Driver Spotlight: Dale Earnhardt Jr

Nascar Behind the Wall Driver spotlight: Dale Earnhardt Jr. This segment will be a short article about where each driver is right now during the 2013 season. At the end of the season I will review some of the more interesting stories from Driver Spotlight



Well Nascar is officially through 13 points races in the 2013 season and Dale Earnhardt Jr looks to be
in a pretty safe spot in the Sprint Cup Standings (6th). Since 2006 when he finished 5th in the points standings Jr has had only 2 wins and made the Chase 3 times. That is 3 Chase appearances in 6 seasons, or for you math majors 50% of the time. Those are not numbers many fans of Jr Nation like to see or hear about.

Lucky for Jr, and his loyal following, he is having his one of his better seasons since then (last year at this point was better, see below). He already has 8 top 10's in 2013 which ties his total from 2010 and is more then 2009 (5). He has 3 top 5's which is the same story as the top 10's (tied 2010 total and more then 2009). So it is pretty easy to say after having a pretty good season last year until a concussion held him back in the Chase, that Jr has regained some form.

The big spotlight for Jr this season is will it all come together or will it just be another "good" and not great season.

Let's break down this season so far because when broken down Jr hasn't been near as consistent as he would like.

The first 5 races:

• Well Jr was all the talk when the 2013 season got off to a hot start.  Not only was there some great racing and great story lines going on, but Nascar's most popular driver was on fire. In the first 5 races Jr finished in the top 10 every time and had 3 top 5's.  As a fan of Nascar anyone had to enjoy seeing that because lets face it, fan or not, when Jr is doing well everything is more interesting.

Next 5 races:

• The next 5 races couldn't have been any more opposite then how he started the season. He had one top 10 in those 10 races and was completely out of the spotlight. In those 5 races his average finish position was a dismal 19.2.

Last 4 races (ASR included):

• Even though the ASR didn't involve points I did include it in this spotlight because it brings it closer to splitting the season so far 5, 5 and 5. Jr hasn't quite got back to the form he was in to start 2013 but in his last 4 he has 3 top 10's. He has been very quiet during this stretch but he has been getting valuable points and staying in contention for the Chase.

Jr has 8 Top 10's and 3 Top 5's in 2013 through 13 races

Really 2013 has been the tale of two Dales. Something Jr will have to figure out when he gets to the Chase is how to stay consistent. If he enters the Chase on one of his "hot" stretches then Jr Nation may finally get to rejoice and Jr may finally get that coveted Championship.

A comparison to his 2012 season start:

Season	2013	2012
Races	13	13
Wins	0	0
Top 5's	3	5
Top 10's	8	10
Average Finish Position	13.5	7.85



So the big question is, can Jr get hot at the right time, during the Chase and make a bid at his first ever Sprint Cup Title? Also a side note to keep and eye on, can he get a Win in 2013? He is on a current streak of 32 races since his last win at Michigan International Speedway last season.

Hopefully for Jr Nation I come back to this article at the end of the season praising how good of a Chase Jr had while he went on to his first Championship, but it also just could be a dream. Only time will tell.

**Update 6/16/13: Heading into Michigan on 6/16 it looked like Jr was getting on a roll again and might get his first win of 2013. Jr had a fast car and even lead some laps at MIS. While he had a 5 second lead on JJ his blew an engine that ended his day and his bid at a 2013 win at MIS in the June race just one year since his last win.**