Daytona 500 2000 - High expectations don't bother Little E

High expectations don't bother Little E
ESPN The Magazine

'99 EARNINGS: $162,095 | POINTS: 48th | WINS: 0 | TOP 5: 0 | TOP 10: 1

DALE EARNHARDT JR.

What Makes Him Go: Little E graduates to the majors with his entire team intact, including crew chief Tony Eury, Sr., 46, a longtime family friend. Although everybody's a newcomer to Winston Cup, they'll get support and advice from the many veterans at Earnhardt, Inc., among them Steve Hmiel, who came up the ladder with Richard Petty.
What Makes Him Slow: As Dale Jr. himself acknowledges, his lack of experience is the number one question mark on his resumé. Can he handle the more powerful and slightly heavier Winston Cup cars? Probably, but don't expect too much from him early on. Earnhardt's inexperience coupled with an unproven Monte Carlo 2000 could make the first half of the season a 200-mph driving lesson.
Key Stat: 2 As in his two Busch Series championships. But Busch success is no guarantee of Winston glory. Only two of the 13 Busch champions since 1982 -- Bobby Labonte and Joe Nemechek -- have won a Winston Cup race. In fact, only two other Busch champs have full-time Winston Cup rides: David Green and Johnny Benson.

Little E revs into 2000 with the best opportunity for rookie success since, well, Tony Stewart in 1999.

But unlike Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., isn't way out in front of the rookie pack. In fact, never in NASCAR's history have so many young, talented drivers come onto the scene with such superior equipment.

Dale Jr. has a lot going for him. He and his entire team graduate to Winston Cup after winning two straight NASCAR Busch Series championships. They have a long-term contract with one of the mightiest sponsors in all of sports, namely Budweiser. And they operate with an all-but-unlimited budget out of the Dale Earnhardt Inc. palace -- it doesn't answer to the name "shop" anymore -- near Mooresville, N.C.

Unlike some owners, Dale Sr. seems willing to spend whatever it takes to win. Given the rough nature of NASCAR racing, though, bloodlines and backing won't guarantee the 25-year-old driver of No. 8 Rookie of the Year honors.

As a late-model sportsman driver from 1994 to 1996, Dale Jr. won only three of 113 races -- not exactly a record that suggested a sky's-the-limit future. But in 1998 he won seven Busch races in his first full season, then six more last year on his way to a second consecutive title.

His secret weapon appears to be the fearlessness he inherited from his father. The old man is proud as can be now that his son has proven his championship mettle.

"I hope he keeps his head screwed on," Dale Sr. says. "He's got a lot of future ahead of him. Somebody needs to get up there and race Gordon. I must be getting too old."

Of course, Junior's not entirely a chip off the old block. Dad likes the country music of Brooks and Dunn; Junior likes Pearl Jam. Dad is into pickup trucks; Junior tools around in his red Corvette.

But at 25, Little E has already developed that confident, somewhat flippant manner of his father. And when one hears him talk in that "aw shucks" lilt of a North Carolina boy, it's clear the acorn didn't fall far from the tree.

Dale Jr. says he's setting no goals for the 2000 season.

"I don't know if I can do what Tony Stewart did," he says. "We have a good team, and we have a lot of common sense, but we don't necessarily have a lot of notes and a lot of depth and knowledge on setups. It's going to take us a while to learn what the car is going to do on long runs at each track."

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