Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2010 Preview, Predictions & Odds

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2009 Stats

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2009 Recap & Review

Ever have one of those days where everything just seems to go wrong? That describes most, if not all, of the 2009 season for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Even running for Hendrick Motorsports, the same organization that took home the top three spots in the championship race, Earnhardt managed only two top-5 finishes and five top 10s, going winless for his worst numbers since he was a 25-year-old rookie in 2000.

Earnhardt got off on the wrong foot from the drop of the green at Daytona, missing his pit box and losing a lap before being involved in a controversial wreck with Brian Vickers that wiped out a quarter of the field. The mistakes piled up from there, and it took nine races for the team to score a top-5 finish, a second at Talladega. By then, there was no saving crew chief Tony Eury Jr., who was criticized at every turn. By the end of May, he was out and replaced by Lance McGrew, but only marginal improvement followed.

Some of the team’s woes were simple bad luck, but others were more troublesome. Earnhardt missed his pit box nearly a half-dozen times and struggled to call for the right adjustments late in races. Equipment also let him down, as three blown engines – a high number for Hendrick powerplants, and a possible sign he was pushing too hard – made up the lion’s share of Earnhardt’s five DNFs.

A third place at Michigan in August was the lone highlight in the second half of the season, part of an awful ending where Junior went the final 12 races without a top 10. That left him plummeting to 25th in the standings, the worst finish of his la-year career in the series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2010 Preview & Prediction

After NASCAR’s most popular driver endured a nightmare season in 2009, the good news is that Rick Hendrick has pledged to turn his organization’s focus on Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 team right out of the box in 2010. The bad news? The team needs all the help it can get after going winless and plummeting to 25th in points.

Considering his three teammates finished 1-2-3 in the Chase — adding insult to injury — Earnhardt’s owner can certainly afford to turn energy his way this year. At least on the surface, the on-track problems appear to be highly fixable. Improving team communication, reducing errors on pit road and finding a comfort level in the “new” car — wing or not — are the three main issues that need to be addressed, and those are things a team can turn around much more easily than unreliable equipment or lack of horsepower.

The key to fixing it all lies on the shoulders of Lance McGrew, officially named the permanent crew chief for 2010 after serving in an interim role for much of ’09. McGrew is best known for leading Brian Vickers to the then-Busch Series title in 2003, but most important, he spearheaded Hendrick’s development team in the transition to the new cars, making him perfectly positioned to help Earnhardt adapt.

But the communication crisis remains, and won’t be so easy to fix. While the driver claims team chemistry is better now than with former head wrench Tony Eury Jr., a nasty habit remains of adjusting the car the wrong way in the second half of races. There is no room for those mistakes with this duo in 2010 — driver and crew chief need to click from the start for the season to be a success.

To speed along the process, Hendrick insists on no major changes with the No. 88 crew, meaning pit road fiascos won’t be fixed by hiring new personnel. They will have Hendrick’s open-book policy on their side, and with Earnhardt’s driving style being similar to top dog Jimmie Johnson’s, the teams have pledged stronger communication. And an increase in that intra-team communication — most notably with shop-mate Mark Martin’s No. 5 team — has been a point of emphasis during the offseason.

So despite last season’s disaster, Earnhardt’s team still has a lot going for it. McGrew and the rest of the crew have the best equipment in the garage, and practically unlimited resources at their fingertips. And despite what the naysayers might say, this is not a no-talent, mid-pack driver. Drivers with no talent don’t get lucky to the tune of 18 Cup wins, especially in this day and age. To give a little perspective, Earnhardt’s win total equals that of 2003 Cup champion Matt Kenseth in the same amount of time on the circuit, and is higher than that of seven of last year’s Chase drivers.

So lack of talent is hardly the issue. Lack of confidence, though, could prove a larger problem. Earnhardt looked like a Dead Man Walking at the track for most of the fall, seemingly ready to wave the white flag on a career move that, to date, hasn’t been working out.

Hopefully, Earnhardt took a long vacation this offseason, resetting himself both mentally and physically. Even if everything goes his way, it’s going to take a high level of focus and dedication to start digging out of this hole.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2010 Predictions

We predict that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will finish 18th in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Betting & Odds

Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Odds: +4000

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Betting Trends & Situations

• after finishing worse than 15th, average finish is 25.9
• when racing in February, average finish is 24.0

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