Column: Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues NASCAR journey of pain, glory

Dale Earnhardt Jr. defines a sport more than any athlete of recent memory.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is NASCAR. NASCAR is Dale Earnhardt Jr.

A while ago, it was his father who was king of the road. Then tragedy struck on the last lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001, and NASCAR’s favorite son has gone on this incredibly sad-happy, mixed-emotions poignant journey for the last 15 years.

He considered quitting the sport at first then didn’t. Fans didn’t want him to go anywhere. They didn’t care if he finished first or last. They loved his daddy. They loved him. He’s been voted the most popular driver in the sport 13 consecutive years.

There’s been times it’s been a popularity contest. But now, he’s as competitive as ever and will be the favorite to win Sunday’s Daytona 500. Winning the first race in the Cam-Am Duels sends a strong signal that the No. 88 will be hard to beat if car and driver can avoid the typical Daytona carnage.

It did not come by accident. The “kid” (he’s 41 now) has worked hard to earn that love. He’s won a bunch of stuff, including the Daytona 500 twice. All that remains is a Cup championship and he very likely could join his father in the NASCAR Hall of Fall.

Heck, he should anyway.

He’s carried the sport while carrying that pain. He’s carried on despite people like me, prodding and poking, asking him how it feels to lose his dad and have his world turned upside down. Try going to work every day with all those Pop Psychologists nipping at your heels.

“Dale has so much pressure on him, so much pressure. I don’t know how he survives,” Kyle Petty once told me. “I think a lot of his issues are between his ears. ‘Am I Dale Earnhardt’s son? Am I Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Am I a marketing machine? Am I a celebrity?’ And I think it transfers onto the race tracks sometimes. He’s got a lot of crap going on, so it’s really, really hard on him.”

Petty, son of another NASCAR icon, Richard Petty, had a lot of crap going on, too. But he was never the driver that his daddy was, and found his niche in the broadcast booth.

Junior has toughed it out, and while I won’t be cheering for him Sunday, there is nothing wrong with a celebratory tip of the cap for NASCAR’s Favorite Son.

He’s earned it.