Nice to See Nice Guy Dale Jr. Win Again

One-hundred and forty-three races is an eternity to go without winning if you’re the biggest star and name in NASCAR. But that’s exactly what Dale Earnhardt Jr., the face of the sport, had gone through in the last four years. 

Luckily for Dale Jr., NASCAR and NASCAR fans that streak came to an end at Michigan Speedway on Sunday afternoon in dominating fashion as Dale Earnhardt Jr. just blew away his competition. When Junior crossed the finish line and received that checkered flag his next closest competition, Tony Stewart, was a whopping five-plus seconds behind him. 

I know that Dale Earnhardt Jr. may be the most overrated athlete in sports and I know that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is probably not one of the best 10 drivers in his sport. However, I’m thrilled for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Junior Nation and really the entire sport of NASCAR in general. 

Why? 

Because Dale Earnhardt Jr. might be the nicest guy in NASCAR. 

Sure, guys like Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards have done a lot of winning over the last four years when Junior was struggling and not even close to Victory Lane, but if given the chance to spend an afternoon or have a beer with any of those guys I wouldn’t take it. I seriously wouldn’t. They all come off as jerks … which, unfortunately, means that many of NASCAR’s biggest names or stars are jerks. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has never once come off as a jerk, even amidst an epic losing streak that gave him every reason in the world to be one. He’s friendly. He’s humble. He’s down to Earth and fits a good ole boy mode that once was commonplace in the sport, but doesn’t seem to exist much anymore. Sure, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got a lot of his fans because of the family name. But, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is his own man, he’s not as arrogant or hard-headed as his father was, he’s more of the nice guy next door that you’d love for your daughter to date. Dale Jr. is good people and in a sport that seems to be lacking sometimes in good people it’s refreshing to see him succeed.