Fans back Junior despite slump

DARLINGTON — Marla Renner playfully feigned confusion at the question: Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan?

“Is there anyone else?” she said Thursday, standing in Darlington Raceway’s infield next to her family’s RV, which includes a Junior neon sign, while her 4-year-old son, Nicholas, played with his toy No. 88 car nearby.

Renner and her husband, Rodney, are feeding their NASCAR obsession and Earnhardt fanaticism at the sport’s original superspeedway this weekend.

But for all of Darlington’s history, one thing it does not include is an Earnhardt win.

While his late father drove the No. 3 car to nine victories at Darlington Raceway, Junior’s average finish is 15th in 13 appearances since 2000. He has placed in the top five twice.

The Renners traveled from Jasper, Ga., believing Saturday will be the night Earnhardt’s futility ends.

Yet Rodney Renner knows why his favorite driver keeps falling short.

“It’s the track too tough to tame,” he said with a smile. “I don’t know. You go to certain tracks, like Talladega; he’s been successful there. There’s a lot of people that haven’t been successful. It’s a roll of the dice. Darlington is one of those — a roll of the dice.”

Earnhardt realizes a win at Darlington would mean more than at other tracks.

“I would like to win here,” he said Thursday. “There’s a little bit of history. A lot of big names. I would love to win here.”

Despite a 71-race losing streak, he enters Saturday’s Dodge Challenger 500 having started well this season. He is third in the Sprint Cup standings thanks to three top-five finishes.

He appeared on his way to a fourth top-five finish Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway. With two laps to go, a crash with points leader Kyle Busch damaged his car. Earnhardt finished 15th.

“It wasn’t good for us,” a frustrated Earnhardt said. “I wanted to finish better than 15th.”

Brian Hankins of Culpepper, Va., said frustration of a different kind is the reason behind Earnhart’s struggles at Darlington.

“If you listen and watch him, I think he gets frustrated,” said the 42-year-old Hankins, who has been attending Darlington races since 1975. “You’ve just got to let the racetrack come to you. This track is just so unique compared to the other tracks.

“Just listening over the years on the scanner, you always hear that he’s ... mad. He’s (driving) loose. His dad just drove it. Junior, I think he’s just got to let it come to him.”

Earnhardt said Darlington’s new surface is anything but loose after his practice runs Thursday. While he likes the surface and lauded the $10 million repaving job, he said the best will come in future races.

“It’s very fast, and I think it will be really fun next year and the year after that,” he said. “It’s pretty good now. I think once the track loses its grip and you can make gains in the corner (it will be better). ... Right now, everybody is going down in there and gassing. It will be really difficult to challenge people for position. But it’s so fast.”

Hankins tools around the Darlington property in a red golf cart adorned with Junior logos. The Renners set up shop in the infield.

“If you’re a true fan, you stand behind him no matter what,” Marla Renner said. “I don’t think it’s a matter of hope. It’s a matter of being a fan.”

Reach Wiseman at (803) 771-8472