Who Jr. Nation Should Root for (and Why)

Jr. Nation, the magnanimous fanbase that has proudly worn their shirts, collected their die-casts and filled NASCAR.com’s comments section in favor of their hero Dale Earnhardt Jr., has reached a crossroads for the 2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series season and beyond.

When NASCAR’s most popular driver for the past 15 years announced his retirement last year and drove for the remainder of the 2017 season, fans (including myself) were left wondering who they would root for on Saturdays and Sundays from the drop of the green flag to the finish.

I’ve had some time to think about this and I have several drivers for Jr. Nation to throw their support to:

Chase Elliott: This one was the most obvious choice to me. While the young Elliott has yet to reach victory lane going into his third Cup Series season, it’s hard to believe this guy won’t have great success in the years coming. Elliott not only has Dale Jr.’s full support (he won the 2015 Xfinity Series Championship for JR Motorsports), he also has the legacy factor on his side, being the son of former Mr. Popular, Bill Elliott and driving Awesome Bill’s famous No. 9. Chase Elliott doesn’t have a huge threshold to cross over to become popular with the fans, and when he finally starts notching some wins, you can bet money he will indeed become the new Mr. Popular and NASCAR’s marketable face.

William Byron: Another championship-winning JR Motorsports alum, Byron goes into his rookie Cup Series season driving the famous No. 24 and coming off a sensational season in the Xfinity Series, winning four races and the 2017 series championship. While it’s a little too soon to guess just how fast success will come (though I predict he’ll win one race this year), it is a brand, new likeable face for the Cup Series that Jr. Nation can get behind.

Alex Bowman: Why not the man who takes over Dale Jr.’s No. 88 ride? After all, Earnhardt does fully endorse Bowman as his replacement. If you recall, Bowman did a wonderful job substituting for Earnhardt in the 2016 season, finishing in the top 10 three times in 10 races, including a career-high 6th place at Phoenix, a race he nearly won after winning the pole position and leading the most laps. Along with that, he shows great promise as he started on pole for the 2018 Daytona 500. I have a hard time believing Bowman won’t make the most of his second chance in the Cup Series.

Martin Truex Jr.: I’ve always liked Martin Truex Jr. I remember being excited that he would pilot the No. 1 car in Dale Earnhardt, Inc. after winning the Xfinity Series championship in 2004 and 2005 for Dale Jr.’s Chance2 Motorsports, and while DEI didn’t play out well for Truex, he has had such a huge career renaissance that it’s hard not to like this guy. It’s a good time to jump on the Truex bandwagon, being that he is the defending Cup Series champion and there are no signs he is slowing down anytime soon with crew chief Cole Pearn still at the top of the pit box.

Jeffrey Earnhardt: While the latest member of the Earnhardt family has not shown the ability to be competitive in his first two Cup Series seasons, his recent signing with StarCom Racing means he’ll be here (theoretically) for the entire 2018 season. Perhaps an increase in fan support will up Earnhardt’s value and will lead to success. It’s wishful thinking, but NASCAR has a history of upset winners and feel-good success stories, and as with Chase Elliott, Earnhardt has legacy on his side.

JR Motorsports: I keep namedropping Dale Jr.’s Xfinity Series team in this list, but for good reason. The team has been pumping out success for the past several seasons, with championship-winning graduates Chase Elliott and William Byron now in the Cup Series. Seasoned veteran Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Michael Annett will continue to hold down the ship, but there is also Tyler Reddick, who won at Kentucky last season while driving part-time in the Xfinity Series, and won the season-opening race at Daytona in his official rookie season in 2018, driving the No. 9 car. He’s the guy to watch for, in my humble opinion.

My lone disclaimer here is that fans should have the right to root for whoever they want. If some of Jr. Nation wants to pool their support for drivers outside the Earnhardt bubble like Kyle Busch, Joey Logano or Kyle Larson, so be it. Either way, the 2018 NASCAR season is upon us again, so let’s enjoy the ride. And as for Jr. Nation, you know Dale Jr. isn’t truly going away for a long time. Tune in this summer when you can hear his dulcet tones from the NBC Sports broadcast booth.