NASCAR Cup Series

DW: Dale Jr. growing comfortable with not trying to be his dad

Published May. 5, 2015 1:56 p.m. ET

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Darrell Waltrip

I sat down with Dale Earnhardt Jr. before the season started for a FOX NASCAR interview and we touched on a number of topics. One of the subjects that Dale Jr. was pretty passionate about was adding to the Earnhardt legacy. I never really thought about that until he brought it up. His point was that he wanted to add to the legacy of his grandfather and obviously the legacy that his father had.

That's why you saw him so excited last February after winning the Daytona 500. That's why you saw him so emotional after his win at Talladega on Sunday. Dale Jr. wants to add to the legacy and not just live off what is already there. When I sat down again with him last week before the Talladega race, he admitted that it is something he's struggled with in the past.

There was a long period where he felt his popularity and status in the sport were more about what his dad had done than what he had done. In this past year I've really seen him come to terms with that and he is markedly more comfortable in his own skin. He's the most comfortable with himself that I've ever seen him.

Obviously, it's a lot of contributing factors. Dale Jr. has matured and learned not to sweat the small stuff. I give a lot of credit to his girlfriend, Amy Reimann. I think she's helped him a lot both in the sport and in life in general to enjoy the moment. Honestly, there were times when I didn't think he was enjoying anything. There were times when I thought he looked almost miserable.

He told me Saturday when we did our interview that for the longest time the responsibility weighed on him of trying to live up to the image of his father. In a lot of ways I think it has pulled him down for a number of years. Now I am seeing a different Dale Earnhardt Jr. as he is comfortable with who he is and is comfortable with not having to try to be his dad.

Last week would have been the 64th birthday of Dale Earnhardt Sr. Kevin Harvick gave Dale Jr. a special gift that meant a lot to him. Kevin gave him a signed diecast car that Dale Sr. had signed for Kevin back when he was a kid. That was very sentimental to Dale Jr. and meant a lot to him.

I don't think Dale Jr. ever thought he could do enough to live up to the image of his dad, or do enough to please him. Like he said in the interview Saturday: Despite all he has already accomplished, he struggled for the longest time doubting whether he deserved it all. That win Sunday was huge for him. Sure, he was thrilled to get his sixth win there, but you could just tell that the emotion we saw from him was from a deep sadness that his dad wasn't there to share it with him.

As he told me, now he is in the best place both personally and professionally that he's ever been. He's comfortable with whom he is and he's enjoying it a heckuva lot more. Sunday also accomplished a goal that Dale set for himself and his new crew chief, Greg Ives. He want's Greg to be successful in his new role. Former crew chief Steve Letarte has moved on and now it's Greg's time. It's important to Dale Jr. to help Greg succeed.

Could that first win come at a better place than Talladega Superspeedway? Heck, no! Dale Jr. hadn't won there in more than a decade. It was Greg's first win plus, don't forget, it was also their new sponsor's first win. Nationwide Insurance joined as their sponsor at the end of 2014, so it was important to the team to show Nationwide they had invested their money wisely. And what was the cherry on top to Sunday? Dale Jr., Greg, the team and Nationwide have punched their ticket into the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup at the end of the season. So there were a ton of goals reached Sunday for Dale Jr. and his team both personally and professionally.

I know there are those fans who complained after the race that no one tried to pull out and challenge Dale Jr. in the closing laps. It simply was a matter of the wrong set of cars up there at the end. I mean, think about it: Four of the top 10 finishers were thrilled just to be up there for an incredible finish and weren't going to risk screwing it up. You had Paul Menard finish third, young Ryan Blaney fourth, Sam Hornish Jr. sixth and Josh Wise tenth. These are faces you don't see week in and week out up in that top 10.

Really the only one who had a legitimate shot there near the end was Blaney. He was in that famous Wood Brothers No. 21 car running third and having an incredible day. They don't run a full schedule, so they weren't running for points. To me it would have been all about the win because they had nothing to lose. Now with that said, I understand why the young man stayed where he was and got a great finish.

By the way, I know there are some of you who are fussing because you think I was pulling for Ryan to win the race. I just wanted to see an exciting finish. Ryan was the only who I could see who had nothing to lose Sunday and could have gone for it. I wanted him, or anyone for that matter, to roll the dice and go for the win. That's what I wanted to see happen, but I totally understand why none of them tried it.

Let's face it: Ryan simply didn't want to make a rookie mistake and rob his team of their first top-five finish since winning the Daytona 500 in 2011. I get that because that's a lot of pressure on a young man. What if he had pulled out to try and make something happen and no one went with him? He probably would have finished back in 27th spot and went home regretting what "could have been." So while I was hoping he'd try something to pull off the upset, I can totally appreciate the reason why he didn't.

Besides all that, I don't think anyone had anything for the No. 88 car. All four Hendrick cars unloaded fast on Friday for practice. Jeff Gordon then won the pole and his three teammates also qualified in the top five. Dale Jr. also had the luxury of his teammate, Jimmie Johnson, running second and pretty much playing the role of blocker in the closing laps. Jimmie already has two wins this season, he's locked in the Chase and probably also felt like he owed Dale Jr. from 2011 when the roles were reversed and Dale Jr. pushed Jimmie to the win at Talladega. So Jimmie probably gladly accepted the role of helping his teammate not only get the first win of the season, but helping Hendrick Motorsports secure another one of its cars and sponsors into the 2015 Chase.

I've already mentioned Paul, Ryan, Sam and Josh, but I was thrilled to see Martin Truex Jr. have yet another great weekend. Martin finished fifth Sunday and marked his ninth top-10 finish in 10 races so far this season. In addition to all that, Martin has now moved up to second in the points. After all the struggles he went through both on and off the track last year, Martin is living the dream right now.

So if you look at all those folks who got a great finish Sunday, obviously including an emotional win from Dale Jr., you can understand there are a lot of smiles as we head to a very fast Kansas Speedway for some Saturday night racing under the lights. I guess we just need to click our heels and head on over there!

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