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Earnhardt Jr. - Battling The Myth And The Monkey

It was another week of frustration for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his legions of fans as the driver with racing’s most marketable last name again fell short of Victory Lane. Earnhardt’s late-race tangle with Kyle Busch while leading at Richmond not only denied him of his 18^th career NASCAR Sprint Cup, but also ran his winless streak to 72-straight events dating back a full two calendar years.

The pressure of the futility streak – and the moment – was evident in Earnhardt, Jr’s. face as he was quizzed by the media after the event Saturday. To his credit, ‘Junior’ said all the right things, carefully choosing his words and not losing his composure as he answered questions. The look on his face, however, was almost tortured.

Can you blame him?

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Race Car Trailers Have Really Changed Over The Years

Some images really illustrate just how much NASCAR racing has changed over the past 40 years - this is one of them.

Pictured here is Sam McQuagg's No. 71 1963 Ford parked on the front stretch after the 1964 Southern 500 at Darlington. The car is loaded up and ready for the trip home on an open trailer that features a set of mismatched, worn tires. Today, teams transport their vehicles to and from the track in 53-foot enclosed trailers that carry two racers, tons of tools and replacement parts, a galley and crew lounge quarters.

For the record, McQuagg, a Columbus, GA native, competed in 62 NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) events in his career winning one time in 1966 capturing the Firecracker 400 at Daytona that year. On this day, McQuagg's No. 71 Ford owned by J.L. Thomas started 33rd and finished 19th despite completing only 179 of the 364 laps eventually retiring with rear end failure. He won $550 in prize money.

This Buzz Mims photo is courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).