wdwfan4ver
Well-Known Member
Before going into how well rounded as a driver Dale Jr. was, I think how he won his Non Restrictor plate races after 2004 need to be looked. Before 2005, There was not any strategy went into any of Dale's Non restrictor plate points wins at all. Before 2005 the Non restrictor plate tracks I'm talking about is Texas, Richmond, Dover, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Bristol. Dale won at those tracks for a combined 8 times.
Dale after 2004 won at the follow Non Restrictor plate tracks: Chicagoland, Richmond, Michigan, Pocono, Martinsville and Phoenix for a combined 8 times from 2005 to 2015. Dale won Chicagoland by strategy in 2005. Dale won Richmond in 2006 because of Kevin and his team beat themselves. Dale had the car to beat at the two Michigan races, 1 Pocono race and his only Martinsville win. Dale won one of his 2 Pocono races by Brad giving up the lead due to having stuff on his car with 5 laps to go and Dale won at Phoenix only by betting on rain going to happen. Dale also would've won at Richmond in 2008 due to Denny having a flat tire, but Denny wanted to bring out a caution out instead. Dale almost won by Fuel Milleage at the Coca cola 600 in 2011 and at Las Vegas 2014, but ran out of fuel.
Dale Jr. as a driver was one of the greatest restrictor plate drivers of all time. He was not the same plate driver in 2017 after his concussion. He had 10 out of 26 cup wins on plate tracks, but he was a bit more well rounded that showed. The only catch is Dale won 15 out of his 26 cup wins in his first 5 full seasons as a cup driver. I don't how much of that was caused by the burns he had from the Sports car crash and the crew chief changes after the 2004 season. Steve Letarte was the best crew chief Dale had after Teresa decided not have Dale's Uncle as his crew chief anymore. Tony Eury Jr. was Dale's crew chief from late 2005 to 2009, but his dad was a better crew. Tony Eury's cars were much better early in the race than later in the race. That is caused by driver and crew chief.
Dale was a very good short track driver and was well rounded. Dale had 5 short track wins, but if things went differently, he could've had 10 to 15 short track wins on the cup level instead of 5. Dale had the car to win an additional 4 to 5 wins at Martinsville. Part of Dale Jr's problem of only having 1 win there was he had to deal with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin. The other part was the car was better in some parts of the race and explained him not winning a Martinsville race that he led over 100 laps in. Dale led 4 Martinsville races with over 100 laps. Dale had a 5th race that Kevin beaten Dale Jr. after a restart.
Dale led over 3 times over a 100 laps at Bristol, but only won once. The problem with Dale Jr. is most of his laps led at Bristol came from 2002 to 2004 and he was better at the track with DEI than Hendrick. Dale went I'm guessing that caused by Bruton Smith reconfigured the track in 2007 and 2012. At the same time, I won how much time did Hendrick spent on focusing on the track considering it took Jimmie last year to get a Bristol win despite going here since 2002 in the cup series.
Richmond was a solid short track for Dale, but he led less laps there than he did at Martinsville and Bristol despite having 3 win. Dale at Richmond almost got fluke win for his 4 win at the track.
Mile tracks for Dale really depended on the track for him. He was a good Phoenix driver and I think he could've won a 4th race there earlier in his career. Dale Jr. was solid driver at Loudon, but I thought Dover was not one of his better tracks.
Dale Jr. to me was better at Michgan than at Fontana. The catch is he was more of a threat to win at Michigan when he was at Hendrick there than at DEI. That told me at the engine program at Hendrick. While Dale only won twice at Michigan with Hendrick, he had the car to win 4 times at Hendrick there.
Dale Jr. was so-so to me at 1.5 mile tracks and he just sucked at Homestead. He did most of his laps led at Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicagoland and Texas through 2008, but had issues winning at those tracks in that time period despite having one win at Atlanta and 1 win at Texas.
Dale didn't win a race at a 1.5 mile track after 2005. It seemed like the only way he pull off win at the tracks is by fuel mileage after 2005 like he almost did at Las Vegas in 2014, Kansas in spring of 2011 and the Coca Cola 600 in 2011 although I think he could've won fall 2014 Kansas race . I did think Junior was much better at Las Vegas with Hendrick.
Dale was solid at Pocono with 2 wins although Brad did gift wrap one of the victories to him. Dale was not that great at Indy at all
Dale to me was weak on road courses, but I think his Crew Chief Tony Eury Jr. cost him the 2008 race at Watkins Glen in terms of winning by making terrible pit calls on when to pit. For road racing in NASCAR back in 2008, you have to be careful how long you let the driver race on track before pitting and you don't want to pit under caution if possible. This is where having crew chief like Steve Letarte would've made a difference for Dale. Dale at the time was better at Watkin's Glen than at Sonoma.
I think Dale had a mental issue at Sonoma before 2014 and his crew chief Steve Letarte basically came out and said it. Sonoma was the race track that Dale suffered burns in a sports car race in 2004.
I think 37th is best he could do for ranking. The truth is if Dale didn't have his crash at the fall of 2004 at Martinsville and the crash at Atlanta fall of 2004, I'm sure he would've been ranked higher by Fox since those two races cost him the 2004 cup championship. Dale was middle of a great a stretch at Atlanta when that crash happened. In that era of the chase, you can win championship despite being lousy at the final track of the season like Dale Jr. was.
