NASCAR's Biggest Fan – Girl of the Week | Ron Ripple

I got a chance to talk to Dale Jr. last night about the Memorabilia issue that was going on and he told me that he’s not very happy.  Supposedly his old race shop (DEI & Richard Childress) took his memorabilia off the walls throughout the whole shop and removed a number of his cars from the show floor.  Initially when Jr heard about this he brushed it off and tried to ignore it, but since he’s had time to think about it, he’s extremely frustrated.  Dale Earnhardt Jr explained it was a low blow to not only him but also his team.  They worked their butts off to get him his Daytona 500 win as well as his Busch Series Championships.  The sad part is that his old team still works for DEI and has to just pretend like it’s no big deal. 

In defense to DEI, they tried to explain to the press that the only reason why they moved his cars from the show room was to make room for the luncheon everyone attended.  They also made it clear that they dedicate over half the show room to Dale Jr and the only reason why they took his merchandise out of the gift shop was because he no longer races with them and they don’t have a contract with Budweiser. 

Maybe this little issue got blown way out of proportion.  The only question I want to know is if Ricky Bobby’s autographed photo is still on the wall.  (I don’t know if you remember, but in the movie Talladega Nights Dale Earnhardt Jr. walks up to Ricky Bobby and asks him for his autograph)

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There’s been a lot of opinions about Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his teams decision to purchase the #88 from the Yates team previously used by Dale Jarrett. Some people love the new number because it’s similar to his old number, and some people hate it because the #88 has always been associated with Dale Jarrett. In my opinion I think that numbers are numbers and if you’re a true NASCAR fan like I am then who cares. If Dale Earnhardt Jr. wanted to race a car with the number 000283 on the side then let him do it. The only real problem I would see is if a fan wanted to get that number tattoed on their chest or if they wanted to put it on the back of their car. It might be kinda long!

Fans piss me off when they critque and go over the top about stupid things. I guess every fan is different and every fan is passionate about different things. But I’ve read a lot of blogs and websites where people are turning their back on Dale because he’s switching not only numbers but also sponsors. Who cares if he switches from the #8 Budweiser car to the #88 Mountain Dew/AMP car… you should like the driver and the personality of the driver, not the number on the side of his car or the sponsor that is paying big bucks to be a part of his team. As long as Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the same guy and doesn’t go and get a new personality or driving skills then I think everyone should calm down. If anything, change is a good thing. It may spark up a championship season. We’ll just have to wait and see.

How passionate are you about this new change?

I’m with this guy…

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