We fired our guns and the media kept a-comin'

At long last, the mystery regarding Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s decline has been revealed. No one else needs ask me about it at social gatherings. The burning issue has been doused.
    Whoever could have missed this? It’s the media’s fault.
    Politicians say it all the time.
Tony Eury Jr., Earnhardt Jr’s first cousin and former crew chief, said at Chicagoland Speedway, “I think, my personal opinion, is that you guys (it was a press conference) put so much pressure on him after Daytona (meaning, the 500 in February) that Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. just basically had had enough.
“You guys were all over him, and it just brought him down.”
    Eury could’ve blamed it on “the liberal media,” but it’s difficult to discern the difference between left and right where generic cars, free passes, double-file restarts and debris cautions are concerned. If liberal is indicative of change, then NASCAR officials might as well be the Politburo.
    Yes. Inquiring minds want to know.
    Earnhardt is NASCAR’s most popular driver. At present, he is far from its most successful. Being most popular is fertilizer. Mix it with lack of success, and it becomes a bomb.
    Maybe my perspective is skewed in some way, but it seems to me that most coverage of Earnhardt has been sympathetic. Maybe I haven’t trolled enough Internet fan sites that have vulgar terms as part of their names, but I haven’t seen Earnhardt hounded by the media. He holds press conferences. They are well-attended. Many questions are asked, and in almost every instance, Earnhardt is cooperative and pleasant. The lingering image is that of an experienced driver who is holding up as well as anyone could imagine.
    Most of the credentialed media like Earnhardt. Most consider him an excellent driver. Inside and outside the media center, the question that screams out is, “why?” Naturally, it being the job and all, variations of this question are asked Earnhardt, Eury, Lance McGrew (Eury’s successor), Rick Hendrick, other drivers, H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, grand marshals, beauty queens and performers of national anthems.
    Darrell Waltrip doesn’t have to be asked, of course. He is, uh, forthcoming by nature.
    Some have opinions. A few have theories. Most have no idea.
    The media wrote about Earnhardt when he was winning regularly and write about him now that he isn’t. That exposure is one of the reasons he is the most visible, affluent driver in NASCAR.
    Ultimately, Earnhardt, by being Earnhardt, lit the stoves and cranked up the thermostat in this particular kitchen.

You may contact Monte Dutton at mdutton@gastongazette.com.