Dale was at his best Atlanta from 2001 to 2006. Coming into the 2004 fall Martinsville race, Dale Junior had 5 straight top 5 finishes at Martinsville. If Dale was able to win a Coca cola 600 in 2000 or 2011 besides a champion in cup back in 2004, I think it would've improved the rank along with if Tony Eury Jr. knew how call a road race properly Watkin's Glen in 2008.
Dale after 2004 won at the follow Non Restrictor plate tracks: Chicagoland, Richmond, Michigan, Pocono, Martinsville and Phoenix for a combined 8 times from 2005 to 2015. Dale won Chicagoland by strategy in 2005. Dale won Richmond in 2006 because of Kevin and his team beat themselves. Dale had the car to beat at the two Michigan races, 1 Pocono race and his only Martinsville win. Dale won one of his 2 Pocono races by Brad giving up the lead due to having stuff on his car with 5 laps to go and Dale won at Phoenix only by betting on rain going to happen. Dale also would've won at Richmond in 2008 due to Denny having a flat tire, but Denny wanted to bring out a caution out instead. Dale almost won by Fuel Milleage at the Coca cola 600 in 2011 and at Las Vegas 2014, but ran out of fuel.
Dale Jr. as a driver was one of the greatest restrictor plate drivers of all time. He was not the same plate driver in 2017 after his concussion. He had 10 out of 26 cup wins on plate tracks, but he was a bit more well rounded that showed. The only catch is Dale won 15 out of his 26 cup wins in his first 5 full seasons as a cup driver. I don't how much of that was caused by the burns he had from the Sports car crash and the crew chief changes after the 2004 season. Steve Letarte was the best crew chief Dale had after Teresa decided not have Dale's Uncle as his crew chief anymore. Tony Eury Jr. was Dale's crew chief from late 2005 to 2009, but his dad was a better crew. Tony Eury's cars were much better early in the race than later in the race. That is caused by driver and crew chief.
Dale was a very good short track driver and was well rounded. Dale had 5 short track wins, but if things went differently, he could've had 10 to 15 short track wins on the cup level instead of 5. Dale had the car to win an additional 4 to 5 wins at Martinsville. Part of Dale Jr's problem of only having 1 win there was he had to deal with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin. The other part was the car was better in some parts of the race and explained him not winning a Martinsville race that he led over 100 laps in. Dale led 4 Martinsville races with over 100 laps. Dale had a 5th race that Kevin beaten Dale Jr. after a restart.
Dale led over 3 times over a 100 laps at Bristol, but only won once. The problem with Dale Jr. is most of his laps led at Bristol came from 2002 to 2004 and he was better at the track with DEI than Hendrick. Dale went I'm guessing that caused by Bruton Smith reconfigured the track in 2007 and 2012. At the same time, I won how much time did Hendrick spent on focusing on the track considering it took Jimmie last year to get a Bristol win despite going here since 2002 in the cup series.
Richmond was a solid short track for Dale, but he led less laps there than he did at Martinsville and Bristol despite having 3 win. Dale at Richmond almost got fluke win for his 4 win at the track.
Mile tracks for Dale really depended on the track for him. He was a good Phoenix driver and I think he could've won a 4th race there earlier in his career. Dale Jr. was solid driver at Loudon, but I thought Dover was not one of his better tracks.
Dale Jr. to me was better at Michgan than at Fontana. The catch is he was more of a threat to win at Michigan when he was at Hendrick there than at DEI. That told me at the engine program at Hendrick. While Dale only won twice at Michigan with Hendrick, he had the car to win 4 times at Hendrick there.
Dale Jr. was so-so to me at 1.5 mile tracks and he just sucked at Homestead. He did most of his laps led at Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicagoland and Texas through 2008, but had issues winning at those tracks in that time period despite having one win at Atlanta and 1 win at Texas.
Dale didn't win a race at a 1.5 mile track after 2005. It seemed like the only way he pull off win at the tracks is by fuel mileage after 2005 like he almost did at Las Vegas in 2014, Kansas in spring of 2011 and the Coca Cola 600 in 2011 although I think he could've won fall 2014 Kansas race . I did think Junior was much better at Las Vegas with Hendrick.
Dale was solid at Pocono with 2 wins although Brad did gift wrap one of the victories to him. Dale was not that great at Indy at all
Dale to me was weak on road courses, but I think his Crew Chief Tony Eury Jr. cost him the 2008 race at Watkins Glen in terms of winning by making terrible pit calls on when to pit. For road racing in NASCAR back in 2008, you have to be careful how long you let the driver race on track before pitting and you don't want to pit under caution if possible. This is where having crew chief like Steve Letarte would've made a difference for Dale. Dale at the time was better at Watkin's Glen than at Sonoma.
I think Dale had a mental issue at Sonoma before 2014 and his crew chief Steve Letarte basically came out and said it. Sonoma was the race track that Dale suffered burns in a sports car race in 2004.
I think 37th is best he could do for ranking. The truth is if Dale didn't have his crash at the fall of 2004 at Martinsville and the crash at Atlanta fall of 2004, I'm sure he would've been ranked higher by Fox since those two races cost him the 2004 cup championship. Dale was middle of a great a stretch at Atlanta when that crash happened. In that era of the chase, you can win championship despite being lousy at the final track of the season like Dale Jr. was.
Dale was at his best Atlanta from 2001 to 2006. Coming into the 2004 fall Martinsville race, Dale Junior had 5 straight top 5 finishes at Martinsville. If Dale was able to win a Coca cola 600 in 2000 or 2011 besides a champion in cup back in 2004, I think it would've improved the rank along with if Tony Eury Jr. knew how call a road race properly Watkin's Glen in 2008.
