served as a microcosm for all that has troubled Dale Junior in recent years giving him no one but himself to blame since Tony Eury Jr. is his handpicked choice to serve as his pit boss, but in fairness to Eury, the team’s foibles seldom seem to rest in his hands.
Surely, Rick Hendricks has far too much invested in the sport’s most marketable driver to allow such dreadful performance to continue. Hendricks is a great motivator and with the highly respected veteran, Mark Martin, on board, Junior has plenty of guidance to maximize his driving talents. His off the track efforts continue to flourish including the success of JR Racing as one of the Nationwide Series most competitive operations. Despite his multiple racing mistakes often ruining the fortunes of other drivers, Dale Junior is still one of the most well-liked personalities in the industry.
Time is running out for Dale Earnhardt as a serious contender in Sprint Cup competition. How much time does he have left before he develops the “nice guy – so-so racer” reputation that Kyle Petty endured. Expectations have been higher for Junior than Kyle and the personal cost has been higher having lost his father just one spot behind him on the race track in 2001. Kyle never was expected to compete for a championship though he did have some good seasons. From when his first season in Busch competition looked championship-bound, talk surrounded Dale Junior as to just how far he could follow in his famous father’s footsteps. From day one, he was being groomed to be a future Sprint Cup championship. There is nothing to suggest that Dale Jr. doesn’t have the talent to do so as he has shown the ability to win on every kind of track besides a road track achieving his victories using almost every imaginable strategic approach there is from fuel mileage, to careful time play and partnerships, to just plain all out fender banging aggressiveness though still polite compared to his dad.
It’s all about winning, Junior. His attention deficits and at times displaying a certain arrogant indifference to accepting responsibility for his mistakes appear to be the main deficiencies separating him from being a good, slightly above average driver, to a truly great driver.
Everything is in place for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to have a breakout season. Can Dale Jr. find the tough as iron single-mindedness that made his father perhaps the most skillful driver ever to compete in NASCAR. While Richard Petty is unquestionably the most successful driver ever to compete in the sport his resources compared to the rest of the field generally far exceeded anything his competition had to offer where Dale Sr. had highly supported operations like Junior Johnson’s, the Wood Brothers’, and Petty to face early in his career and then raced against today’s modern powerhouses of Roush, Hendricks, and Gibbs.
Dale Earnhardt still has the potential to become remembered as one of the sports’ greatest drivers, maybe not in the top 10 but the top 25 or Hall of Fame potential for sure. No one would ever mistake Kyle Petty for that kind of driver. Dale’s father’s generation is down to just Mark Martin racing full time with part time rides from Bill Elliot and an occasional cameo performance from Bobby Labonte still in competition. Even Ken Schrader is nowhere to be found in the garage though his latter years were embarrassing. Dale Junior will find his mark depending on how he sizes up against teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson, obvious top 10 all-time candidates and a field of drivers including his peers, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, and Kevin Harvick. The next wave of great drivers is starting to arise with Kyle Busch as the current leader of that pack. Among Joey Legano, Sam Hornish, Scott Speed, and Juan Montoya could be the next true contenders.
Stevie Waltrip, Darrell’s wife, always gave Junior’s father a verse of scripture before each race. Perhaps no wisdom could be more appropriate for Dale Earnhardt Jr. than the Biblical wisdom of Luke 12:48, “to whom much is given, much is required.” While this quote has become widely quoted in the speakers’ circuit, its ageless wisdom applies so succinctly to Dale Earnhardt’s plight in 2009.
Kyle Petty has accepted he has been given much and Victory Junction shows his realizing his obligations to the world at large. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s mission still hasn’t been completely defined, but for now, he must live up to what is expected of him on the race track.
Kyle Petty and Dale Earnhardt Junior share bonds that will never escape them trying to deal with the automatic expectations of being sons of famous fathers both who won seven Cup championships. Both suffer the sorrow and emptiness of losing their flesh and blood in racing, Kyle losing a son and Dale losing a father.
From a character standpoint, for Dale Earnhardt Junior to be compared to Kyle Petty should be seen as an honor; however, as racers that comparison suggests a person with limited talents not up to the rigors of the highest levels of competition where his father excelled heroically.
We believe Dale Earnhardt Junior has the talent and the character to be one of the sports’ most famous drivers. At 34 years old, his destiny is in his hands but no one should ever suggest being Dale Earnhardt Jr. is easy. His jovial personality, quick wit, and wide catalog of active interests disguise he’s a man who will always have his father’s legacy and premature horrible death to contend with while having a contentious relationship with his step-mother who inherited his father’s family business leaving Dale Jr. no seat at the table.
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