Despite Dale Earnhardt, Jr's disgust at finishing 11th, it was a rather tame Atlanta outing compared to previous events. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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Another loss snatched from the jaws of victory. That race started a string of six consecutive finishes of seventh-or best at Atlanta, with only thing missing: a victory.
In the fall of 2002, Dale Jr. was again on a late-race charge when rain shortened the event by 75 laps and the No. 8 Bud car finished fifth.
The same race one year later, Dale Jr. was hoping to perform well in front of the MTV cameras shooting an episode of the show “DIARY,” but cold temperatures and rain extended the weekend and left Dale Jr. lying about in his motorhome like hell on toast with a film crew waiting for something…anything to happen. Yawn.
In the spring of 2004, after his Daytona 500 victory, the streak was broken and Dale Jr. finally won at Atlanta. However, it was still an interesting weekend, as Junior served as best man at a wedding in Victory Lane the day before. He had agreed to the scheme in a Bud-fueled haze the week before, and the couple were separated within weeks. It would be the last time he’d agree to be in a stranger’s wedding.
Returning for the fall race of 2004, Junior was hoping to repeat his victory and re-establish the Chase points lead he lost after NASCAR penalized him for saying the ‘s’ word in Talladega’s Victory Lane. When point leader Kurt Busch blew an engine and was relegated to 42nd place, Junior was salivating at the chance for redemption. Racing hard for the lead late in the event, Dale Jr. was taken out by Carl Edwards along the back straightway and crashed hard into the inside wall.
The championship was gone. Even though the team won the following week at Phoenix, the internal stress between Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. from the Atlanta crash led to the ill-advised crew/driver switch at DEI before the 2005 season. It was to be their
last serious shot at the title (so far) – and it all happened at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
So, Junior, an 11th place shouldn’t feel too bad? It’s better than a metal shard in the eye, right?
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel
Jade Gurss is the owner of fingerprint, inc., a sports publicity company. He has written two New York Times Best Sellers, including what is believed to be the biggest-selling motorsports book in American publishing history (Driver #8 with Dale Earnhardt Jr.). His two decades of publicity and marketing experience involves nearly every category of motorsports, including nine innovative seasons as NASCAR publicist for the Budweiser brand and Earnhardt Jr. His blog can be seen at:
http://fingerprint.typepad.com
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