Listen up Junior Nation: your leader has given his blessing to 11 different drivers to support once he steps out of the #88 for good.
It’s never easy to decide who to support in NASCAR once your favorite driver calls it a career. Yours truly faced that situation when Mark Martin retired, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans are getting closer to that time as we’re currently halfway through his final Cup Series regular season campaign.
If only Earnhardt Jr. would weigh in on this crucial choice himself … hey wait, he did!
On the latest episode of his Dirty Mo Radio podcast, Junior tackled this dilemma head on, giving his fans not one, not two, not even 10 but 11 different drivers to consider supporting after he’s done. In truly diplomatic fashion, Earnhardt picked a top 10 in no particular order, as well as adding an 11th driver who may surprise many people by his inclusion.
Still, Earnhardt did give his reasoning for each driver on the list. Here’s a quickie summary of his logic:
- Ryan Blaney: If you like your driver to be active on social media and making appearances.
- Austin Dillon: For old school NASCAR fans who want a strong RCR.
- Chase Elliott: For fans who want someone to carry on a legacy like Junior did.
- Erik Jones: Because of his raw speed/talent and untapped personality.
- Kyle Larson: For fans who simply want a good guy who also is a dominant driver.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Due to his fun demeanor and hard but not dirty racing style.
- Daniel Suarez: For his potential to grow the sport outside of the U.S., plus just being a nice guy.
- Jimmie Johnson: For those who want to go from veteran to veteran and support the “white hat” …
- Kyle Busch: … to the M&M’s driver’s black hat.
- Martin Truex Jr.: For fans who like the unorthodox team from Denver but still want a Jr. in their lives.
Clearly Junior likes other Juniors, naming both Stenhouse and Truex to the list. His surprise pick was Chris Buescher, who Earnhardt respects for outperforming some of the equipment he’s had so far.
You can watch a longer version of Dale Jr.’s explanations right here:
Next: Ranking the NASCAR Cup Series championship contenders at the halfway point
Naturally, Earnhardt would appreciate your support until the end of this season, but seeing as he’s the most popular driver in NASCAR, that’s not really much of an issue. And hey, maybe he’ll even whittle his list down a bit later on if 11 options prove paralyzing — but don’t count on it.
Add us as a preferred source on Google