Talent goes BEYOND turning the steering wheel and stabbing the gas. A driver is the ULTIMATE data aquisition system. And being able to aquire data and then download it is probably more important to a team than being able to sit in the seat.

A mediocre driver with a great car will finish in the top 20% every time. Jr. was able to do that for a couple years after his father died.

The point about the COT is that the data download surrounding working within the new COT platform has shown who has the package and who hasn't.

Marco has yet to finish a race this season, either by crash or by choice. It's a subjective assessment, granted. But if it looks like crap and smells like crap, usually it is.

www.texasdrivingexperience.com
click on "Meet the Crew" and scroll about 2/3 the way down ...

So, yes, I have a little experience spotting talent or the lack thereof.

 

you said hes a mediocre driver, have you seen the number of drivers who arnt mediocre who havent made the chase the last couple of seasons???

who cares if he makes money on tv, so wouldnt alot of others if they had a chance. hes a money maker on the track as well as off the track. hes got alot of class as well on and off the track, which you cant say for alot of drivers.

he hasnt adapted to the COT, who the hell has??? oh i forgot the hendrick team, due to the amount of research they spend going into it.

have ya seen lebrons james commercial for rising up, that they are using in the nba finals??? he hasnt risen up, nor has his team shown up, does that mean lebron james is mediocre????no

and to compare danica to jr, maybe marketing, but umpteen race victories vs. ZERO, ya they compare in that category,lol.

dont know what talent you see or dont see, but it doesnt show in your statements.

 

Goodbye Kyle, Hello Jr. Its a done deal.

 

True ... and the point?

Correct ... he has a great publicist and others don't. He's hired because his last name in Earnhardt, not because of all the Championships he's won.


The point is he has/had a lot resources at DEI, just like Hendrick and roush, yet can't find the handle. It's not the crew's fault or the shop's. The shop and crew have to KNOW what to do based upon what the driver needs.

Some teams seem to have been able to aquire the necessary data and other's haven't.

All teams have similar access to the new platform.

Some athletes have good publicists and others don't.

I'm not faulting the athlete, just pointing out that even mediocre players know how to hire good people around them.


Since Danica emerged onto the scene, they are certainly running neck and neck in that category.

I respect your opinion ... not trying to sell me. Just making observations from my side of the keyboard.

I knew going in that Jr. fans would take issue. And for the record, I never liked his dad either after how he raced in the 95 Bristol night race. Lost a lot of respect for him after that.

 

Jr. now has the hardware and the organization, now we will see if he has the stuff to be a champion.

 

there was a bit on nascar news, talking about how hendrick has spent the most in research for the cot, because they have the resources, dei, gibbs, others as well just not on the same level as hendrick.

and since his pops died instantly about 300 yards behind him during a race, and the crap that comes with a step mother, who wont relinquish control to jr, for the last 6 years or so, can affect abilities.

i can see where the dislike is due to the name more than jr, but he aint mediocre for sure. the chump hes replacing hasnt proven much.

 

Did anybody else see this coming or was it just me?? I mean he finished a race in kyle's car, he praised gordon for passing his dad on the wins list, and as soon as he said he was leaving DEI, Hendricks name was right there on the list. I dunno maybe it's all just a series of coincidences.

 

I thought he would end up there for the last couple of years. I just thought it would be sooner.

Exposure is more important to a sponsor than wins. That makes Jr. very valuable. He gets most of the exposure whether he is running first or forty third.

 

you experience means nothing. Even you guys screw things up. You do realize that the most dominant driver in NASCAR this year was an open wheel racer before he came to NASCAR. Jeff Gordon was passed up for Indy Car/CART whatever you want to call it theses days becuse he didn't have a recognized name in open wheel racing like Andretti. The experts dropped the ball there didn't they? Maybe you are dropping the ball here!



Jim

 

So how many times have you been nationally ranked and what are the classes. How many state championships?

 

Lots of excuses ... only time will tell if he's the next coming or a real nag.

My bet is on the latter ...

 

Excellant point Mitch. If his name was lets say John Smith would he be as famous as he is now? No way. If you say he would be then you aren't being honest with yourself. If it wasnt for his dad he would still be on the dirt tracks.

 

you are all aware he'd probably be racing anyways. His grandfather(mothers side) actually owned the car Hendrick got his first Busch series win in. His grandfather and uncle also worked for Hendrick later. his mother side is the tie to hendrick(original tie) not his father. He'd be racing for hendrick even if his last name wasn't Earnhardt




Jim

 

There are several who have been racing on their last name, including Wallace, Waltrip, Petty and Jr. However if you look at Petty's history you will see that between 86 and 95 he had 8 wins and was in the top 10 in points I believe 5 of those years.
I think most would agree that PE is a lower tier team running on Richards wins for several years now and trying to bring it back without the sponsorship and equipment that others have is almost impossible. Throw losing your son and it only makes it worse. At least he did do some with his name and is trying to revive the team and Victory Junction shows me that he is a winner in his own way. I do like him in the booth and hope he puts his efforts into that instead of driving.
Jr. was in a no win situation at DEI since Teressa wasn't going to put the resources into the company that needed to made. I also don't believe the Eury's were a good fit with Jr. By going to HMS he will have what he needs and if he doesn't produce then he can only blame himself. At least he is going to give it a try.

 

Could be right ... but I figure I have as good of a chance at spotting talent as a person sitting on the couch with a beer and remote in his hand.

I think what sets me apart from others who like/dislike a driver, is I have a real reason for it.

I don't like Gordon because of the way he treated Bill Davis when he was in Busch series racing the Babay Ruth car. Bill Davis' brother was music minister at my church and got to meet him several times. Bill Davis is a great person and his racing enterprise took a huge financial hit when Gordon turned his back on him.

I don't like DE Sr. becuase of Bristol 95 and 97. He showed the world that racing didn't matter, only winning and at any cost. Some folks' style ... not mine.

I don't like Robby Gordon because of the way he treats fans. He has an ego the size of his dad's bank account.

Ron Fellows has a similar ego and exploded self worth.

But, they are all just personal opinions. Everyone has them. I know I'm not changing yours by a simple internet post, just like I hope you realize you're not changing mine.

I apologize if I posted something that you felt as though you had to defend. My disdain is for Jr., not you.


Regionally, I placed in the top 5 in season points in SCCA SM class 3 years running. Never made it to Nationals, though.

In NASA CMC, I placed 4th in season points and 2nd for ROTY in 2005. Lat year, I was 6th.

Work schedule kept me out of racing for the first 4 months of this year, missing 1/2 the season.

I instruct for 3 organizations ... Texas Driving Exerience at texas motorspeedway, The Driver's Edge at Motorsports Ranch and Texas World Speedway and Apex Driving Academy at Motorsports Ranch.

I also was crew for Lou Gigliotti of LG Motorsports, currently atop the Speed World Challenge Series. This was during his Paul Gentillozi era Trans AM days. I credit Lou with a lot of my real world "smarts" when it comes to building and setting up race cars. Ask me about Boris Said some time ...

I also am 1/2 owner in LaW Motorsports .

I'm no expert and certainly no Dale Jr. I'm sure he could drive circles around me. But, having a reasonable understanding of race cars and race crews and the 2 mix, maybe gives me a perspective others haven't had a chance to experience.

Funny thing about the internet ... you just really never know what the guy on the other end of that keyboard knows, does or has experienced.