Dale Earnhardt Jr 2016 Review
By Richard Tix
Season Grade: N/A
Season Preview: "I think Jr moves past the first two rounds again in 2016 (missed it in 2015 and finished 12th), which is the round with 8 drivers left. Once there, I think he will make a push for the finale at Miami, but I do think he will come up short. However, it wont surprise me if he finally makes the final four. I think 2-3 wins, 12-14 top 5's, and 19-21 top 10's are in the cards for Earnhardt, which are all just a bit down from 2015."
Season Review: Well as far as predictions go, the season was incomplete for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Through 18 races the season wasn't really off to that strong of a start for Junior. Half through the season he had only five top 5's and six top 10's. He also had his worst average finish since 2010, but no one really knows how the rest of the season would have turned out had he raced. Heck, he could have turned it around and provided Jr Nation with a late push.
That's the end of the bad news because I want to put a positive spin on this review. Though Junior sat out due to a concussion, it was a breath of fresh air to see a star in any sport take his long term health into his own hands.
Concussion's are a hot topic in 2016, but in a sport where hitting a wall at 100+ MPH happens often, it didn't seem to be a word that was brought up very often in NASCAR. When Dale wasn't feeling right, he took his health into consideration and got checked out. He then took the needed time off to get right so he can come back 100% healthy.
However, the thing with concussions are that they become easier to suffer from the more you have. Junior may have noticed this one, but how many may he have had before this? My hope is that he has a wonderful 2017 season with no setbacks, but when the biggest star in any given sport makes it a hot topic then it is something we should watch. Not just watch how he handles it, but how other drivers could also possibly be effected by big hits.
I commend Dale for making this a priority and it gave the sport more light on a serious issue. He understands his life is bigger than the sport and being on the track and that's a honorable thing to grasp.
So, Dale gets no actual grade other than N/A, but for self and sport awareness he gets an A+.
Nice bloog post
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