Why do people want to give dale jr a hard time when all the greats have had a bad year or 2 or 3 strait?

He should be compared to guys like Harvick or Kenseth or Stewart, since they've been racing for about the same time. Don't listen to people saying that when the legends you mentioned finish 8th on an "off-year". Competition is better now than ever, so a bad year is REALLY bad compared to the 80s or 90s. He ran good in 2006, despite 1 win. 2007 he would have easily made the Chase if not for blown engines and that penalty in Darlington and other issues. 2008 was a good year, he just blew like 3 tires and broke something at Homestead-Miami during the Chase, but was in the top 4 during the "regular season". Matt Kenseth was more consistent in 2003 than Jr., and won the championship. Harvick and Dale Jr. have nearly even career stats, as does Kenseth. As for the answer to your question, people give him a hard time because Jr. fans defend him and actually believe in him. His haters are usually Kyle Busch fans or Carl Edwards fans or Jeff Gordon fans. Or F1 fans who have no right judging him. I defend Jr. and his fans because it bothers me when haters hold the same stuff against him and his fans (crew chief change, not participating in the Prelude to the Dream, ill handling cars, etc...) And saying stuff about him not being close to his father. Look at Kyle Petty! I don't want to drag him into this but people don't bother with him. No one will ever compare to Dale Sr., other than Jeff Gordon. Hope this helps.

This is a product of his popularity. Everybody has down years, but for Junior it is more pronounced because of his popularity.

Unforeseen & horrible events thrust him into the forefront to carry the Earnhardt banner. Coincidentally, these events endeared him to his very loyal fan base. Unfortunately for Junior, he will always live in his father's shadow. He'll never be able to live up to his father's legend (who could?).

Those same events are the primary reasons his non-fans view him as being handed the "keys to the Kingdom". They view him as unproven (which isn't accurate). They also seem to think that he has his hands in too many things to concentrate on being an elite NASCAR driver. This may be more on target. He owns his own Nationwide team, which has to be a huge drain on his time. He also seems to have more sponsorship endorsements than Tiger Woods. When you add in the largest fan base in NASCAR, this certainly doesn't leave a lot of time in the day to concentrate on winning races, much less championships.

I'm not a fan, I'm not a hater. I wish him well. I think that if he is serious about becoming an elite driver, he'll need to make that part of his game the focus.

I don't give junyer a hard time,I give to his fans.He is not a great! We don't give Kyle Petty any crap because Petty fans aren't in here singing his praise about how great he is or how much pressure he is under.Now if his name was Richard Petty Jr things might be different if he had a bunch of knuckleheads thinking he was the greatest thing to get behind the wheel of a race car!

It's because when I go to Nascar races, I get frustrated that 75% of fans are of Dale JR, when really he doesn't deserve all those fans. He didn't earn them. I wouldn't call Dale Jr a Nascar great either. He nowhere near compares to Jeff Gordon, Richard Petty, etc.

All these people that are new to NASCAR have heard of Dale Jr, so obviously he becomes their favorite driver just because of his name. I have no problem with the guy. He is cool and down to earth, but the main problem is he doesn't deserve all the coverage and fans.

I agree all drivers have off years but that is not the point. Some of the drivers out there that actually worked for what they got and are better drivers than Dale JR hardly get any coverage. It's just a shame. I wonder where Dale Jr would be right now if his last name wasn't Earnhardt. He more than likely wouldn't be with HMS right now.

Jr. gets crap because he is marketed as the face of NASCAR. When you are the marketing force you should be a top tier driver. A top tier driver with a top tier teams should be a title contender (Chase driver) every year. Jr. wasn't even in shouting distance of the chase and is or was trailing Logano and Ambrose in the points for most of the season!

Think about how poorly Logano started! He was out of the top 35 for a race or two! And he passed Jr.? Ambrose with inferior equipment is or was ahead of him? Jr. deserves to get the grief he gets.

Maybe they don,t like him but that dose not mean they have to pick on him .He is my favor driver has been since 1998 and always will be he work hard for what he has now .Read a book on him called driver # 8 it was a good book you people should read it and then you will understand what he is all about and what he is going thorough .He did not get any favors from his dad.GO DALE GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we don't give jr. a hard time. he actually seems like a decent sort. we give his fans a hard time because they promote him as the greatest thing since richard petty and the only thing holding him back from reaching his potential is teresa earnhardt, rick hendrick, his 11 crew chiefs, the COT, the flat tracks, the 15-20 drivers who normally finish ahead of him and the immense pressure he is under.

I think Jr's on his 4th or 5th year straight of having a "bad year". Most of the people you mentioned have 40 or more wins, and when they have a bad year, they finish 8th or something in the points. Jr is nowhere close to being called one of the "greats", and if he is, then Matt Kenseth must already be a legend in the sport. I use Kenseth as a measuring point because they both started in Cup the same year. Kenseth beat Dale for rookie of the year and has a championship.

Jr has hardly ever been a "great" and it's been a longer run than 2 or 3 years.

Even his dad had some bad years.. In a row..

The same stupid people used to have something to say when he did win, so who cares..