Silke Jasso
Sure, he’s not having a great season and he knows it, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. is making sure fans don’t target their frustration in the wrong places.
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In the latest episode of his “Dale Jr. Download” podcast on Dirty Mo Radio, the driver addressed negative fan reaction to his No. 88 team’s first five races of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ 2017 season, where they currently rank 21st in points.
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“We obviously understand, because we’re living it, that our car needs a little more speed,” he said. “We’re working hard trying to dig and find our weaknesses … It’s not good enough and we know it.”
But then he took on the haters directly. “I stay pretty close to what fans are saying, what our supporters are saying on social media, and there’s been … an unusual amount … of concern,” he said. “One of the things that really pisses me off is when they talk about the pit crew or my crew chief. You’ll see a tweet … where they’re like ‘Change this,’ ‘Get somebody new,’ ‘Get rid of the guy.’ This is my team. You’re talking about my family.
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“I’ve worked with this pit crew for a couple of years now,” Dale Jr. added. “We’ve all gotten really close, and I’ve seen them perform extremely well. That’s why I believe in them, so that’s a little frustrating when you see people so quick to jump to conclusions on what you need to be doing or what changes need to be made … We’re going to work on this together and get it right as a group with who we have.”
How’s that for loyalty?
