For the past two or three seasons, the cry went up that Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn't win because DEI was giving him bad equipment. Some went so far as to suggest Teresa Earnhardt was deliberately sabotaging the engines in Jr.'s cars last season, or at least using him as a "test driver" by placing experimental parts in his car.

An overwhelming majority of Jr.'s fans urged him to leave DEI. They said he should go to a new team - one where he'd have a chance to race for a championship - because he was never going to get that opportunity at DEI.

Eventually, Jr. did decide to move to a new team and he signed to drive for Hendrick Motorsports (HMS). Many of his fans were in shock about that decision at first, but most eventually warmed to the idea. HMS was, afterall, the home of the reigning Cup champion - Jimmie Johnson, who was soon to add a second Cup championship to his resume. Add in Jeff Gordon, with his four championships and seventy plus victories, and it became very clear that HMS puts superior equipment under its drivers.

So, Jr.'s fans had what they wanted. They had their driver seated squarely in championship caliber cars and he had some very experienced, very successful teammates with whom he could work to improve his chances. An absolute dream scenario, and one in which Jr. would surely win tons of races and make a serious run at the Cup.

But here we are, three races deep into the Chase, and Jr. has managed just one win all season, and that came about because everyone else ran out of gas.

Why? Why, when he's getting great cars and driving for a strong team, can't Jr. win? His fans say they know the reason, and they're screaming it louder and louder every week.

"It's all Tony Eury Jr.'s fault!", they're saying. "Tony isn't getting the job done!"

For the unitiated, Tony Eury Jr. is Dale Jr.'s crew chief and according to the majority of Jr.'s fans, Tony Jr. is the one who has held the team back. They say he can't make the adjustments Dale Jr. needs during the course of a race to remain competitive. They say he doesn't do a good job of taking Jr.'s feedback about the car and turning it into useful information.

Basically, according to Dale Jr.s expert fans, Tony Eury Jr., you suck and you need to be fired. Rick Hendrick should fire you and get someone in there who can get the job done. Dale Jr. deserves better than what you're giving him. Dale Jr. is a GREAT driver and you're holding him back! Go away! That will fix everything!

But will it? Will it really fix everything? Will it fix anything?

Jr. fans, you'll probably get your wish. Rick Hendrick will probably pull Tony Jr. from atop Dale Jr.'s pit box and put someone else up there. Odds are, it will be someone with a demonstrated ability to be a good crew chief.

And then what? Dale Jr. will continue not winning races. Dale Jr. will continue to take a winning car and finish top fifteen with it. Dale Jr. will continue to come up short.

Who are you going to blame then? More importantly, when are you going to finally place the blame in the driver's seat, where it belongs?

In case you haven't noticed, Kyle Busch is having a pretty good season on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit. Nineteen starts, seven wins, two poles, twelve top five finishes and thirteen top ten finishes amount to an amazing run and those stats don't even take into account his success in other racing series this year.

With all that success comes a lot of press and lately, some fans of Dale Jr. have been complaining that they're sick and tired of reading about Kyle Busch.

Read that again:

Dale Jr. fans.

Sick.

And tired.

Of reading about Kyle Busch.

Well, Jr. Nation, welcome to my world!

Whether you like Kyle or not, no fan of Dale Jr. has any business complaining about a driver getting too much press. 

And there are some of us out here who are very grateful for Kyle and his success, because it's given us someone to read about besides your overrated favorite driver. We've had to endure story after story, season after season, about the Annointed One and lots of us grew tired of it long ago.

Even last year, when Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were running wild over the competition, the focus of a majority of the press remained on Jr. And I'm here to tell you, it's a welcome relief to open a website these days and see Kyle Busch's name on the headlines rather than a driver who has amassed three whole wins in the past FOUR years.

My original intent here was to make the point that the attention Kyle is getting this season is no different than the attention Jr. gets most of the time, but I've realized I'm wrong about that:

Kyle is getting attention because he's winning races and you sure can't say that about Dale Jr.