Why did he leave out Jr?

Question

"You have got Jimmie and Carl [Edwards], that to me, that seem like the guys that are the guys to beat. Then I would put Kyle next. If all things were equal without the bonus points, I put myself in there just because our team is so consistent on all those 10 tracks that are in the Chase."

http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Bob_Pockrass_Playing_head_games_with_Kyle_Busch_wont_work.html

Why no mention of Jr. After all he is sitting in 4th, higher than Jeff, and just 25 points behind Jimmie. Does Jeff have no faith in his teammate, is there some tension on the team, or am I just reading too far into this?

Answer 1

You answered your own question.

You are reading too much into it.

Should he have mentioned every driver in order not to offend anyone?

Zen.

Answer 2

because junior has not been a strong challenger to kyle so far. he may have been second in the points, but kyle has been winning far more than junior. carl would be next on the list (first on the list if you're gordon trying to "get inside kyle's head") because he's won the most races besides kyle. jimmie has been coming up fast and has the experience of winning heavily during the chase races the past two years. jeff puts himself there too as he has a really good record at the 10 chase races.

but overall, you are reading more into his omission of junior than was probably intended, other than the fact that junior has never won a championship either. the main point of gordon's comments, as the article's title implies, is to mess with kyle busch's head. he and jimmie johnson have both been making noises about the #18 team being "in a slump" and not having the experience of winning a championship or the "mental toughness" it takes to be a champ. they keep leaving out that they too at one point had to win their first championship, and that's where they got the "mental toughness" to win another. but every champion has to win a first championship.

one need only look to that article and to what kyle said after winning at the glen to see what he thinks about gordon and johnson's comments: “I’m sorry, what slump?” Busch said on his radio after crossing the finish line of the 2.45-mile road course. “They can keep trying to play these mind games. We’ll just keep winning.”

Answer 3

Jr.'s been the most consistant he's been since 2003. It's just that you get noticed when you're winning a lot. Jr. hasn't been doing a lot of that. Plus that quote was just recently made. Recently,  Dale Jr. hasn't gotten a top 10. (his last was daytona)

Answer 4

I think what "black holes make me hot" (lol) is saying is that Jeff said "I put myself right in there with them" when he was saying the contenders were Kyle, Jimmie and Carl...Jeff actually put himself ahead of Jr. and said because "I put myself in there just because our team is so consistent on all those 10 tracks that are in the Chase."

Now I don't know why Jeff said that...why he put himself ahead of Jr. as Jr. is having the better year.  Maybe because Jr. is faltering a bit and Jeff is a past champion and is confident that he can do really well on the tracks coming up.  ??????

I do wish that he had gone farther to say why he doesn't believe JR. is a contender for the Championship.

Answer 5

I think you are reading too much into this because since Sr. died Jeff has taken a position as mentor to Jr.  

Answer 6

Because no matter how hard Earnhardt Sr fans want Jr to be like his dad, he will never do what is needed to be a Champion.

He won't do all that it takes, his dad hated losing Jr is happy with a 5th place finish. Sr was driven to win titles, Jr is just driving and getting paid.

. He will be a great owner in a couple of years but forget a Championship.

Answer 7

I think you're reading too much into it. I think those drivers were just mentioned because they're some of the strongest ones right now. A lot of people are probably thinking "well what about Burton, what about Stewart?" etc

Answer 8

I don't think there is any tension between Jeff and Jr. Jimmie and Carl are doing the best right now which is probably why he mentioned them specifically.