He was expected to shine; it was the race where the nearly four year losing streak would end. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the clear favorite heading to Talladega Superspeedway. After an early season spent as a contender nearly each and every week the consensus was that Earnhardt could finally score a much needed win this past Sunday.
Not only did Earnhardt have five wins at Talladega, second in active drivers only to Jeff Gordon, but NASCAR kept the same rules package it had in place for Daytona, meaning pack racing was back. Earnhardt’s five wins came during the era when pack racing was the norm adding fuel to the ‘favorite’ fire.
When the checkered flag fell for winner Brad Keselowski however, Earnhardt’s fire never really flamed. Early on though, it looked like Earnhardt could pull it off. After starting 18th, Earnhardt quickly made his way to the front pushing teammate Jimmie Johnson to the lead. Earnhardt took the lead himself on lap 64 much to the approval of the partisan crowd. On lap 72 however, Earnhardt lost out when Matt Kenseth charged past and to the front. Earnhardt fell to 19th place. MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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