‘Little E’ living up to hype

Hank Kurz Jr

Thursday, May 11, 2000 | 8:37 a.m.

Little E is living up to the hype - and his name.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. arrived in NASCAR's top series with greater fanfare than any rookie in history. He came in with two Busch series titles and $50 million in sponsorship, and is the son of a seven-time Winston Cup champion.

Eleven races into his debut season, Junior has accomplished more than just about anyone expected. He's even set a record already, winning two races faster than any driver in any era.

He did it in his 16th start, beating the best last Saturday night in Richmond, Va.

"It surprises me that it's me in the car, that I'm winning races in the Winston Cup series," said the 25-year-old Earnhardt, the first driver this season with more than one victory.

His win in the Pontiac Excitement 400 was especially impressive because he outran series champions Terry Labonte and Dale Jarrett in the closing laps, when a driver's mettle is put to the ultimate test. He passed his father, Dale Earnhardt, for the lead with 31 laps to go.

Little E often is more self-deprecating than cocky, and certain to credit his team for making good things happen.

"I can't go out there and do that without a good motor. I can't go out there and do that without a good race car," he said. "I can't get in another race car and be able to do the same thing."

Crew chief Tony Eury has worked the entire team hard since the start of the year to ensure that nothing is left undone. He says his rookie driver has helped make all the work pay off.

"He's definitely surprised us," Eury said. "He's a good little race car driver and he knows what it takes to make it go around the track as fast as it can."

Fellow drivers also are impressed.

"What a driver that kid is," Jarrett said. "Unbelievable."

Tony Stewart, who seemed certain to win in Richmond until a late pit-road bump from Earnhardt Jr. flattened a tire and took him out of contention, says he can puff out his chest because he predicted the success.

"I felt like Dale Jr. and Matt Kenseth were both very capable and still are of winning at least three and maybe more races," said Stewart, who set rookie records last year with three wins and a fourth-place finish in the points race.

"Like I've said, I think this is a record that would only probably last a year," Stewart said of his standard for rookie victories. "After Saturday night, Junior's one step closer to that."

Earnhardt's first victory came April 2 in the DirecTV 500 in Fort Worth, Texas, in his 12th career start. Only Ron Bouchard, who won his 11th race, was faster.

Dale Earnhardt, who owns his son's team, won for the first time in his 16th start. And Stewart needed 25 races before his first celebration.

Earnhardt Jr. says the confidence he gained by winning easily in Texas helped him hang on in Richmond.

"I had established some credibility in the sport," he said. "I knew they were going to treat me like a proven race car driver."

Others are treating him like a star. Rolling Stone magazine recently did a seven-page spread on him, calling him "the rock and roll NASCAR whiz kid."

Many of the 103,000 fans at Richmond International Raceway roared when he dueled with the veterans, perhaps loudest when he passed The Intimidator for the lead.

But Earnhardt Jr. has failed to finish three times, and even trails Kenseth by three spots in the driver standings. Kenseth is 14th.

For that, Little E insists on taking the heat.

"I've been tearing up some race cars and I walk into the shop and they're all shiny and ready to go," he said. "That's why things have happened so fast.

"What the public sees is just me, but there's a lot of people in the background working at the same pace, making things come together."

And they're probably wondering how much better Earnhardt will get with more experience.

He took what he thought was a third- or fourth-place car and put it in Victory Lane in Richmond.

"Now, we need to go home and look at that and see how we did it," he said. "We need to figure out how to make those decisions every week."

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On The Net:

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: http://www.earnhardtfactor.com/dalejr.html