He’s the most popular driver in America, and right now, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is the most overrated.
He is in the worst slump of his career. He moved to the best team in NASCAR and has won once — the same number of victories as David Reutimann running for a team that isn’t one of the super teams, or Brad Keselowski running for an independent, for gosh sakes.
In other words, Dale Jr. is just a guy. Because of his extraordinary popularity, he might as well be Anna Kournikova. Or Danica Patrick.
I scribbled these words onto a notepad more than a month ago.
The biggest surprise of the 2009 NASCAR season?
Tony Stewart.
And Ryan Newman.
Stewart-Haas Racing.
Not necessarily in that order.
Newman had finished third and Stewart 23rd at Talladega. “Nine races into the season after having taken on the project that was Haas CNC Racing, both Stewart and Newman are surprisingly competitive.” Those words were written back then, too. Stewart was fourth in the standings, and Newman 13th.
Why so much attention to something written but never printed? Because the Stewart-Haas Racing saga was important — not to mention surprising — even before the rest of the country dialed in and Racescribe had a chance to transcribe his notes.
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