Dale Jr. love him or hate him?

[Bobby]

I'll get hanged for saying this, but at times Jeff Gordon reminds me more of Dale Sr. than anyone out there.

[Zod]

Won 18 races and a Daytona 500

Where would he be without daddiy's name?

[pantherfan49]

Won 18 races and a Daytona 500

So has Geoff Bodine, and in far inferior equipment and with NA$CAR giving him the finger every chance they could.

[Carl Spackler]

So has Geoff Bodine, and in far inferior equipment and with NA$CAR giving him the finger every chance they could.

Realize for a moment that the team he drives for is what was the 25 team. That car has been the team's weak point no matter the driver since Tim Richmond left it. That car won 8 races from 1988-2007, never more than 2 in a season. It's not just the driver. The 88/25 is the R&D car for Hendrick.

[pantherfan49]

The 88/25 is the R&D car for Hendrick.

BS. R&D teams always hire a driver with a brain and technical understanding. That isn't JR.

Only the JR apologists point to the 88/25 connection, like that somehow matters anymore. The reason that the 88/25 team hasn't been successful is because they have consistently had crappy drivers- Schrader, Ricky Craven, Wally Dallenbach, Nadeau, Vickers, Nemechek, Casey Mears, and now JR.

I guess since the car's history means so much to its future success, Tony Stewart has absolutely no chance jumping into the #14. After all, the #14 never won a race before Stewart and only had a handful of top tens.

The 88 team has top five equipment in NA$CAR and a 30th place driver.

[ElkinPanthersFan]

I'm just so tired about hearing how Jr has such crappy equipment or is an R&D car. Seriously just look at the Allstar Race the other night. Jeff Gordon's car was toed-in with damage which makes it push terribly through the corner due to not having the optimum slip angle to rotate the car and he still passed Jr. Regardless, other than not taking tires to get up front, how many people did Jr pass in the allstar race in the span of the 91 laps he was in it? It was less than 3.

Jr was a mainstay staple at the Mooresville Hooters for many a night about 4-5 years ago. It has been awhile since I've been down around there but I wouldn't be shocked if this was the same. Jr would much rather play Iracing on the computer late of a night than be serious about his racing. He will literally come in after a race and play for 6-8 hours racing from like 12am to 8 am. I'm tired of the excuses made up for him and if he had the same last name as any of us, he'd be running on the local level. I mean look at Austin Dillon. He is Richard Childress' grandson and other than being in great equipment in lower levels; he hasn't done crap in ARCA or the Trucks.

[Carl Spackler]

BS. R&D teams always hire a driver with a brain and technical understanding. That isn't JR.

Only the JR apologists point to the 88/25 connection, like that somehow matters anymore. The reason that the 88/25 team hasn't been successful is because they have consistently had crappy drivers- Schrader, Ricky Craven, Wally Dallenbach, Nadeau, Vickers, Nemechek, Casey Mears, and now JR.

I guess since the car's history means so much to its future success, Tony Stewart has absolutely no chance jumping into the #14. After all, the #14 never won a race before Stewart and only had a handful of top tens.

The 88 team has top five equipment in NA$CAR and a 30th place driver.

I'm not a Junior apologist, I just bring out a point that Junior-haters such as yourselves refuse to consider because it makes sense and refutes your argument. Interestingly enough you list the above drivers as crappy, they all combined for 12 wins, he has 18. Nice try, throw something else at me.

[pantherfan49]

I'm not a Junior apologist, I just bring out a point that Junior-haters such as yourselves refuse to consider because it makes sense and refutes your argument. Interestingly enough you list the above drivers as crappy, they all combined for 12 wins, he has 18. Nice try, throw something else at me.

You are right. He drives the wheels off of inferior equipment and is the best driver since Dale Sr.

If only Rick Hendrick would give him the same equipment that JJ, JG, and MM had, then he would win plenty of races and championships.

Why exactly would JR sign up to drive the "R&D" car when he had his choice of rides just a few years ago? Only an idiot would do that- oh wait.......

[Carl Spackler]

You are right. He drives the wheels off of inferior equipment and is the best driver since Dale Sr.

If only Rick Hendrick would give him the same equipment that JJ, JG, and MM had, then he would win plenty of races and championships.

Why exactly would JR sign up to drive the "R&D" car when he had his choice of rides just a few years ago? Only an idiot would do that- oh wait.......

If you're going to argue my point, at least use my words, don't make up things I didn't say, like everything above with the exception of the "R&D" comment.

He did not "sign up" to drive the 25/88 car. When he signed with HMS he was going to drive the 5 car, and Alan Gustafson was going to the 25 team as its crew chief, or Eury Jr. was going to move back to car chief for the 5 car. Initially the 88 was going to replace the #25, but be the 5 team and the 25 team would go with the 5. During the Kansas race of '07 when he wrecked Kyle Busch, Busch commented on Junior tearing up a car from HIS future race team, not meaning HMS but the 5 itself. Later Hendrick decided to let Junior stick with the 25 team and make the only change giving Mears the 5.

So he didn't sign to drive the 25, but the 5.

[pantherfan49]

If you're going to argue my point, at least use my words, don't make up things I didn't say, like everything above with the exception of the "R&D" comment.

He did not "sign up" to drive the 25/88 car. When he signed with HMS he was going to drive the 5 car, and Alan Gustafson was going to the 25 team as its crew chief, or Eury Jr. was going to move back to car chief for the 5 car. Initially the 88 was going to replace the #25, but be the 5 team and the 25 team would go with the 5. During the Kansas race of '07 when he wrecked Kyle Busch, Busch commented on Junior tearing up a car from HIS future race team, not meaning HMS but the 5 itself. Later Hendrick decided to let Junior stick with the 25 team and make the only change giving Mears the 5.

So he didn't sign to drive the 25, but the 5.

Some comment that Kyle Busch made is your proof that JR signed up to drive a real racecar and not the "R&D" car?

[Carl Spackler]

Some comment that Kyle Busch made is your proof that JR signed up to drive a real racecar and not the "R&D" car?

That and the fact that a friend of mine works for HMS and went into the shop seeing them putting green decals on the #5 hauler prior to his number change.

[dimbee]

Where would he be without daddiy's name?

To be fair, the NASCAR driver family is a hard one to get into and Junior certainly isn't the first driver to get a chance in it due to blood relatives. Hell, Senior's daddy was a racecar driver and a hell of a short track driver, from what I understand. NASCAR isn't your typical sport... part of it is mainstream but part of it is very much about the last name. There are too many examples of this that support this idea. And it's still going on...

[Zod]

NASCAR is not a sport.

[Squirrel]

Tell the AP that they voted Johnson top athelete in 2009.