Boogity, Boogity, Boogity and the cars were thundering down the 2.5 mile track. That is when it all broke loose…on the second lap Jimmy Johnson was spun out and a huge wreck ensued. Now, I don’t have any love for Jimmy, but to be knocked out of the Daytona 500 on lap two is just wrong. That wreck crashed many dreams to be competitive for the race, including Danica Patrick. I was very disappointed for her because of all the hype leading up to this past weekend and she didn’t get to compete in an entire race. I, for one, am interested to see how she actually performs in the Big League with Stewart, Gordon, Busch, and Johnson. I wanted to let her have her chance to shut up the haters. She has 9 more chances in the Sprint Cup this season and has a full dance card in the Nationwide series so time will tell.

However the most bizarre incident of the night happened during a caution and commercial break. The announcers cut back in with the scene showing Juan Pablo Montoya stumbling from his devastated car that was actually on fire in the front and rear. It looked like a car on a block that had just been hit by and airstrike.

How could that happen during a caution? Well, Montoya was running down the straightaway when something happened to his car (you could see sparks and smoke) and he lost control, hitting one of the jet driers and igniting the jet fuel. That caused a two-hour delay while they put out the fire, removed wreckage, and repaired the track. What an ordeal, but the track crew was impressive at getting the fire put out, cleaned up and then repaired. Kudos.

Finally it was back to racing. Jimmy Johnson was knocked out and Jeff Gordon’s engine had blown, and Robbie Gordon was out (oh wait, that is every race). Tony Stewart was sent spinning near the end of the race to cut him out of the final chance. The race came down to the green white checker with Matt Kenseth leading Greg Biffle (his teammate) and Dale Jr. Dale Jr. tried to push Biffle around Kenseth, but Kenseth was running too well.

Dale finally shot around Biffle to make a run for it and while he passed Biffle, he came up short for the win. For you Dale haters, and I know some of you read my stuff because I have heard from you, I predict he will break his losing streak within the next five races. Talk to me then! I think he is used to his new crew chief, Steve Letarte, and I think he is going to be in the hunt for the championship this fall.

This last part is for all you NASCAR novices: I have been asked three times today about what happens when someone wrecks. Can the get another car? No. If they can repair the car they are in and maintain a minimum safe speed, then they can reenter the race. But if their car is gone beyond repair, they are out. It is important to reenter the race because it is a long season and the championship is based on points that you receive each race. Because Danica’s team fixed her car and she reentered the race, she ended up finishing higher than some people that left the race long after she did. Thus she would be higher in the standings if she was running a full Sprint Cup season. Every point counts when it comes to The Chase at the end of the season.

First off, I fully expect this particular piece to get me all kinds of hate mail from the Danica and Dale Earnhardt Jr. camps, but it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. It is time to see if Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the NASCAR equivalent of Danica Patrick. Both have rock star appeal to them. Both are marketing machines, as we frequently see Dale Jr. endorsing Wrangler Jeans and Nationwide Insurance while we see Danica Patrick in Peak Antifreeze commercials and those absolutely horrid Boost Mobile ads with the cross-dressing crew-members. Both appeal to critical market demographics for race fans, with Danica bringing in a loyal throng of female fans and Dale Earnhardt Jr. appealing to the critical 18-to-34 demographic that NASCAR has been trying to market to. Both have legions of loyal fans and are the top merchandise-sellers by far and away in their respective forms of motorsports.

However, in recent years… both have been plagued with on-track inconsistencies and struggles. The prime examples being Danica running mid-pack in the IndyCar Series on a regular basis and Dale Earnhardt Jr. also running mid-pack while changing more crew chiefs than Brigham Young had wives. Also, the news media’s insistence on interviewing Dale Jr. and Danica for a 16th place finish post-race, in the process excluding drivers who finished in the top 10, or even in some cases, the top 5. If Danica wasn’t female and Earnhardt Jr. didn’t happen to be the son of the most famous icon in recent NASCAR history in Dale Earnhardt Sr., would they get all this inordinate amount of media attention? The answer is likely not, as other mid-pack drivers such as Regan Smith and Vitor Meira in IndyCar scarcely get any interview time and they have similar results as the main two people in question.

What Have They Done Lately?

Some will argue that this really isn’t a fair comparison as Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 18 career victories compared to Danica’s paltry one fuel-mileage victory that came just before the merger of Champ Car and IRL, which evened out the competition. Keep in mind, loyal NASCAR followers, that Dale Jr. has had merely one win in the COT era, the same tally as Danica’s career victories. Both drivers seem, on occasion, to be rather inept or clueless when it comes to setting up a race car (or Indy Car in Ms. Patrick’s case) or knowing what changes to make during a race.

Trading Up While Down-Shifting?

Another comparison to bring up is both drivers received a lot of media attention and hoopla for switching from (at that point in their careers) upper mid-level teams, Earnhardt Jr. from Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Danica from Rahal-Letterman, respectively, to top flight organizations amid disappointing results. Danica has failed to live up to her lofty expectations and so has Dale Jr. However, this isn’t entirely the fault of either person. Being the son of Dale Earnhardt Sr., perhaps his father’s shoes are too big to fill, but to Dale Jr.’s credit, he’s not worried about being like his father and more about being his own man, which is a bit of a double-edged sword and after Danica’s impressive Indy performances and victory at Twin Ring Motegi, the expectations of owners, competitors, and even fans continued to get more and more lofty to the point where perhaps neither driver will ever live up to expectations.

Competitor or Celebrity?

One glaring problem with both drivers has also seemed to be a lack of focus in their careers. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has seemed, at times, to be more interested in his business ventures, playing drums, and cameo roles in “Cars” and “Talladega Nights” (although his “Talladega Nights” cameo was admittedly hilarious) than in being the best driver in NASCAR. Dale Sr. was never really a Hollywood figure, with the lone taste of show-business that comes to mind in his life-time was a guest spot as himself on “King Of The Hill” and was more focused on his driving ability. Case in point, Dale Sr. drove from 18th to 1st in three laps to score his final career victory, just four months before his death. When Dale Jr. made an impressive charge from 10th to in the last two laps of the 2010 Daytona 500, coming up just a few car lengths short of catching Jamie McMurray, his detractors cried, perhaps fairly or unfairly, that his father would have won the race.

As for Danica, she has seemed to be more focused on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and FHM photo shoots (although not too many red-blooded straight American males begrudge her too much for this.) than focusing on her career. She has even tried to branch out into NASCAR and at this stage, her NASCAR foray is looking more and more like the scene in “Monty Python And The Holy Grail” where King Arthur has chopped both arms and a leg off of the The Black Knight, with NASCAR being King Arthur and Danica obviously being The Black Knight. She’s even saw some of her luster fade this year when the Indy Car faithful booed her with outright malice and venom at the Indianapolis 500 this year. Of course, her constant whining and unprofessional hissy fits (stomping away from her car like a three-year old, anyone?) haven’t endeared her much sympathy from the racing public either.

Desintation: Mediocrity

In conclusion, while the lay, casual observer would dismiss this comparison potentially has “hog-wash” if they weren’t a devoted motorsports fan, a closer look reveals that there are a great deal of positive and negative similarities between the two, and ironically, both work together in NASCAR as Dale Jr. owns Danica’s NASCAR Nationwide team. The fact remains, however, that despite the criticism, I’m sure it rolls off of both driver’s shoulders as they’re likely laughing their way to the bank. At the end of the day, the fact is both drivers bring in fans and are proven ticket-and-merchandise sellers, so neither driver will be going anywhere, so let’s just sit back, grab some popcorn and root beer and watch the mediocrity unfold.