Has Dale Jr. lost his passion for racing?

It seems as if Dale Earnhardt Jr. has lost something. It seems that just a few years ago Dale Jr. was the up and coming NASCAR driver that was set to dominate the Sprint Cup series for years to come. Then the bottom fell out at DEI, and Junior was forced to join the most successful team in NASCAR history. Many thought that driving Hendrick equipment he would once again dominate the Sprint Cup series. Apparently Junior has lost his passion, or his will to win. Since joining Hendrick Motor Sports more than a season and a half ago, Dale Junior has only been able to win one race.

Of course every Dale Jr. fan on the planet will now line up and give a litany of excuses as to why.

However none of these self diluted Junior fans will be able to explain away this fact. Junior Hendrick cars are prepared in the same shop, and by the same people who set up and build Mark Martin’s cars. Mark, in his first year driving Hendrick equipment went out and won four races and entered the Chase for the Championship as the number one seed.

Junior on the other hand, in his second full season driving for Hendrick equipment, has failed to win, in fact he has recorded just two top five finishes, and just five top tens. In fact his average finishing position so far in 2009 is 21.3. Not exactly the kind of numbers the most popular driver in NASCAR should be putting up.