Analysis: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s NASCAR legacy stretches beyond merely driver
This should not have been surprising. There were clues. There were reasons.
But actually seeing Dale Earnhardt Jr. disconnect from everything that had underpinned his existence, was spell-binding.
This was May 2007, when Earnhardt, then 32 and in his eighth full Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season and fifth of 14 consecutively as the sport’s most popular driver, did what had seemingly been unthinkable. With his personal and professional existence untenable at Dale Earnhardt Inc., he changed course. He announced he would leave the team his late father founded and later take a career-defining opportunity at Hendrick Motorsports.
A decade later, Earnhardt acted in his best interests again, and laudably so, in announcing he will retire at the end of his 18th full season at NASCAR’s highest level.
MORE COVERAGE:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. retiring on his terms, like he did everything else in racing
NASCAR takes serious blow with Dale Earnhardt Jr. retirement
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s biggest victory was raising concussion awareness
After another bout with concussions cost him half of the 2016 campaign, Earnhardt rehabilitated himself well enough to return this season and race, but not to his expectations so far. He made a decision on his own terms instead of renegotiating a new contract. He’s fit, he said. But just like 10 years ago, he’s ready for what’s next.
The affable son of seven-time series champion Dale Earnhardt Sr. figures to remain a fixture within the sport, as a co-team owner, perhaps a broadcaster, as a man who likes this show and feels a kinship with the people involved. But things now have changed not only for him, but the sport, and those who hope to continue deriving their livelihoods or enjoyment from it.
All of them will consider what part Earnhardt played in those equations after Tuesday.
”He carried the popularity of the sport on his shoulders. He carried losing his father, the most popular driver of his era. He carried starting an Xfinity team and getting Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski spots in the sport. He saved careers for crew chiefs like myself.”
Part of Earnhardt’s weighty legacy is that he has shown the ability to be something to almost anyone.
“I don’t think Dale Junior has a legacy as a driver,” NBC Sports analyst Steve Letarte, who won five races and the 2014 Daytona 500 as his crew chief, told USA TODAY Sports. “He’s all-encompassing in his involvement in the sport. I don’t think that can be divided. He can’t be measured as a race car driver because he’s so much more than that.
Certainly, Earnhardt wasn’t the only driver with fans or detractors.
But he was ordained as the spiritual leader of the sport when his father, then the bedrock spirit of NASCAR, died on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
A kid of means sent to work in an auto dealership by his father until he began racing, Earnhardt Jr. spoke the language of the fan, in a Carolina accent pleasing to the grassroots folks, was sponsored by a beer company and projected enough hell-raiser vibe to endear himself to the masses. A historian of the sport, he cited the exploits of Cale Yarborough or Richard Petty or Darrell Waltrip with a sharp recollection of fan and provided a generational and cultural bridge for NASCAR that not even Jeff Gordon — roughly three years his elder — could, even with his greater on-track accomplishments.
Earnhardt seemed to understand his power when in 2004 he quipped “each little beer can out there has a little message on it” when they landed spurting and foaming on the track as Gordon beat him under caution in the spring race at Talladega Superspeedway. But he congratulated Gordon in 2007 when he passed Earnhardt Sr. on the all-time wins list with another victory in the family fiefdom of Talladega, emphasizing the historical importance.
He endured an arduous 143-race winless streak. He seemed to revel in his evolving role as co-team owner of JR Motorsports with his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, and Cup co-owner Rick Hendrick. He embraced his veteran status, while finally succumbing to the lure of Twitter in 2014, the night he won his second Daytona 500. His account’s 2.08 million followers and counting expanded his influence even further.
FROM THE ARCHIVES:Earnhardt Jr. divides time between Daytona, dealership
Earnhardt has long seemed to understand that with influence, with that last name, comes responsibility. Loyalty to those tethered to him made the decision to leave on his own terms most difficult.
“I accomplished more than I ever dreamed. Way more. So I’m good,” he said. “But I’m very sad because it’s definitely disappointing for a lot of people to wake up to that news.”
In a shop where Gordon won four titles and Jimmie Johnson is the defending champion at a record-tying seven with Earnhardt Sr. and Richard Petty, Earnhardt Jr. said he “wanted to leave some kind of mark so people would know I was here.”
He did. As Hendrick said, “There will never be another Dale Earnhardt Jr.”
MORE COVERAGE:
Who will replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88?
Key moments in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s career
Drivers, tracks, sponsors react to Dale Earnhardt Jr.s retirement news
His driver said Tuesday that he hopes this season drags out for a while, noting that he is committed to two Xfinity Series races for JRM in 2018. He hopes that he and Hendrick can keep selling plenty of Chevrolets together at the two dealerships they co-own in Florida. And still, he wants to be part of a team. Helping Hendrick mentor young drivers and continuing his business role with JRM should suit him.
“There’s a feeling of being an asset to something,” Earnhardt said. “I don’t have to be the guy holding the trophy.”
Everything all at once as a driver, perhaps he’ll remain everything but a driver now. In any role, he will be important for NASCAR no matter how hard its messaging machine attempts to paint his departure as an exploitable opportunity for some young talent. The sport is collectively fortunate he’s left just one of his roles to fill.
“His legacy,” Letarte said, “will never be able to be defined by one role.”
Follow James on Twitter @brantjames
PHOTOS: BEHIND THE WHEEL WITH DALE EARNHARDT JR.
